Calzone With Sausage, Greens And Ricotta
Award-winning chef, culinary instructor, prolific author and TV host Joanne Weir has a new cookbook out, with a foreword by the great Alice Waters. Need we say more, other than the fact that every recipe in this book is a winner? Pick up a copy and learn the meaning of California-Mediterranean cuisine.
I've always said pizza would be my last meal on earth. Then I tasted this Chez Panisse calzone: a pillowy puff of golden dough oozing with melted cheese, spicy homemade sausage, and wilted greens. Delivered hot and steamy on a rustic wooden board, it wins last-meal status. Or can I have both?
Calzone With Sausage, Greens And Ricotta
Prep Time
3
hours
Cook Time
15
minutes
Servings
4
medium calzones
Total time: 3 hours, 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 3/4 pound Italian sausage (bulk or removed from casing)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 6 cups young, tender greens, such as beet greens, Swiss chard, escarole or radicchio
- large pinch of red chile flakes
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm (110ºF) water
- 3 cups unbleached bread flour
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the bowl
Directions
- :::dough:::
- In a large bowl, combine the yeast, 1/2 cup of the warm water, and 1/2 cup of the flour and stir to mix. Let the mixture sit at room temperature until bubbles are visible, about 30 minutes.
- Add the remaining 21/2 cups flour, the remaining 1/2 cup warm water, the salt, and the oil and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the dough comes together in a rough mass.
- Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Knead the dough until smooth, elastic, and a bit tacky to the touch, 7 to 8 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn the dough to coat it on all sides with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place (75°F) until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (Alternatively, let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, bring the dough to room temperature before continuing.)
- :::calzone:::
- Prepare the calzone dough. Line a strainer with paper towels and place over a bowl. Spoon the ricotta into the prepared strainer and let drain for at least 1 hour or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon, until cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a large bowl and set aside. Pour off and discard the fat from the pan.
- Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the garlic and cook for 5 seconds to soften. Add the greens and chile flakes and cook, tossing occasionally, until the greens begin to wilt. Add the vinegar and toss together to mix well. Cover and cook until the greens are wilted and tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels and let drain and cool completely.
- Add the greens, ricotta, and Parmigiano-Reggiano to the sausage and mix well. Season with salt and reserve.
- Thirty minutes before you are ready to bake, place a pizza stone on the lowest rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 500°F or to the highest temperature possible.
- Lightly flour a work surface. Punch down the dough and transfer it to the floured surface. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and form each piece into a ball, but do not work the dough at all. Roll out 1 dough ball into a circle about 1/4 inch thick.
- Generously flour a pizza peel (or a rimless cookie sheet) and transfer the dough circle to the peel. Spread one-quarter of the sausage-ricotta mixture on half of the dough circle, leaving a 1-inch border along the edge. Using a pastry brush, lightly moisten the border with water, then fold the uncovered half of the dough over the filling and firmly press the edges together. Roll the sealed edges inward and press again to ensure a tight seal. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
- Slide the calzone onto the pizza stone and bake until golden and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes (you may need to do this in batches). Using the peel, remove the calzone from the oven and slide it onto a cutting board. Let rest for 10 minutes.