Monday, August 23, 2010

calzones, take two


i've really gotten on a calzone kick lately.  they are easy to make in advance and are great to pack for lunch.  sadly, dairy still seems to be a problem for me, so i've had to rethink my typical filling ideas.

a friend suggested using caramelized onions instead of cheese and while nothing will ever replace cheese (glorious cheese), these are so tasty that i don't miss it.

sausage and onion calzones
makes 4

1 ball spelt right pizza dough, thawed
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
1 link hot italian sausage, removed from casing and chopped
1 link sweet italian sausage, removed from casing and chopped
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

olive oil
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes

spelt flour for dusting

allow pizza dough to rise at room temperature until roughly doubled in size

heat some olive oil in a large skillet
add sliced onions and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they have caramelized to a medium brown color.  this usually takes around 30-45 minutes.

once onions are caramelized, transfer them to a medium bowl.

in the same skillet, brown the sausage, breaking it up into small chunks as it cooks
 after sausage cooks, drain excess fat and add sausage to onions

add lemon zest and chopped thyme and mix well

preheat oven to 450

line an inverted sheet pan with parchment

divide dough in to four equal sections
stretch and flatten each section into a flat disc

place 1/4 of the onion/sausage mixture onto one side of each flattened round of dough
fold the other side over the mixture and crimp shut

transfer each calzone to the baking sheet

top with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes

using a sharp knife or scissors, cut slits in the top of each calzone to allow steam to escape

bake for roughly 15 minutes or until golden brown

serve with tomato sauce

yum!

3 comments:

Spelt Right Baking said...

Hey Laura,

Beth George from Spelt Right here. Can I post this one on the Lunch Box Chronicles too? Can you eat goat or sheep cheese? I know folks with problems with cow's milk, but can handle one or both of those. Also, check out the recipes on our blog with walnuts (can you eat nuts), red peppers, onions. You will not miss the cheese or the wheat with this recipe. http://speltrightbaking.blogspot.com/2010/07/lunch-box-chronicles-day-seventy-four.html PS Where do you buy the Spelt Right pizza dough?

laura said...

Hi Beth- Sure you can post it!

Goat and sheep cheese does seem to be easier- but I'm still trying to figure out what is going on. My lactose-intolerance test came back negative (not intolerant) and my skin test showed no milk allergy- so now I am waiting for more blood tests to come back. Not being able to eat dairy sucks- and since I can't have soy (and am deathly allergic to tree nuts), there aren't too many alternatives right now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someday I'll be able to have at least a little dairy!

Oh- I buy the dough at Whole Foods- either Fresh Pond or Woburn- I saw that you were just at the Fresh Pond WFs- was bummed to have missed you!

Spelt Right Baking said...

Bummer on the tree nut allergy. Here's another recipe with no dairy that you might like. It's with spinach, onions, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper wrapped in Spelt Right pizza dough - I usually make triangles rather than calzones(you can eliminate the cheese and pine nuts from the recipe and it is still quite good.) http://speltrightbaking.blogspot.com/2010/04/lunch-box-chronicles-day-three.html I had a great demo at the Fresh Pond store. We sold out the shelf of bagels really quickly. Unfortunately, I noticed that some of the pizza dough had been thawed in transit with the distributor (grr!) so I had the manager pull it from the freezer. However, there are still some great doughs there. Have you tried our bagels? They are along the back wall freezer. Also, our breads are great too. We have them on line. I am referring some of my on line customers to your blog because we have so many customers with a range of allergies and they are always looking for recipes. Cheers! And, thanks for letting me post your recipe.