Rev: Roasted Chicken-Artichoke Calzone (CL 7/04)

[sweetpea]

ducking my head in case you all are throwing things at me since i got my july issue last friday! :) well, i haven't even finished up with the may, june or even march or april issues for that matter, but made this recipe b/c i needed to use up some chicken.

Very tasty and simple to make. I will def. make them again b/c i love artichokes and any recipe that involves them gets on the rotation. I am having the leftovers for lunch today so we shall see how they reheat, etc. Since my chicken was smoked it was very prominent and hard to detect the other flavors so i am anxious to make it again and add some sun dried tomatoes too! Here are my changes and the recipe:

My changes:
*I used homemade pizza dough (see the thread on "my NEW favorite pizza dough" and cut it into 8 pieces
*No provolone in the house so i used mozzarella and asiago
*I used a bone in chicken breast and thigh that had been smoked on father's day--more than 1 cup of meat but i was low on the amt of spinach
*Added about 5 mushrooms, sliced and not precooked b/c i needed to use those too!
*I didn't use the oil and just slid them onto my baking stone (450 deg. for about 13-14 min. seemed just right for mine)

Roasted Chicken-Artichoke Calzones

Use a microwave or toaster oven to reheat this dish. Let calzones come to room temperature before wrapping to keep the dough from getting soggy. Pack some bottled marinara sauce for dipping.

1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups thinly sliced fresh spinach
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) shredded sharp provolone cheese
1 cup shredded cooked chicken breast (about 5 oz)
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons cornmeal
1 (13.8 oz) can refrigerated pizza crust dough

1. Preheat oven to 425 deg.
2. Pat artichokes dry with paper towels. Combine artichokes, salt, pepper and garlic in large bowl. Add spinach, cheese, and chicken; toss gently to combine.
3. Brush oil over a baking sheet; sprinkle with cornmeal. Unroll dough onto prepared baking sheet; cut into 6 equal portions. Cover and let rest 5 minutes. Pat each portion into a 6x5-inch rectangle. Spoon 2/3 cup spinach mixture into center of each dough portion. Fold one corner of each dough portion over spinach mixture to form a triangle. Press edges together with fingers to seal. Bake at 425 deg. for 12 min. or until golden brown.
Yield: 6 servings
Cal 347; Fat 11.6 g; Pro 21.6g; carb 40.1g; fiber4.8g; chol 44 mg; iron3.2 mg; sodium 940 mg; calc 222 mg

[cniles]

Throwing my June issue at you 'cause I don't have July yet!!

BUT it sounds yummy!!!! I'll have to check out your new favorite pizza dough recipe! Thanks Sweetpea!:)

[sweetpea]

Ah-ha! Charisse is the first to throw something at me, but at least it was another magazine and not a dumbbell or something! :)

Here's the pizza dough recipe for anyone interested (it's from the King Arthur Baker's Companion All-Purpose Baking Cookbook, my new favorite cookbook)...

Now or Later Pizza

Makes two 10-to13-inch pizzas, 8 slices each

"Of all the pizzas we've made over the years, this recipe is our favorite. An overnight rest for the dough in the refrigerator gives the crust superb flavor and a delightfully crisp-chewy texture."

Dough:
1 3/4 cups (7 3/8 oz)unbleached all-purpose flour*
1 1/4 cups (7 1/8 oz) semolina*
2 tablespoons dough relaxer
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water (i only used 1 1/4 cups and had to add quite a bit more flour)

Toppings:
Tomato sauce, cooked meats, vegetables, and cheese of your choice

Directions:
Mix and knead together all the dough ingredients--by hand or mixer---until you've created a smooth, soft dough. Don't overknead the dough; it should hold together but look fairly rough on the surface. (mine was smooth, not rough...still turned out great!)

Cover and let the dough rise for 45 minutes, then refrigerate it for 4 hours (or up to 36 hours); this step will develop the crust's flavor.

Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a 9-to12-inch round (thicker or thinner crust) and place each on a piece of parchment paper. Cover the dough and let it rise while you heat the oven (and baking stone) to 500 deg.

After about 30 minutes, use a giant spatula or pizza peel to transfer the pizzas and parchment to your hot oven stone; or place the pizzas and parchment on a pan and place the pan on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 4 minutes, then remove from the oven. (i skipped this step and just put my toppings on and baked it on my stone for 8 minutes at 500 deg--my crust was thin though!)

To make your pizza NOW: Top the pizza with your favorite toppings, return to the lowest rack (not to the stone), and bake for additional 8 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbly.

To make your pizza LATER: Remove the parchment, cool the un-topped crusts, wrap them well in plastic wrap and refrigerate (for up to 5 days) or freeze (for up to 4 weeks). When you're ready to serve remove the crusts from fridge or freezer and heat the oven to 450 deg. Top them with your favorite toppings and place them on parchment-lined or greased baking sheet, then into the oven. Bake on the lowest rack of the oven (not the stone) for 8 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbly.

