Stromboli and Calzone

Easy items to produce using pizza dough

I purchased the pizza dough pre-made from a local grocery store, however you may follow any pizza dough recipe.

Stromboli: 

Roll out your dough in a rectangle.

Lightly coat with oil or tomato sauce.

Evenly coat with a mixture of thinly cut vegetables and sliced meats like pepperoni or salami. (You may also decide to only use meats or vegetables).

Carefully roll into a cylinder shape, similar to a loaf of French bread.

Place on a pizza stone or baking pan in a 400 degree oven.

Bake for 20 minutes, then lightly paint the top with an egg wash.

Return to the oven at 420 degrees for five minutes.

Remove and let rest for ten minutes before serving.

Calzone: 

Cut the dough in half and roll out two circles about ten inches in diameter. 

Decide on the type of calzone you’d like to make - meatball, sausage and pepper, four cheese, cheese and pepperoni, sautéed spinach and sausage, etc. 

On one half of the circle, place approximately 6 oz. of the filling you choose.

Lightly moisten the edges of the dough with water.

Fold half of the dough over the half topped with your filling and pinch the edges to form a tight half circle.

With a knife, poke one small hole into the top center of the dough.

Place on a hot pizza stone in a 420 degree oven for 17 minutes.

Paint the top of the calzone with an egg wash and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.

You may serve this whole or cut in half.

Note: Both the Stromboli and Calzone go well with a side of Marinara sauce as a dipping sauce.

Both items also go well with a chopped salad and your favorite dressing.

Beer Can Chicken

Serves Four

1 can of your favorite light beer

1 - 2 1/2 to 3 pound whole chicken

Chicken seasoning or chicken rub

Assortment of root vegetables, whole onions and fingerling potatoes

Generously rub the seasoning over the inside and outside of the chicken.

Open the can of beer and pour off 1/3 of the can for later use.

Place the can of beer inside the chicken, standing up so you do not lose any beer.

Place the chicken standing up in a roasting pan.

Remove the top rack from your oven and place the chicken in a 350 degree oven for one hour.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and place your root vegetables in the bottom of the pan with one cup of water and the 1/3 leftover beer you saved earlier.

Place back in the oven for approximately one additional hour.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven.

Spoon the root vegetables in a serving dish and hold.  

Leaving the chicken in the roasting pan, carefully remove the beer can from the chicken. If you loose some beer don’t worry as you will use this for your sauce.

When the can is removed, hold the chicken on the side.

Pour the remaining beer in the pan to loosen any drippings.

Pour all drippings and beer through a strainer in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer.

Simmer for 5 minutes and adjust seasoning by adding  one teaspoon each of pepper, chopped parsley and sage.

Carve chicken and serve with the root vegetables and sauce.