The kids have decided we will open a restaurant, and it will be called Calzone Zone. They were so thrilled with the name they came up with (all on their own), that I couldn’t bear to tell them that it had been done before. Both by Chef John (whose method I used when I made the Zones), and also by the TV show Parks & Rec. Either way, we 100% cheated with pre-made everything, it turned out 100% delicious, and I 100% did not take a picture to prove it to you. Sorry, Internet. Here’s what to do!
- Buy Trader Joe’s garlic and herb pizza dough, pepperoni, ricotta cheese, Parmesan, fresh mozzarella, and a single egg you should already have on hand if you’re an omnivore.
- Preheat oven to 500, with a pizza stone in the lower third.
- Divide dough into six equal parts (with your handy-dandy bench scraper), let it warm up for a bit while you do other junk, then come back and roll it out to the size of a plate.
- Add a layer of pepperoni if you’re using them (I used them on half, other were just cheese), then an inch high layer of ricotta (top with salt and pep), a few slices of fresh mozzarella, and then more pepperoni if you’re using it. Seal em up like Chef John said to on a well floured surface (same link as above).
- The oven has beeped, telling you you’re ready to bake! I have a rim-less cookie sheet that I basically use as an over-sized pizza peel. I put a big ol’ square of parchment paper on it, bravely and quickly moved the Zones over using my bench scraper, THEN top with an egg wash (one egg mixed with approximately 1 1/2 tsp of water) and Parmesan cheese.
- Slide the entire piece of parchment paper onto the pizza stone and bake for about 12 minutes. The instructions said to bake for 15, but my Zones were significantly smaller than theirs and cooked faster.
- LET THEM COOL- we cooled them for 10 minutes and they were still way too hot. I will cool them for 15 or maybe even 20 before yelling dinner next time.
We devoured our Zones with a salad, a side of meatballs in marinara, and some extra marinara for dipping. The portion was perfect for our 7 & 11 year old kids to have a single Zone, and we parents each enjoyed two. If I was going any fancier on the stuff inside I would probably use plain pizza dough, or even make your own homemade dough, but since our ingredients were pretty simple the garlic & herb dough was perfect. The parchment paper also caught some of the inevitable cheese-splosion, which came from a poorly sealed corner of one Zone.
These have formally been requested as an addition to our regular rotation. It was a nice variation from our usual stir fry/burgers/burritos/pasta routine, I’m documenting it here so that I’ll hopefully remember to do it again 🙂
Life update: we are officially in soccer season! Darian is now in 2nd grade (and has his same teacher from 1st grade, Ms. Drake), and Kimathi is in 5th grade (with Ms. Goetzke). It’s K’s LAST YEAR of Elementary school, and it’s getting me all misty eyed. Summer was full of camping, cabin trips, swimming, going to the drive-in movies, and more good times than you could shake a stick at. I’m both relieved to be back in our school-year-routine, and thankful for all the good times we had.
Food update: My sweetie got me a grill, and I have been *loving* it. Also, cool enough now to officially proclaim the start of baking season! I baked some rosemary bread yesterday, topped with sesame and poppy seeds. It was fine, but utterly forgettable, so I’ll continue the search for a rosemary bread recipe and then document it here after a few tests. Next up- all the desserts.
CrustyBeth 