Vegie Calzones

I have used up my quick and easy meals over the past week: egg burritos, chili, and a a few salad dinners. So I had to think about dinner tonight.

We are having vegetarian calzones with spinach, portobello mushrooms and onion. I will chop all of those ingredients together and then lightly sauté them. You can stuff them with anything you like.

Sometimes you will convey your feelings about dinner to your family. So if you are not happy about what you are serving, you could say "pizza pockets." Everyone will probably reply. "Oh."

However, you can put them on a pretty plate and say, "Tonight we have homemade calzones with sautéed baby spinach, portobello mushrooms and sweet Spanish onion." Then the response will be more like "ooooh." It is possible to improve mealtime just by delighting in serving your family.

Here is a simple dough recipe for 12 calzones:
Combine:
2 cups warm water
1 Tbl yeast
1 tsp sugar
Let sit a few minutes until bubbly. Add 1 Tbl olive oil, 5 cups of flour and 1 tsp salt. Knead or mix in your kitchen aid adding up to another 1/2 cup of flour if needed. Rise until double, or about 1-1/2 hrs.

Quick tip for french bread or pizza dough- I have found that a little longer kneading and a little longer rising time (than regular bread recipes) makes better dough.

Punch down dough and roll into a 6 inch circle. Fill the circles, careful not to touch the edge. Fold over, press edge with a fork. Brush with and egg wash. Rise 30 minutes. (I will put mine in the fridge to lengthen rising time because we return late tonight.) Bake. 375 degrees.
A few tips on the stuffing:

• Portion your dough before you start. Also portion your filling, you want about 1/4 to 1/3 c. filling for each.
• Sundried tomatoes, fresh or drained/stewed tomatoes are a little easier than sauce because if any of your filling touches the outer rim it doesn't seal properly. If you use sauce, don't let it be too thin.
  
• Roll out the circle on a well floured surface so you don't tear the bottom when you transfer it to a baking sheet.
• Don't leave cheese or vegies too large, they can poke through when you fold over the dough.
• I like to mix all the ingredients together before I stuff them.

I have had some success freezing the stuffed calzones (don't rise them) and rising/baking it another day.