Peter's antipasto calzone

Appropriately we give a nod to Giada DeLaurentiis for the idea, but Peter made this his own. The idea (as the name suggests) is to have a calzone stuffed with the stuff you'd find on an antipasto plate. This bugger was huge! What you see above is only half of it!

Peter's antipasto calzone

INGREDIENTS:

1 lg. ball of pizza dough;

flour, for dusting;

cornmeal, for dusting.

FILLING:

4 oz. slab of salami, chopped finely;

1/4 cup Castelvetrano or other cured or brined olives, pitted and chopped fine;

2 jarred roasted red peppers, patted very dry and chopped finely;

1 Tbl. capers, rinsed, drained, and finely chopped;

1 lg. scallion, white and green parts, trimmed and finely chopped;

1 heaping Tbls. pickled garlic, minced or pressed;

8 oz. Provolne, shredded (2 cups);

6 oz. smoked mozzarella (scamorza), shredded (1 1/2 cups);

2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup);

TO FINISH;

1 lg. egg, beaten;

Olive oil;

1 tsp. dried oregano, finely crumbled;

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper;

1/4 crushed red pepper flakes;

1.) Following the instructions for my pizza with tomatoes, prosciutto, cheese, and arugula, proof your microwave oven and allow the large ball of pizza dough to rise therein in a large, lightly oiled glass bowl for at least three, preferably four, hours;

2.) Preheat oven to 450 degrees for one hour, with a pizza stone on lowest rack;

3.) On a lightly-foured work service, use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out the dough to an even circle with a circumference of 13";

4.) Transfer the rolled-out dough to a pizza peel that has been evenly dusted with cornmeal;

5.) In a medium bowl, thoroughly combine all the filling ingredients;

6.) Using a pastry brush, paint a 1" border with the beaten egg all along the edges of the dough's surface to serve as "sealing glue;" brush the remainder of the dough's surface with olive oil;

7.) In a 2-cup measure, pour in remaining beaten egg, and whisk in enough olive oil so that the mixture reaches the 1/4 cup level; beat in dried oregano, black and red pepper, and pour egg/olive oil mixture over filling, stirring well to combine;

8.) Pour the filling ingredients onto one side of the pizza dough, leaving the 1" egg-washed border untouched, and spreading out filling evenly with the back of a large spoon; carefully fold over the the other side of the dough, and using first your fingers, then the tines of a fork, crimp the border firmly to seal the calzone shut;

9.) Brush the top surface of the calzone with olive oil, and, using a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 slits to serve as steam vents;

10.) Loosen underside of calzone on pizza peel with a large metal spatula, if necessary, to prevent sticking. Slide calzone onto preheated pizza stone in oven, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

11.) Remove calzone to cutting board, and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve (Makes 5-6 portions).

Peter's pizza

Am I gradually abdicating responsibility for this blog to my partner? No. He loves to cook as much as I do and from time to time I step aside and let him lead the way.

He’s been making pizzas for years and, in the last few years, has honed his method to perfection. I sat him down and had him recite the steps.

We’ve been using pizza dough from Sunflower Market here in Denver. It’s a fine product, fine enough in fact that we don’t even consider making our own.

I help out by getting the pizza onto the peel and into the oven and then adding ingredients to it toward the end of the cooking time. Our appetites are such that a 14” pizza divided into 4 quarters is good for two meals (sometimes with a little bit of salad, as was the case last night).

Peter’s pizza
large ball pizza dough
¼ cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
14 oz. Roma tomatoes, sliced 1/4” thick
2-3 oz. prosciutto, sliced thin
1 cup baby arugula
1 cup grated cheese (choose from among smoked mozzarella, goat mozzarella or fontina)

Preheat the oven with the pizza stone at the lowest position at 450 degrees for 60 minutes.

Put the dough ball in a large bowl which has been lubricated with cooking spray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Put a 2-cup measuring cup into the microwave with 1 ½ cups of water in it. Nuke 5 ½ minutes. Quickly remove the cup of water and stick the bowl with the dough in. Leave it alone for 2-3 hours until dough has doubled in volume.

Transfer dough to floured surface and roll out to 13-14” circle. Liberally coat your pizza peel with cornmeal and transfer the dough to it. Re-roll as necessary to even out the circle. Let it sit at room temperature for an hour.

Core the tomatoes and slice them into ¼” rounds. Place them on a double thickness of paper towels and sprinkle them lightly with kosher salt. After an hour press the tops of the tomatoes with another double thickness of paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible.

Stir the garlic and olive oil together in a small bowl and brush it onto the dough.

Toss the arugula with a little olive oil to keep it from burning.

Arrange tomato slices evenly over the dough. Brush them with any remaining garlic oil.
Bake for 10 ½ minutes.

Slide the pizza stone out far enough to arrange the prosciutto and cheese on the pizza. Bake for 3 ½ minutes.

Scatter the arugula over the pizza and bake for 1 minute.

Serve.

Pizza

Over the years Peter has perfected homemade pizza making. On occasion he used to make the dough, but that's a hassle, especially when we can get beautiful dough from Sunflower Market here in Denver. They sell both regular and whole wheat dough balls for on $2.99.

We have a couple of favorites ways to top them. Above is a combination of Roma tomatoes, proscuitto, baby arugula and fontina cheese.

We've always had a pizza stone. Start by putting on an oven rack at the lowest position and preheat for an hour at 450 degrees.

We have used parmesan on pizzas. This time we used fontina.

Oh - the pizza stuck a little bit to the peel when it went in the oven. Did not affect the taste at all, but it points up the importance of the "grease" effect of the corn meal.

Pizza
1 pizza dough ball
c. 14 oz. Roma tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
2 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto
2 cups baby arugula
1 cup (more or less) of your favorite cheese, grated

Let the dough come to room temperature.

Liberally sprinkle a pizza paddle with corn meal and roll the dough out fairly thinly into 14" circle. (Doesn't have to be perfect.)

Slice c. 14 oz Roma tomatoes thinly (1/4") and put them on paper towels so that some of the moisture is absorbed and sprinkle them with salt. Let them sit for 1/2 hour.

Brush the top of the pizza with garlic/olive oil. Top it with the Roma rounds. Sprinkle salt and pepper

Bake for 11 minutes. Lay the prosciutto slices on the pizza and top with cheese. Bake 4 more minutes.

Toss the arugula with some olive oil. Scatter the arugula leaves on the pizza. Bake 1 more minute.