It is definitely the season for comfort foods: Rich, warm and hearty stews or soups… delightfully fluffy breads and muffins, and satisfying roasted meats with fall root veggies. I had a strange craving for pizza a few days ago, not your typical comfort food but delicious none the less. On the rare occasion I indulge in some pizza from a take-out restaurant, I am usually left feeling disappointed afterwards, and come on… nothing beats a homemade pizza! On this particular day I decided to take a departure from the usual tomato sauce and toppings, and go for some slowly braised BBQ chicken, caramelized onion and sharp cheddar cheese to adorn my pizza… And lets face it: The best part of the pizza is the dough, so I decided to turn my pizza into some calzones for double the crust yumminess!
My go-to pizza dough recipe is from my old “Joy of Cooking” book. It is classic, and always turns out. The great thing about this recipe is that it is versatile enough to be played with. You can easily replace some of the flour with multigrain or whole wheat and add any herbs, spices, seeds or grains you would like. Today I decided to add some fragrant rosemary into the dough, along with some basil.
Kneading dough is therapy people!! Having a bad day? No problem: knead some dough. Once you get in the groove, the rhythmic punching and stretching of that dough in your fingers just sort of transports you to a relaxing place… at least it does for me. And I NEVER get tired of lifting the tea towel of my bowl of dough after it has risen, and peeking in to see how it has swelled to massive proportions!
You can click here for a printable copy of the pizza dough recipe:Pizza Dough
While the dough was rising, tucked away in the oven that I had turned on momentarily earlier on, I placed some onions in a pan with a pat of butter, and slowly let them brown up, caramelizing and bringing out their natural sweet flavors. Into the same pan, I added some boneless, skinless chicken pieces. I let them sear on both sides for some color, then covered everything in a sweet BBQ sauce, turned down the heat, put a cover on and slowly let the chicken braise until it was fall-apart tender.
When the dough had risen, I separated it into 6 pieces, (You could make any number you want… 6 makes large meal-sized calzones) let it rest for about 15 minutes, then rolled each ball out on a lightly floured surface. 
After filling each with delicious chicken and grated cheese…..
I folded over the dough and sealed it shut by rubbing a bit of olive oil along the dough, then pressing it together with a fork. I lightly brush the tops of the calzones with oil and dust them with a tiny bit of garlic powder, but you don’t have to. Its also important to poke a couple small air holes in the tops of your calzones before baking them… unless you want a calzone explosion in your oven.
Now, you might be thinking, “This meal is too labour intensive, totally not worth it!” But when your house starts to fill with the smell of baking bread and rosemary and your mouth is watering, it will all be worth it. You will have a delicious supper AND have the satisfaction of knowing you made it from scratch!
You can freeze any leftover dough, which is great. Just bring it to room temperature on the counter when you want to use it! Fill your calzones and flavor your dough with anything you want.. let your imagination go wild! The combinations are endless. I served my calzones with a simple green salad, splashed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. And let me tell you… my pizza craving was more than satisfied! Have fun in the kitchen!
DeeDee
Foodie in the Forest 