George Costanza, to say the least, has a predilection for food. It instigates, interrupts, and defines his work, home, and sex life. It occupies his thoughts and daydreams, walks in tandem with his fantasies, and plays a vital role in both the pursuit of and vengeance exacted upon others. And, through its George Steinbrenner-ian provenance, provides a great excuse to make some calzones!
Ingredients
Dough
360 ml tepid water
1 tsp dry yeast
½ tsp plain white sugar
600g bread flour
1 tsp kosher salt
Coarsely ground cornmeal
Sauce
1 28-ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes
½ small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
Dried oregano
Dried basil
Crushed red pepper flake (Optional)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
The Calzone
Fresh mozzarella cheese (thinly sliced)
Eggplant
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Olive oil
Ricotta cheese
Pepperoni
Coarsely ground cornmeal
Full fat low moisture mozzarella cheese (shredded)
Method
Dough
In a maxed-out oven, preheat two pizza stones or one pizza stone and one pizza steel at 550°F for one hour.
Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add 360 ml of tepid water, 1 teaspoon of dry yeast, and ½ teaspoon of plain white sugar. Let it bloom for 10 minutes before adding 600 grams of bread flour to give the dough a hydration of about 60%. Next, add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and knead on medium speed for about 5 minutes.
Pre-divide the dough into your desired portions. Since we are making calzones, make sure that you are using a double portion of dough. Then, stretch each divided portion into a taut ball. The rounder and more taut the ball is, the easier everything will be later on. Place each portion of dough into individual well-oiled bowls, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3 days.
For cold fermented pizza dough, allow your pre-made dough to proof at room temperature for two hours. Start by generously flouring the dough as well as your work surface.
Roll out the two ends of the dough and leave a sort of mound of unrolled dough in the middle, which you can then rotate and roll from the center. Pass the dough repeatedly over your knuckles until gravity stretches it out to about a 10-inch round.
Prep your pizza peel by dusting it with a bit of coarsely ground cornmeal, which is going to allow the pizza to slide off into the oven with ease. Take care of any final shaping and stretching.
Sauce
Into a blender, add one 28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes, ½ of a small chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic, a few sprinkles each of dried oregano, dried basil, and crushed red pepper flake. Hit the mixture with one second pulses until it is relatively smooth. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
In a saucepan, add your pizza sauce as well as a little splash of water to prevent the sauce from getting too thick. On a stovetop, cook the sauce for about 30 minutes. Set aside for later.
The Quick Cook Pizza
On top of the pizza dough, add a few generous dollops of your tomato sauce and spread it almost all the way to the edges.
After adding the sauce, add some finely sliced fresh mozzarella cheese. Place into the oven that has been preheating for an hour at 550°F. Because of this, the pizza will cook extremely quickly, so it should only need about 5 minutes in the oven.
The pizza will appear to be very thin and flat with no blistering or bubbling, so the pizza should be almost cracker-like and it should be charred at the bottom.
The Calzone
Slice an eggplant and place the slices on a rack set and rimmed baking sheet and season both sides with some light sprinklings of kosher salt.
After about 30 minutes, you will begin to notice that a brown liquid has materialized on top of the eggplant slices. Use a paper towel to dab the liquid off of both sides of the eggplant slices.
Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and place the rack of eggplant slices on top. Season the slices with a little bit of freshly ground black pepper and a few healthy glugs of olive oil for flavor and coloring. Place in a 400°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the slices are nicely browned and soft. Set aside to cool off.
Once the eggplant slices are cooled off, chop them into smaller pieces.
To your cold fermented dough, add a generous amount of ricotta cheese and spread it out. Make sure to leave a 2 to 3 inch gap on the outside. Then, add some pepperonis as well as your chopped roasted eggplant slices. To top everything off, add some thinly sliced mozzarella cheese.
Fold the dough over while trying to drape instead of stretch. Seal the dough shut and use a pizza cutter to trim off the excess dough. Pinch the edge shut to make sure that it is completely sealed and tuck in the calzone tips to make sure it will fit on the pizza peel.
Dust the pizza peel with ground cornmeal and place the calzone on top and make any last minute adjustments. Make sure that the thicker part of the calzone is facing the hotter part of the oven.
Place into the oven (after it has been maxed out and preheating for one hour) between the two pizza stones for 5 to 15 minutes. Once it is finished, immediately slice the calzone in half to prevent the steam from making the crust soggy from the inside out.
To reduce the moisture inside of your calzone, line a sieve with four layers of cheesecloth and set into a bowl. Dump in your ricotta cheese, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and drain overnight. Alternatively, you could weigh everything down with something heavy and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes. Use shredded full fat low moisture mozzarella cheese, layer the other toppings, and fold using the same method as before. Place into the oven (after it has been maxed out and preheating for one hour) between the two pizza stones for 5 to 15 minutes. Once it is finished, immediately slice the calzone in half to prevent the steam from making the crust soggy from the inside out.