The hubs is not the most adventurous of eaters. He’s often very skeptical of my cooking and particularly my veggies. He prefers the grandma-cooks-best classics such as butter beans (with fatback), navy beans (with fatback), black eyed peas (with fatback), and green beans (with bacon). I’m exaggerating… but only slightly.
And yet this week he’s gladly eaten eggplant twice (yes, I didn’t tell him about it beforehand both times). I’m amazing!
The first time I made a back up plan. I made Smitten Kitchen’s Eggplant Calzone but I also made a Sausage, Spinach, and Red Pepper Calzone just in case. Then I wouldn’t be accused of forcing eggplant on him. It wasn’t necessary. So delicious and easy!
Pizza dough = calzone dough, easy as pizza pie
I couldn’t recommend this dough enough. Especially after making a pizza with Trader Joe’s ready to go pizza dough this week. Does not compare.
Pizza Dough (adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Rushed Pizza Dough):
- Warm your oven by turning it to 200- 225 for ten to fifteen minutes (original recipe says 5), then turn it off.
- Pour 1/2 cup warm water into a large bowl and sprinkle 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast over the water. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cup (maybe a bit more) flour, 1 teaspoon salt and stir. It will become a mess.
- Lightly flour counter. Pour dough out and knead for five minutes until it becomes elastic and smooth.
- Coat your mixing bowl with olive oil. Place dough back in and cover with plastic wrap. Place in oven (now turned off) until doubled. Smitten Kitchen says this will be 30 minutes. Not so for me.
- Now it’s ready to calzone!
Gotta bake the eggplant now!
It’s Italian. Wine is essential.
Why dough, don’t you raise quickly as instructed?
Dough, how important is it that you double? Because I’m hungry and I don’t care.
Back up calzone fixin’s! Tasty!
Anyone can find Smitten Kitchen’s Eggplant Calzone recipe. Here’s my…
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Husband’s Back-up Calzone:
- Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Recognize that you have never been able to roll dough into a circle and deal with whatever shape happens.
- Mix together 1/2 cup ricotta, 1/2 mozzarella, 1/6 cup grated parmesan (you bought the cheap, shake kind. Me too, don’t be ashamed), a pinch of dried oregano, and black pepper. Stir in 1/2-1 cup chopped spinach, 1/4 of a sliced red pepper, sliced sausage (whatever kind floats your boat). There’s no real measurements. Guess how much will fit in there.
- Heap in the center of the dough. Pull up the sides, pressing the sides into a seam. Brush the outside with a lightly beaten egg.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffy and golden at 425F.
But you won’t need your back-up calzone because when eggplant’s in a calzone you can eat eggplant anytime.
Oh yes, you’ll do.
Seeking Misadventure 