The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (285 page)

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Sheet pan pizza cooks through easily enough in the intense heat of a pizzeria oven, but cooking a thick-crust pizza loaded with sauce and cheese in a less-powerful home oven is another story. It’s hard to get the middle of the pizza to cook through, and the generous toppings mean soggy crust is likely. We wanted a thick sheet pan pizza with lots of sauce and cheese, but crisp through and through. To achieve this goal we added a thin layer of oil to the baking sheet, which helped promote a browned bottom crust. Sprinkling the dough with Parmesan before prebaking created a barrier between sauce and crust and it gave the sauce something to cling to, so the toppings didn’t slide. After prebaking the dough with the Parmesan, we spread an even layer of tomato sauce on the dough then returned the pizza to the oven. This step helped evaporate moisture from the sauce, which kept the pizza from becoming soggy. Finally, adding more Parmesan and mozzarella during the last few minutes of baking ensured that the cheeses melted into an appropriately gooey, but not burned, layer.

SERVES 12

The pizza dough will be very sticky; be sure to coat the counter, rolling pin, and your hands with extra flour as needed. You will need about 1 tablespoon of oil to brush over the dough before rising.

DOUGH

TOPPING

1. FOR THE DOUGH:
Pulse 4³⁄
₄
cups flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in food processor (fitted with dough blade if possible) until combined, about 5 pulses. With processor running, slowly add oil, then water; process until rough ball forms, 30 to 40 seconds. Let dough rest for 2 minutes, then process for 30 seconds longer. (If after 30 seconds the dough is sticky and clings to the blade, add remaining ¹⁄
₄
cup flour 1 tablespoon at a time as needed.)

2.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter and form smooth, round ball. Place the dough in large, lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly with greased plastic wrap. Let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, 1 to 1¹⁄
₂
hours.

3. FOR THE TOPPING:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil and garlic in saucepan over medium heat until sizzling and fragrant, about 1¹⁄
₂
minutes. Stir in tomato paste, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until paste begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in basil and season with salt to taste.

4.
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat 18 by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet with remaining ¹⁄
₄
cup oil. Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter and flatten it into rough rectangle. Roll dough into 16 by 12-inch rectangle and press into prepared pan. Shape edges of dough against pan and brush dough lightly with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until puffy, 30 to 45 minutes.

5.
Press dough with fingertips to dimple it, then sprinkle evenly with 1 cup Parmesan. Bake until Parmesan begins to brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Working quickly, spread tomato sauce over dough, leaving 1-inch border around edge. Bake until sauce darkens and steams, 7 to 10 minutes. Working quickly, sprinkle with remaining ¹⁄
₂
cup Parmesan and mozzarella. Continue to bake until cheese is melted, 10 to 15 minutes, rotating pizza halfway through baking.

6.
Let pizza cool in pan for 1 minute, then lift onto cutting board with wide spatula. Cut into squares and serve hot.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

With soggy fillings and bready crusts, bad calzones are a dime a dozen. After baking 240 of them, we’ve elevated calzones above common pizzeria fare. We tested a host of modern calzone recipes and came up with calzones that were pale and blond, soggy and limp. They tended to hover at one of two extremes: too bready and rubbery or too thin and crackerlike. We wanted to balance a crisp crust with plenty of chew, and a healthy proportion of rich, creamy, flavorful filling. Bread flour gave the crust chew and crispness and olive oil added flavor and made the dough easy to handle. Mixing for 10 minutes to fully develop the gluten in the dough guaranteed that good chew. We kept the filling simple, with ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan and some light seasonings in just the right proportions, blended with a single egg yolk. Cutting vents in the tops to let off some steam and cooling the calzones on a wire rack prevented soggy bottoms.

See “ASSEMBLING CALZONES” illustrations that follow recipe.

MAKES SIX 9-INCH CALZONES, SERVING 6 TO 8

If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix the dough by hand following the instructions in
“TEST KITCHEN TIP NO. 119 HAND-MIXING METHOD FOR DOUGH”
. If you don’t have a baking stone, bake the calzones on an overturned and preheated rimmed baking sheet set on the lowest oven rack. A simple tomato sauce is a nice accompaniment to the calzones.

