Calzone

The first time I tried calzone was in a restaurant in Florence some years ago. My principle memory of the occasion was of a couple of young waitresses who absconded with my then-baby daughter Evie and showed her off to the kitchen staff. I’m pleased to report that they did return her, and that the calzone was very good.

Calzone is essentially a pizza that has been folded in half and the edges sealed before being baked. In this respect it is rather like a pasty made with bread dough rather than shortcrust pastry. Like the pasty and its many relatives around the world, calzone is portable food, ideal for lunch or a snack.

The key to successful calzone is size: don’t try to make them too big, and avoid the temptation to cram in as much filling as will physically fit. I generally start with a piece of dough rolled out to roughly 15cm diameter. A basic white dough with maybe an additional splash of olive oil is fine. I use a hydration of 55-60%: wetter dough is difficult to roll out and fold. About 100g of dough will do the job, rolled out to a bit less than a centimetre in thickness. Flour your worksurface generously so that it doesn’t stick, and then transfer the disc of dough to a baking sheet (much easier than trying to move it once it’s filled and sealed). Place the filling on one half of the disc, leaving a margin of a couple of centimetres around the edge so that you can seal the edges of the dough together after folding. For calzone of this size I use two to three heaped tablespoons-worth of filling. Carefully fold the empty half of the dough over the filling and crimp the edges of the parcel shut with your fingertips. Bake at 220°c for 15-20 minutes. The filling will be very hot, so it’s a good idea to leave it for 10 minutes or so before eating. Calzone can also be good served cold.

Traditionally, calzone are filled with vegetables, meat and cheese. I fried some chestnut mushrooms with garlic, added some fresh spinach and a basic ragu sauce, and finished with slices of mozzarella. You can, of course, fill it with whatever you like.