Sausage Calzone

Those Italians are marketing geniuses I think. To invent the pizza is proof enough but to repackage it then call it something new shows the depth of intelligence we're talking about when it comes to Italy. I love it.

Calzone really is nothing but pizza inside out but I don't look at that as a shortcoming, in fact it just makes me love calzone all the more.

I have to ask--do you say "cal-ZONE" or "cal-ZO-nay"? You get those Italian words like provolone, calzone, marscapone and it seems to me that since they're Italian words they ought to have that vowel syllable on the end but we dumb ol' Americans give it that silent E treatment.

I was raised to call it "pro-vo-lo-nAY" (no fake accent or anything, just the vowel on the end) but if I ever call it that at the deli counter I get some blondie high schooler correcting me as if she had a doctorate in linguistics.

Well whatever it is, however you say it, it's delicious (or do you say de-li-sio-so?) It's also a good recipe for using if you ever have to take a meal into someone because you can wrap the calzones individually, they freeze well and require no dishes to transport, wash or return.

For dough:
1 ½ cup warm water
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fast acting yeast

Mix the dough (I use a bread machine) and let it rise half an hour.

For filling:
10 ounces Italian sausage
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
¼ pound crimini mushrooms
1 small carrot, finely diced
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup sliced olives
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ cup grated mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
beaten egg white
marinara sauce
chopped fresh herbs for garnish

Saute sausage, add onion, garlic and mushrooms and carrot, cook till vegetables are tender and sausage is browned. Drain fat. Stir in tomato sauce, olives, basil, oregano, sugar and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes then let cool slightly. Mix in cheeses. Divide dough into twelve equal parts then flatten each section into a circle. Fill circle with filling (how much kind of depends on how fat you want them to be, less makes them easier to fill, more makes them harder to seal up). Fold dough over into a half-circle and seal the edges carefully, press also with the tines of a fork to help seal and prick the top to vent. Brush tops with beaten egg whites if desired.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve topped with marinara sauce and chopped fresh herbs if desired.

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