Roasted chicken, garlic and butternut squash with toasted pinenuts, basil, mozzarella and parmesan cheese
Calzone comes from the Italian word for stocking or trouser leg. It's an Italian filled bread, which has it's origins in Naples, and looks like a folded pizza. Here in the UK we would liken it to a Cornish Pasty, and Like a pasty, a calzone is just as portable. Typically a calzone is baked in an oven and stuffed with salami or ham, mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan or pecorino cheese and then mixed with an egg. Mostly the Italians fill their calzones with left over meats, roasted vegetables and cheeses.
Ingredients:
- 650g/1lb 5oz Italian 00 flour, or you can use strong white flour
- 7g sachet of easy-blend yeast
- 2 tsp skinny salt (fine salt)
- 25ml/1fl oz olive oil
- 50ml/2fl oz warm milk
- 325ml/11fl oz warm water
- pizza dough (see rough weight and measures below)
- 1x cheapoutdooroven
- 2x butternut squash
- 1x whole chicken
- 1x bulb of garlic
- 2x 125g mozzarella
- 1x 30g/1oz grated parmesan grana padano cheese
- 3x tbl spoons pinenuts
- 1x Large egg beaten for wash and bonding
- Flour for dusting
- Bunch of Basil leaves
- olive oil
- Sea salt and cracked black pepper
- Chili flakes
Method:
We have suggested a whole chicken as it makes sense to fill the oven once it is on, and you can save any left overs...if your house is like ours, they won't last the day! If you have none of the ingredients as left overs, start them roasting before making the dough. If it is done before your dough has finnished rising it's fine for it to cool before you use it.
For the filling Chop the chicken into quarters and place it into a roasting tray and season with salt and pepper, olive oil and a few table spoons of water in the bottom of the tray to keep it moist. Cover with tin foil. Then chop up the butternut squash into quarters lenghth ways and scoop out the pulp and seeds, there is no need to peel it. Place in another roasting tray skin side down. Next, scalp the bulb of garlic and squish that in too then season with salt and pepper, along with a hearty glug of olive oil. Then into your outside oven if it's fired up and ready. If making the filling in advance, place into the middle of the oven on 200c for 30-40mins depending in your oven or until cooked through.
Make enough pizza dough for four medium pizzas. The weights and measures below is roughly enough for 4 x 30cm pizzas:
- 250ml x lukewarm water
- 2tsp x dry yeast
- 1¼tsp x sugar
- 1½tbspx olive oil, plus extra, for greasing
- 475g x strong flour, plus extra, for dusting
- 1¼tsp x salt
As in making pizzas, once your dough has risen, then been knocked back...divide your dough into four pieces onto a clean floured work surface. Roll out each portion into a rough circle about 30 cm across and about as thick as a pound coin. Lightly toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until golden brown, and set aside. Then grate your parmasan or grana padano cheese and tear up the mozzarella into small chunks. Now to start loading the calzone. Scoop out and roughly chop up the butternut squash and place on half of the dough circles, leaving at least 2cm/1" gap around the edge. Then season with salt and pepper.
Tear/cut up the skinned chicken pieces and place in a bowl, you probably won't need much of the breast meat if at all for four calzone. Squeeze out as many roasted cloves of garlic as you like from their shells (love this bit! We use the whole bulb, but we eat garlic a lot) and hand mix into the chicken so its all mixed together nicely. Toss the garlic loaded chicken evenly over the squash, then sprinkle the pinenuts, parmesan, mozzarella and torn up basil leaves over too.
The secret to the calzone not bursting is to make sure your filling is moist not wet! Then with egg wash paint around the edge of the dough and fold the other half of the dough over the filling side to make a pasty shape. Either crimp the edges like a pasty or use a fork to gently create a good seal of the two sides. If you have any egg wash remaining paint over the top or use olive oil. If you like a little kick, sprinkle some chilli flakes over the top with a little cheese grated on top.
Place the calzone in your outdoor oven as a pizza, just a little further back. As they are dense they will take slightly longer to bake than a pizza, so keep your eye on them, perhaps turn them once if they look like they're browning too quick on one side...e acabou! (And it's done!)