Weekend Cooking: Mini Calzones Stuffed with Pepperoni, Pesto and Ricotta

 Back in April, Food and Wine featured a section on a Mario Batali Bootcamp, where Jimmy Fallon tried his hand at cooking with the big guy.  I love Batali but I can't spend too much time with him because his recipes are pretty decadent.  But a little pasta and dough is good for the soul now and again.  The one recipe in this section that made my eyes light up was the Mini Calzones.  I planned to make them a couple of times, but time got away from me, and that is one thing you need to make calzones...time.  I waited for a day when I stayed home to clean house, and just tended my dough as needed.

Dough

1/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup warm water
1 TBL honey
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
1 TBL olive oil, plus more for brushing
3 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
4 to 6 ounces thinly sliced pepperoni
1/4 cup prepared basil pesto
1 large egg lightly beaten with 1 tsp water
Olive oil for frying

1.  Make the dough:  In a large bowl, stir the wine, water, honey and yeast until the yeast is dissolved.  Let stand until foamy, 5 minutes.  Stir in the salt and the 1 TBL olive oil.  Add 1 cup flour and stir until a loose batter forms.  Stir in remaining 2 cups of flour until almost completely incorporated and the dough is smooth and silky, 7 minutes.  Transfer dough to a lightly oiled large bowl and brush all over with olive oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 hour and 30 minutes.

2.  Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and cut into 16 equal pieces.  Roll the pieces into balls and transfer to a baking sheet.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand for 15 minutes.

3.  Fill the calzones:  Working with 1 ball of dough at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured work surface to a 4-inch round, a scant 1/8 inch thick.  Spoon 1 TBL of ricotta on one half of the round, then top with 2 to 4 pepperoni slices and a heaping 1/2 tsp of the pesto.  Fold the dough over to form a half moon and press the edge to seal tightly.  Crimp the edge with a fork and pinch at intervals to make pleats.  Transfer the calzone to a baking sheet and brush with egg wash.  Repeat with the remaining dough and filling to make the remaining calzones.

4.  Preheat over to 325 degrees.  In a large saucepan, heat 1 1/2 inches of oil to 350 degrees.  Fry 4 calzones at a time, turning once, until browned and crispy, 3 to 4 minutes.  Drain the calzones on paper towels and keep warm in over while you fry the rest.  Serve hot.

You can make these ahead of time through Step 3 and freeze for up to 1 month.  Let the calzones return to room temperature before frying.

A few comments:  I didn't have any pepperoni, so I sliced up some salami instead, and it worked fine.  I also used Canola Oil for frying instead of Olive Oil.  I just like the taste better.  As we were eating these, we agreed they would be extra awesome if we had some marinara to dip them in!

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