Spinach, Mushroom & Fontina Cheese Calzone

Calzones have originated  in Naples, Italy and  are shaped like folded pizzas. It forms a nice semi circular form when folded over and it is rather easy to hold in your hands and devour the luscious fillings while standing or walking.  A typical calzone is baked in an oven and one can insert any type of fillings vegetarian or otherwise.

As a rule, Calzones are usually stuffed with cheese be it Ricotta, Parmesan  or Mozzarella. Here I have done the Calzone like the Gourmet Boscaiola Pizza in one of my earlier posts using Fontina Cheese instead.

After baking, the Calzones are usually served with Marinara Sauce or topped with a combination of olive, garlic and parsley.

 The following recipe yields 8, 6 inch calzones.

CALZONE DOUGH

Ingredients ( Calzone Dough)

 3/4 tsp white sugar

 1 and 1/4 cup warm water ( 110 deg F or 45 deg C)

 1 packet active dry yeast

  2 tbsp olive oil

 3/4  tsp salt

 3 cups unbleached bread flour

 1 tsp Italian seasonings

 Some extra bread flour for dusting rolling board

Method ( Calzone Dough)

Place the warm water in a bowl and dissolve the sugar in it.

Then sprinkle the yeast on the top but do not stir. Leave it to get foamy for about 10 mins.

After 10 mins, add in the salt and olive oil and stir.

Add in the bread flour and the Italian seasonings and mix for a few minutes. You would have got a ball of dough by now.

Remove this dough and place it on a floured rolling board. Knead to form a smooth dough. Add in a little olive oil or extra flour to help.

Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a loose towel and let it rise for around 2 hours near a warm place.

In the meantime, prepare the fillings.

 Spinach and Mushroom Filling

Ingredients ( Filling)

 4 tbsp Olive Oil

 8 cloves Garlic, minced

 10 cups Spinach, washed

 16 button mushrooms, washed, dried and then sliced

Salt to season

 150 g Fontina Cheese, sliced thinly into 32 squares ( 4 for each calzone)

 Method ( Filling)

Take a sauce pan and heat 2 tbsps of olive oil in it. Fry 4 minced garlic cloves till slightly brown, put in the spinach , add a generous pinch of salt and cook till it wilts. Check for salt and set aside.

Take the same saucepan and heat the other  2tbsps of olive oil in it. Fry the other 4 minced garlic cloves again till slightly brown and then put the sliced mushrooms, another generous pinch of salt and fry till the mushroom slices are cooked and water has all evaporated. Set aside. Check for salt and set aside.

Slice the Fontina cheese and set aside.

FINAL STEPS

After 2 hours, preheat the oven to 400 deg F..

Roll out the dough on a floured board to a big tube and then cut into 8 equal slices. Leaving the other pieces in the mixing bowl, roll out one of the pieces into a 6 inch circle.  

Arrange the cooked spinach and mushrooms on one side of the circular dough only. Place 4 pieces of Fontina cheese and fold over like a curry puff. Then pinch the sides till it seals the calzone. Repeat for the rest of the calzone dough slices.

Place the calzones on a well oiled baking tray and brush the calzone with more olive oil

Bake for 25 mins till the dough browns at the edges and underneath.

Enjoy warm with red chilli flakes or just on its own.