Thursday, March 11, 2010

Love That Panzo!!





I wanted to make the foldover baked sandwiches using the roasted chicken that was lying around in my fridge for Wednesday supper. So I had the dough ready, set it aside to rise and by the time I started cooking, the menu was changed! I started sautéing onions and garlic. When I pulled out the container with chicken, I thought let's make panzarottis since I am already using the green pepper and mozzarella cheese. Calzones it is! I quickly sautéed all the veggies, threw in some chicken, and lo and behold! I was making panzos!

I had to use up prosciutto and asparagus also. So I chose roasted asparagus as a bright, fresh partner for calzones, topped them up with toasted prosciutto. With some warm marinara for dipping and slurping, it was one delish meal we had! Here how I made it:

Chicken Calzones(Panzarotti)

(Makes 4 good sized Calzones)

Ingredients:

For the dough: 1.5 cups AP flour, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 package yeast, 1-1/4 cups warm water, 1 tbsp sugar


For the filling: 3 cups of rotisserie chicken,cubed, 1 medium green pepper,cubed, 2 medium onions, sliced, 3 cloves garlic,grated, salt and pepper to taste, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded


What to do:

For the dough: take water and sugar in a small bowl, sprinkle yeast on top, cover it and let it rest for 5 minutes. In a big bowl, take the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix in the proofed water and knead till soft dough forms. Place it in an oiled bowl, cover it and let it rise till it doubles in size.


For the filling: sauté onions and garlic till the onions are translucent. Add green peppers, chicken, salt and pepper and cook till thoroughly heated.


Heat the oven to 400 ° F. Divide dough into 4 equal portions. Roll out on well floured surface and divide fillings equally on each of them. Put a handful of cheese on each filling, fold over and pinch the sides carefully so that nothing can ooze out while baking. Bake for 30-40 minutes till top is nice golden in color and enjoy!