DOUGH

FILLING

1. FOR THE DOUGH:
Using stand mixer fitted with dough hook, combine flour, yeast, and salt on low speed. Increase speed to medium-low, add olive oil, then gradually add water; continue to mix until mixture comes together and smooth, elastic dough forms, about 10 minutes. Transfer dough to large, lightly greased bowl; cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 1¹⁄
₂
to 2 hours.

2. FOR THE FILLING:
While dough rises, heat olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in 8-inch skillet over medium heat until garlic is fragrant and begins to sizzle, 1¹⁄
₂
to 2 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

3.
Combine ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg yolk, oregano, salt, pepper, and cooled garlic oil in bowl; cover with plastic and refrigerate until needed.

4.
Adjust oven rack to lowest position, set baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and spray parchment lightly with vegetable oil spray. Transfer dough to clean counter. Divide dough in half, then cut each half into thirds. Loosely shape each piece of dough into ball. Transfer to baking sheet and cover with greased plastic. Let dough rest for 15 to 30 minutes.

5.
Cut eight 9-inch square pieces of parchment. Roll 1 dough ball into 9-inch round (keep other pieces covered). Set round onto parchment square and cover with another parchment square; roll out another dough ball, set dough round on top of first, and cover with parchment square. Repeat to form stack of 3 rounds, covering top round with parchment square. Form second stack of 3 with remaining dough balls and parchment squares.

6.
Remove top parchment square from first stack of dough rounds and place rounds with parchment beneath on work surface; if dough rounds have shrunk, gently and evenly roll out again to 9-inch rounds. Spread scant ¹⁄
₂
cup filling onto bottom half of each round, leaving 1-inch border at bottom uncovered. Fold top half of dough over bottom half, leaving ¹⁄
₂
-inch border of bottom layer uncovered, then press and crimp edges to seal. With sharp knife, cut 5 slits, about 1¹⁄
₂
inches long, diagonally across top of calzone, making sure to cut through only top layer of dough. Brush tops and sides of calzones with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with kosher salt. Trim excess parchment paper; slide parchment with calzones onto pizza peel, then slide onto baking stone, evenly spacing them apart. Bake until golden brown, about 11 minutes. While first batch of calzones bake, shape and top second batch.

7.
Transfer calzones to wire rack and discard parchment; let cool for 5 minutes. While first batch cools, bake second batch. Serve.

1.
While dough rises in step 1, combine ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg yolk, oregano, salt, and pepper in bowl, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until needed. Omit step for making garlic oil.

2.
Cook 8 ounces sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed, in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat, breaking it up into ¹⁄
₂
-inch pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in 3 minced garlic cloves and ¹⁄
₄
teaspoon red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 12 ounces trimmed broccoli rabe, cut into 1-inch pieces, 1 tablespoon water, and ¹⁄
₈
teaspoon salt and cook, stirring constantly, until broccoli rabe is crisp-tender and water has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Transfer mixture to large paper towel–lined plate and cool to room temperature; once cooled, pat it with paper towels to absorb excess moisture and set aside until needed.

3.
Continue with recipe from step 4. To fill calzones, divide sausage mixture evenly into 6 portions on plate; place 1 portion of sausage mixture on top of cheese filling on each dough round and continue with recipe to seal and bake calzones.

1.
While dough rises in step 1, combine 10 ounces whole-milk ricotta (1¹⁄
₄
cups), with mozzarella, Parmesan, egg yolk, oregano, salt, and pepper in bowl, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until needed.

2.
Cut 2 stemmed and seeded red bell peppers into ¹⁄
₂
-inch by 2-inch strips. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in 10-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add bell peppers and ¹⁄
₈
teaspoon salt and cook until slightly softened and spotty brown, about 5 minutes, stirring only 2 or 3 times. Clear center of skillet, add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes, and cook, mashing with spatula, until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Stir garlic mixture into peppers. Remove from heat and immediately stir in 1 pound curly-leaf spinach, stemmed, and ¹⁄
₈
teaspoon salt; continue to stir until spinach is wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture to paper towel–lined plate and let cool to room temperature; once cooled, pat with paper towels to absorb excess moisture and set aside until needed.

3.
Continue with recipe from step 4. To fill calzones, divide pepper mixture evenly into 6 portions on plate. Place 1 portion pepper mixture on top of cheese filling on each dough round, then sprinkle each round with 1 ounce crumbled goat cheese (¹⁄
₄
cup) and continue with recipe to seal and bake calzones.