15 October 2011

Calzones v. Pizza

Spinach, roasted onions, and corn calzones.  Yes.  Corn.  Shut up.

My friend Travis jokes that my pizzas are BYOC (bring your own cheese).  I guess my calzones are, too.  I never had a calzone before, but since they are basically pizzas folded in half, I didn't figure I was missing much.  I made some today, though, and they are pretty swell.  They hold two advantages over pizza -- you don't have to slice them and you don't have to worry about all your toppings falling off.

I used to make a thin crust pizza (where the dough is basically flour, oil, water, and salt) and I've even used puff pastry as a pizza base (not a good idea -- too flimsy), but I prefer thick yeast-leavened crusts nowadays.  They don't take much longer (I usually have my bread machine do most of the dirty work) and I let them rise while I'm busy making the sauce and preparing the veggies.

In order to have a good pizza, of course, you need a good crust and a good sauce, but I think the secret to a really good pizza is lots and lots of good olive oil.  Toppings (I love olives, mushrooms, and artichokes) are good, but will only get you so far.  Lots and lots of a really good flavourful olive oil is what takes a good pizza and makes it really really wonderful -- I go crazy and use extra virgin. 

So, if you make pizza from scratch, what are your tips and tricks?  


P.S.  The adzuki fudge I mentioned yesterday still hasn't set (I'm not sure it ever will, but that's maybe because I ran out of coconut oil and substituted margarine)!

1 comment:

  1. I love making pizza - and have found a dough that doesn't need to rise much so I make it after work - have found that tomato paste and a small tin of baked beans mashed up makes a really quick sauce with a bit of nutritional value - plus have just made my first goats cheese out of cashews and think this would be great in a calzone after trying it on a pizza

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