Real Simple magazine had a recipe I knew I had to try as soon as I saw it featured on another blog: three-cheese calzones. I had also heard an ad on the radio for the Pizza Hut “P’Zone” which intrigued me. Not to buy it, but to try and make my own.

Fans of Seinfeld may remember the genius episode called The Calzone where George Costanza wins his way into the stomach of his boss by bringing him a calzone to eat everyday. As usual, hijinks ensue and the calzone runs are no more following an unfortunate and awkward “George moment.”

Anyhow, calzones are Italian “hanging sacks” of meat, cheese and tomato. Traditionally, that is. In North American they are served with a sauce, and that’s how I did mine. The recipe is actually probably a bit more closely related to stromboli, but I’m not going to be that picky.

Three-Cheese Calzones with marinara sauce

(makes four)

1 pound refrigerated pizza dough
1 cup fresh ricotta
1 cup grated mozzarella (4 ounces)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)
1 bunch spinach, thick stems removed and roughly chopped (5 cups)
Black pepper
1/4 pound thinly sliced salami (I used capicollo plus mortadella for an extra meat hit)

2 tablespoons olive oil
I added some meat (mortadella) and some extra cheese (provolone)

Heat oven to 400° F. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 4 equal portions and roll and stretch them into 8-inch rounds.In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Layer the salami on one side of each round of dough and top with the cheese mixture. I also added a layer of provolone cheese and mortadella. Fold the dough over the filling and pinch the edges to seal.

Brush the tops of the calzones with the oil. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with the sauce.

Rolling the really springy dough

Marinara sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, diced tomatoes (I used canned)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper

Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, sugar and basil and simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper.

You could just buy sauce if these seems like too much work, but it was really good. In fact, I kept eating it on crackers as I was making it. It was super chunky.

Layering the capicollo

Brushing with oil

So, these ‘almost’ homemade calzones were a hit. I say almost, because the dough was store bought Pillsbury. It was a bit sweet. Maybe next time we’ll try our own dough.

They were even better the next day for lunch.

I’m officially obsessed with Mexican cuisine, in case you couldn’t tell. After having promising Mike’s parents a homecooked Mexican meal earlier in the week, we decided to follow through.

Features included:

• fresh salsa verde and guacamole to start
• tortilla soup with all the fixin’s
• red-chile dipped enchiladas

Tortilla soup, with fresh corn tortilla strips, flash fried ancho peppers, farmer’s cheese and chicken chunks. This recipe was amazing.

The main: red-chile dipped enchiladas on a bed of cabbage ‘relish’, covered with red-chile coated potatoes and carrots. It came together well, but was hard to handle.

Since I sustained an oil burn (it’s a long story and mostly involves my own kitchen stupidity) and my hand still kind of hurts when I type, I will save sharing long recipes. (You can find my guacamole recipe here)

The recipes all came from Rick Bayless (of course! I can’t say enough about his book: Authentic Mexican), and I would make them all again, except for the main: the red-chile sauce dipped enchiladas. They are a bit different than the Americanized version of enchiladas we all know and love, and are essentially deep fried flavoured corn tortillas, with no fillings really. I’m not sure if we did something wrong, because although they tasted great, they were hell to get good presentation out of and kept falling apart.

Salsa Verde

10 to 12 tomatillos (1 pound)
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
2 jalapeno chiles (or to your tastes)
handful of cilantro
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups broth (beef or chicken, I suppose you could try vegetable as well)
salt to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon

Boil the tomatillos until soft in salted water, about 10-15 minutes. Drain well.

Blend tomatillos, garlic, chiles, cilantro and onion together. Just until it is almost smooth; there should still be some texture.

Heat a frying pan with vegetable oil on medium high. When hot enough that a drop of the tomatillo puree sizzles when you drop it in, add all the puree, stirring constantly for 5 minutes, or until the mix is thicker.

Add the broth, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes, or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season.

This recipe is a bit different than ones I have done in the past, and I far preferred it. It’s not as sharp as roasted tomatillo salsa verde can be; it’s sweeter and smoother. I think I’ll crank up the heat factor next time and add more chiles.

Tomatillo mix before the blending…

Almost done!

Frying up the chile for the tortilla soup. Hand-meets-oil accident happened soon after this photo was taken. No cameras were harmed in the making of these chiles.

Dried ancho and guajillo peppers.

Toasting the peppers.

The soaking peppers (closest) and the cabbage/vinegar/red onion mix, farthest.

Grinding peppercorns and cumin seed for the red-chile sauce.

Straining the pepper pods and seeds out of the sauce.

These were the main steps on the road to our Mexican meal. It kind of looks time consuming as I review the photos, but it really wasn’t. Highly delicious and rewarding. I think Mike’s parents liked it, too.

Julio’s Barrio: take note! If I can make fresh delicious authentic Mexican food, so can you. But I would even settle for cooked chicken in my nachos. Thanks.

Feeding a crowd can always be a challenge, especially when you do not know what any one else is bringing. Matt & Amy, hosts of the Superbowl 2009 party I attended just said “Bring a dip!” I decided on a modified seven layer dip. One was a classic preparation, the other modified for the vegan and vegetarian attending.

Superbowl Seven Layer Dip

I made two versions of this, the large pan and a smaller version for my vegan friend, Andy. I omitted the mayo/sour cream layer and cheese topping, and added a layer of sauteed garlic and tomatillos for him.

2 cans black beans
1 onion, diced. 1/2 for black beans, save other 1/2 for pico de gallo
1 clove garlic, minced
2 avocados
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon cumin, 1/2 tablespoon chipotle pepper, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Spice to your liking. If in a hurry, you could use a package of taco seasoning

2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 onion from before
1/2 to a whole jalapeno, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
squirt of lime juice
1/2 cup cilantro

1 can pitted black olives, chopped
1 can pickled jalapenos
10 tomatillos, chopped
1 large bunch green onions, chopped
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
1 bag of your favourite tortilla chips

Warm up black beans in pan with onion and garlic. Heat until beans start to explode, and you can mash it a bit. Spread evenly over an oblong dish or large, round, flat bottomed dish or bowl. I used an 11×14 glass dish.

Mash peeled avocados. Mix with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Spread on top of beans.

Sautee tomatillos in a bit of vegetable oil, until soft. Set aside.

Mix sour cream, mayonnaise and spices. Spread evenly on top of avocado mixture.

Sprinkle a layer of chopped black olives over the top. Sprinkle jalapenos, and tomatillos. Spread pico de gallo, followed by a layer of chopped green onion over the mix.

Shred cheese and layer it on top.

Use tortilla chips for dipping.

First layer: black beans with garlic, jalapenos and onions. Fried until they start to burst and you can mash them.

Avocado layer.

Sour cream, mayo and spice layer. The recipe called for jar mayonnaise and a packet of taco seasoning. Instead, Mike whipped up some homemade mayo spiked with cumin. I also added chipotle spice, smoked salt, pepper and cayenne to the blend.

Mike making the mayo. Doing it by hand is an arduous procedure. I love our hand blender: I can puree soups and Mike can make mayo in a snap.

The recipe was based on one by Michel Roux, a curry mayonnaise I believe.

Note to self: buy more olives next time. This sparse layer looked kind of sad so I added…

Canned jalapenos. Spicy!

Pico de gallo, cilantro and green onions on top. Cheese would also be a nice addition, but I left it out. I served it with tortilla chips.

This recipe was definitely a keeper. It was a bit of work, but the tex-mex flavours were a favourite, and homemade dips are always better. I will probably try to make my own refried black beans next time.