*Use a total of 3 cups all-purpose flour if you don't have semolina.

Nut'l info: 1 slice without toppings
110 cal, 2 g fat, 3 g pro, 19 g complex carbs, 1 g dietary fiber, 272 mg sodium, 62 mg potassium, 5RE vitamin A, 1 mg iron, 15 mg calcium, 41 mg phosphorus

[EmilyK]

sweetpea, not trying to hijack the thread, but do you think your pizza dough could be made with whole wheat flour or an oat-flour blend? I'm always looking for new pizza crust recipes, but it's hard to find one that isn't using white flour!! :)

By the way, this looks like a fabulous recipe... thanks for the review!! Looks like it's going on the menu for next week!

[sweetpea]

Emily--i think you could sub half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat but it won't taste the same b/c the semolina really stands out b/c the all-purpose doesn't add much flavor wise. Does that make sense? I haven't tried it with whole wheat though, so...maybe you could be our guinea big and see if it is AS good! :) the semolina gives it a kind of cornmealy taste and great crunch, so i would leave that the same and do 1/2 and 1/2 with AP flour and WW flour. i would love to hear your review! :)

[patsyk]

I just made these tonight and thought they were quite good! Even my 2 1/2 yr old DS1 ate one! :eek: I was making them while watching after my two little one's so I missed the instruction to finely chop the artichokes (which would have made sense if I had thought about it)... also, I used mozzarella since I didn't have provolone. It seemed like I had more filling than I could use this time around... probably since I didn't measure everything EXACTLY!

At any rate, I can't wait to have them for lunch this week... these get a huge thumb's up from me! :D

Next time, I'll try adding mushrooms or even diced up zucchini to them... anything to get more veggies in me and my kids!

Patsy

[kkapow]

sweetpea,
these calzones sound great, but i do have one question...
what, exactly, do artichokes taste like? i've seen them in a lot of recipes, but have never tried them. i'm on a limited budget, so are they expensive? if i buy a jar, will i use more that just a couple of them and have to throw the rest away because they went bad? that's also why i don't buy capers. i can't justify paying that much for something just to use a tablespoonful or two.
i'm willing to give your recipe a try if the artichokes are that good; are they something i'll fall in love with?

karen

[blazedog]

Canned artichokes are fairly inexpensive at Trader Joes but can be pricey at a regular supermarket. At TJ, I recall the cans are about $2.00.

The recipe does not call for the ones in jars which are marinated in oil and vinegar. You need to find the ones in a can which are just canned in water without any oil or other spices.

You won't have anything left over as the recipe calls for the entire can of artichokes.

As to whether it's worth it, I love artichokes and couldn't imagine the recipe without it. The recipe makes 6 calzones -- if you divide the cost of all the ingredients including the can of artichokes, it really works out to be a relatively inexpensive lunch option but is obviously more expensive than a home made tuna sandwich but far less than any mediocre fast food option such as McD's or Subway:)

[kkapow]

blazedog,
ok, now i know what to look for, but what do they taste like?

thanks,
karen

[blazedog]

Karen - Artichokes don't have a pronounced flavor - they generally aren't eaten without a sauce of flavoring -- i.e. if you cook fresh artichokes, they would be eaten traditionally with lemon/garlic butter or some kind of other dressing if eaten cold. When I use the canned ones in a recipe, they add something really nice to the whole melange of tastes and textures.

I can't imagine someone disliking them but I am willing to try any vegetable once -- the only ones I dislike are okra, lima beans and some kind of Philipine one I tried once which tasted like quinine:)

[sweetpea]

I agree with blazedog--they don't have a pronounce flavor--unless you are a picky eater i think you will like them...they are mild and the texture is what i love about them. i wish i could explain WHAT they taste like, but there isn't anything to compare them to! i like to eat them right out of the can, even on a salad, etc. so you could always nibble one once you open the can, then if you don't like them you could throw some other veggies in these calzones rather than the 'chokes! :)

[catharine]

Have you ever had hearts of palm – IMHO they are similar with a more delicate flavor.

[karen w]

I made these the other night with a few changes. I used a homemade pizza dough and instead of plain chicken, I used some roasted red bell pepper and basil chicken sausages which I diced. These were very tasty and easy to put together. It was not a WOW meal, but it was good. I'd make them again.

Karen

[mbeth]

I made these tonight, and they're a keeper for us. DH and DS each ate 2 ! Only DD didn't eat hers, which is not a surprise. I used pre-shredded mozarella, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly, including using the Pillsbury pizza crust (which I had never used before and which I found surprisingly tasty). I drained my chopped artichokes very well on several layers of paper toweling, and found they really did need it--that's something to be careful about. Oh, and I too found that I had extra filling, which I couldn't fit into the amount of dough called for. DH just ate it "raw", so nothing went to waste.

