CALZONE (BAKED)

In a food processor, combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar.

With the machine running, add 1/2 cup of water and the olive oil through the feed tube. Process for 15-20 seconds; adding more water a little at a time, until the mixture forms into a ball. If the dough seems to sticky, add a little more flour.

Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured surface. Knead a few times just to get a smooth dough.

Grease a bowl with a little olive oil and transfer the dough to the bowl.

Turn once to coat all sides with the oil. Cover the bowl and let rise until double in volume, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and place it in a lightly-floured surface.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Cover and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To make 4 calzones, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces

Roll out one round at a time to a 10-inch circle. Place one-fourth of your filling mixture onto the bottom half of the dough circle.

Fold the top half of the dough over the filling to form a half-moon. Seal the edges well by squeezing them together with your fingers.

To insure a tight seal, fold the edge of the dough back toward the filling, pressing to seal.

Transfer the calzone to an oiled baking sheet and brush with the egg wash. Repeat procedure for the remaining pieces of dough and filling.

Bake the calzones for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce or Traditional Tomato Sauce.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.

Roll out one round at a time to an 8-inch circle. (For deep-fried calzones you want the dough to be slightly thicker than for baking so they don't burst in the fryer.)

Add the filling and brush the edges of the dough circle with a little water or the egg wash. Fold the dough as outlined above and seal the edge very well with your fingers. (Calzones that are not sealed well can open in the hot oil.) You do not need to brush the tops with egg wash when making deep-fried calzones.

Add one or two (depending on the size of your fryer) of the calzones to the hot oil.

Do not crowd all four calzones in the oil at once or they will not cook through properly. Fry the calzones for 6 to 8 minutes until golden brown.

Allow to rest a few minutes before serving with sauce.

You can fill a calzone with the cheese filling alone. You may even choose to make it a four-cheese filling by adding another cheese such as fontina or provolone.

But you can fill a calzone with almost anything that you like. I always include the cheese filling as a base in my calzones and then add other ingredients to it.

Reduce the amount of cheese filling to compensate for the added ingredients. Below are just a few filling suggestions.

Combine filling ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.

Add cubes of pre-cooked sausage or sauté loose sausage in a skillet until well browned. Drain sautéed sausage on paper towels to remove some of the grease before adding it to the filling.

Sauté some chopped broccoli rabe in a little olive oil with minced garlic and red pepper flakes and add it to the sausage filling mixture.

Add cubes or chopped slices of deli ham and salami, Prosciutto and Provolone:

Add cubes or chopped slices of prosciutto and provolone cheese

Add cubes of a fresh seeded tomato along with some torn fresh basil leaves to the cheese filling.

Vegetables must be blanched or pre-cooked to al dente before adding them.

Try blanched broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, or sautéed cubes of eggplant.

For added flavor, sauté your vegetables in olive oil with a little chopped onion and garlic.

For a great spinach filling, use thawed and well dried frozen chopped spinach added to the cheese filling.