3 Cheese and Sausage Calzone

Ever since I was a little bambino, I have always loved Italian food (hmm-considering I'm 100% Italian, this shouldn't really be a surprise to most). As far back as I can remember, my parents used to take my brother, sister and I to a little restaurant called Mama Laura's. As far as I was concerned, the pizza and calzones at this place were culinary gifts bestowed upon the world and served at this little pizza shop. By the time I entered high school, Mama Laura's ceased to exist. Ever since the restaurant's closure, I have yet to find another calzone that compared! In the memory of Mama Laura's, I have decided to take on the task of creating my own calzone!

One thing I really like about this recipe is that is extremely versatile. Based on your preference, you can adjust any of the ingredients without losing the integrity of this dish.

For my version, the ingredients are (Oh, and this make 2 calzones):

1 13.8 oz container of pizza crust
Bread crumbs
Pre-made pizza sauce
1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
1/4 cup of shredded romano cheese
1/4 cup of mozzarella
1 tablespoon of butter
Sausage
Salt
Pepper
Minced Garlic
Olive Oil

A few side notes about the ingredients: The amount of pizza sauce you need is dependent on how much sauce you like. I already had a 15 oz squeeze jar in the fridge and maybe used about a 1/4 of it. Also, if you do not like sausage, you do not have to use it, or you can substitute it with other things, like vegetables or other meats. Oh, and ignore the fry daddy in the picture!



The first thing to do is to cook the sausage. To reduce cooking time, I used a pair of sissors and cut up only what I needed. Before cooking, put a small amount of oil on the pan and cook the meat until it is done.



The sausage takes a little time to prepare, so while it is cooking, start on making the cheese filling for the calzone. In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, romano, and mozzarella. When finished, cover the mixture and put it in the fridge until your ready to construct the dish.



At this point, you may want to check on the sausage and flip it.

Next, on a baking dish, drizzle some olive oil and bread crumbs. Make sure that it covers the areas where you will be placing your calzones.



Now it's time to start putting the dish together. The first thing to do is spread the pizza dough out on the baking dish and cut it in half. About a 1/2 inch away from one of the corners, add the sauce, cheese filling, sausage (only when it's done cooking), and season with salt and pepper.



The only tricky part of this dish is the folding of the dough. Since the dough is soft and sticky, it can be a little difficult to work with. Just think of it as wrapping a present. Starting with that has no filling, fold it over to the side that does. Using a pizza cutter, you may want to trim off an excess dough. Finally, press the edges of the dough that were folded upon each other with a fork (this will keep the sauce and cheese from escaping).



To give the dough a little extra flavor, combine the butter (melted), garlic (again, as much as you want) with some salt and pepper into a small bowl or cup.



Take this mixture and spread it over the top of the calzone. Not only does this add flavor, but it also gives the dough a nice golden color when it is done cooking. Before placing this dish in the oven, create two small slits on the top of the calzone. This will ensure that there are no explosions in the oven (it's not like I know from personal experience or anything!)

Finally, pre-heat the oven to 425 and cook the dish for 25-30 minutes. Cooking time depends on how crispy you want the dough.



As your eating the calzone, I HIGHLY recommend that you put some extra pizza sauce on your dish for dipping.

All in all, a very simple, but delicious dish! If Mama Laura was eating this calzone, she'd be proud!

Combo Chicken

One day, I was sitting at work eating a bag of combos (Ehh-I guess I shouldn't say one day, when at one point, it was everyday for a about a month) and I realized that there were no recipes out there that involved combos. If you're reading this and already thinking that combos as ingredient doesn't sound right, well, you're not the only one! Everyone I mentioned this to thought so as well!

Anyway...

For the past few weeks, I have been thinking of different recipes that either included combos or was combo-like. After thinking for a long time, I came up with the idea of making pretzel crusted chicken stuffed with cheese!

The ingredients needed
Pretzels
4 pieces of Bacon
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
3 cloves of garlic - chopped up
1 brick of Havarti Cheese Herbs and Spices (or any type of soft cheese) - broken up
4 Chicken Breast



First thing is to create the pretzel crust. I took about seven or eight big handfuls of pretzels and put them in the food processor. The amount doesn't have to be exact, as it is only for the crust; However, the pretzel consistency should be fine.



Before creating the cheese filling, chop the bacon up into pieces and cook.



Once the bacon has cooled, it's time to create the cheese filling. In a food processor, add the bricks of cheese, garlic, bacon and 3 teaspoon of olive oil. Mix this up until the mixture is a paste. It took a little bit of a time and some manual mixing to get the cheese to the desired consistency. Also, depending on the cheese you use, you may have to add a little more olive oil to get everything mixed up. When the chicken cooks, a lot of the cheese sauce will absorb into the chicken, giving you a thin layer of a cheese sauce. If you want a thicker cheese filling, add less oil and leave some chunks of cheese in the filling.



The next step is prepare the chicken. Butterfly the chicken open, tenderize both sides, season with salt and pepper and add the cheese filling to the insides.



Close the chicken up. In a mixing bowl, beat two eggs. Coat the chicken in the egg and then in the pretzels. Repeat this one more time.

Cook the chicken on stove for 3 minutes on each side. Doing this will help give the chicken a crispy crust and a golden brown color. Also, I recommend adding three toothpicks throughout the chicken to keep it from falling apart. Once done, add some olive oil to a baking dish, add the chicken, and cook at 425 for 20-25 minutes



Well, the recipe isn't exactly a combo, but it is really good!