I served these with little ramekins of Lindrusso's marinara. Yes I was inspired to make it just for this!! But I have a whole list of recipes that I intend to use the rest for (all BB recipes, I think), and I'm feeling very organized and efficient about that.

[JanetJ]

Definitely a keeper for us! These were easy (especially with leftover rotisserie chicken) and yummy. Served them with little bowls of marinara and a salad. I did end up with leftover filling, but I was guessing on my amounts.

[Laurielee]

made this last night and they were very yummy, I added zuchnni since I have it coming out my ears! and olives I only got 4 instead of 6 and I had way to much filling, a first for CL. would be good in a pita

laurie

[blazedog]

I made this tonight and thought they were quite good. However the proportions of dough to filling appeared to be whacko :D

My can of pizza dough could not produce 6 squares of the size indicated in the recipe so I decided to go with 4. Geez - the can claimed to give me 33 1/3% more -- how much dough was there in the original size:D

I weighed and measured everything carefully and squeezed out the artichokes after chopping to minimize liquid. I also grated some good Parmesan instead of using Provolone so it had a tangy rather than voluptuous quality which I liked.

I didn't think it needed any marinara sauce to dip - I liked the flavors in the dish itself and the marinara just masked them instead of subtly enhancing.

[kristalsnow7]

I made these for dinner last night and thought they were wonderful! I'm glad to see everyone else thought there was too much filling. I was determined to use it all up, and I did, but my calzones were rather...plump. :D I think the key is letting the dough sit for 5 minutes. It makes it more pliable and stretchy. The only change I made was increasing the garlic to 2 cloves, and skipping the olive oil/ cornmeal step (I was out of cornmeal) and just spraying the pan and the tops of the calzones with cooking spray. I served them with little ramekins of marinara, too. Quite yummy, and I'm really looking forward to the leftovers for lunch.

[ttubbs]

I made these last weekend, and thought they were great. I pretty much followed the calzone recipe as written, but couldn't find the right sized can of pizza dough. We had something a couple ounces less than what was called for. Even so, I got all the filling in them. Only one, the last one, streached so thin that it tore, but I was able to patch it with some dough I ripped off the points. I baked on a silpat cause I hate cooking spray.

For the dipping sauce I winged it. I had some left over tomato sauce in the fridge, about 1/2 cup. I tossed that in a pot, and added a can of diced tomatoes w/ green chiles (all I had in the pantry). Put some olive oil, garlic, red onions (so I could use them up), oregano, thyme, basil, salt and pepper, and started simmering this before working on the calzones. I had to add some sugar to cut the heat, so a round tablespoon of brown sugar went in. When the calzones were done, I put it in the blender. I thought it was really good, sweet at first, then a little non-lingering heat. Wife and kids thought it was a little too hot.

[PoppyJ]

I made these last night and just loved them. I subbed ham and mozzarella cheese for the chicken and provolone cheese because it is what I had on hand. I used TJ’s whole wheat pizza dough. There was a lot of filling and there was even some leftover. I served this with homemade pizza sauce- yummy!

[Kathy F]

Thanks for bringing back this thread, PoppyJ! I've made this recipe twice and keep forgetting to post a review.

My husband and I LOVE these! Both times I've made them with homemade (bread machine) pizza dough and skipped the chicken, and they're great. Now I'm on a major artichoke heart kick!

The only problem for us is that the recipe doesn't make enough. My husband ends up eating most of the leftovers, which makes me sad! I'm thinking of making a double batch next time -- has anyone tried freezing these?

Kathy

[suebear37]

I found this recipe in my ever-growing pile of clippings & thought I'd give it a test run as a possibility for making them as a snack for Christmas Day. They were delicious! I overshot by just a little bit on the chicken & the cheese & ended up with so much filling that I had to get a second roll of the pizza dough out of the fridge. Maybe I was a little conservative about filling them, I didn't want a calzone explosion in the oven, so I ended up with 12 calzones instead.

Wrapped the leftovers individually & threw them in the freezer... if anyone's done this, did you defrost them first? Did you bake them or microwave them & for how long???

I'm definitely going to make these for Christmas but I think I'm going to cut the dough up smaller so that they're more appetizer sized!

[Home Chef]

They are good aren't they! I have made them for customers so I have frozen them.
I have them thaw in the refrigerator, preheat oven to 400 and bake until hot, 10 to 12 minutes. I tell them to use their pizza stone if they have one.
They get too soggy if you use the microwave.

[suebear37]

Thanks, Carlin!

I'll make sure to use my pizza stone when I reheat them! :)