Calzone!

Years ago I went skiing with a group of mates to the Italian resort of Sauze d'Oulx. First ever skiing trip, 5 lads aged about 20. The extent of our preparation was an old guy showing us the rudiments of the snow plow in the pub the night before we left. We were, to a man, Franz Klammer.

 This is what we thought we looked like..

None of us felt we needed any kind of ski school so we went to the nursery slopes, fell over a great deal especially and, if it wasn't you, hilariously, whilst trying to get onto a drag lift (you don't sit down just brace yourself and let yourself be dragged up but the temptation to 'sit' was very strong at first). Then we went up in the chair lift to the top of the mountain, falling in a tangled heap as we tried to ski off the chair so that the whole system had to be stopped; and threw ourselves off the mountain.

And this..

'Battered and bruised' does not come close to describing how we were and felt at the end of that first day, but you bounce when you're 20 and get up again. I don't think I've ever laughed so much on any other day before or since. That first day's skiing, especially when you're all in the same boat (without a paddle or a clue) is the absolute best thing in the world in my opinion. Or close anyway.

 And this is what we actually looked like

Now Sauze is not exactly St Moritz or Aspen (both of which I've been massively fortunate enough to have skied since - St Moritz was a day trip, we didn't stay there, are you mad?), but when you're 20 with your best mates, it doesn't really matter where you are, you'll find a great time anyway. And we ate, almost to the exclusion of anything else for the whole week, a new kind of pizza that none of us had even heard of before. The Calzone. It's a kind of folded over pizza, obviously you all know that now but this was back in the late 1650s (it feels like anyway) and we were easily impressed - and on a budget. 

You can get them in Italian restaurants here of course these days but I don't think I've ever seen one in a supermarket to be cooked at home. They might exist but I've not seen them. Anyway, all that inane rambling leads me on to having cooked one this evening, two actually and if you want to have a go, here's how:

 You need to mix 4oz of strong bread flour with 1/3 of a teaspoon of dried yeast (it's 28p and easy to use) and 1/3 of a teaspoon of salt. Mix together with 100ml of lukewarm water into a dough.










Kneed the dough (I have declined the baker joke here you'll be pleased to note) for 5 minutes then put into the fridge for 40 minutes to 'rise'. When I say 'rise' it doesn't much. It's more 'prove' I think.
 
Then cut the thing in half and roll each piece out into a 7cm circle. 

Then add what you want to half of the circle - I used smoked ham, mozzerella cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, basil and spinach. Fold over pinch the edges, put on a baking sheet in the middle of a hot oven (210 degrees) 

and in just 25 minutes you will have an almost inedible brick of a thing!

Actually I lie. It was really good. Cook some passata with basil & garlic to spoon over the top, serve with a nice salad and some red wine - Aussie Shiraz was my choice unless you can afford decent Italian stuff like a Barollo - and Bob is quite clearly your dad's brother.

Enjoy ;)



One word of advice if I may? Once you have eaten your Calzone, don't under any circumstances, go on to a small Italian bar where you can play table football and play 'spoof' for shots of Grappa. To the point where three of you drink a bottle and a half of the stuff before you leave. 

Trust me on this one OK? 

:)