So, when I saw her column back in mid-April about calzones, I made a mental note that I needed to try them. The thought of all that gooey, melted cheese encased in crunchy pizza dough with greens and garlic was too much to resist. Then, of course, I got sick and calzones were the farthest thing from my mind. That is, until the one visitor I had during my “convalescence,” a good friend and fellow follower of Clark’s column, mentioned that she had made them when she came by one afternoon for tea. She highly recommended I make them once I was better.

Well, that day finally came this past Monday–the most active day I had had in a long time. From my morning walk to campus after the bus failed to show up to the need to fight the Whole Foods crowd at 5 p.m., I was comforted by one fact: there would be calzones for dinner. And you know what? It was not only a wonderful way of not being annoyed by silly, unimportant things, but it was also the most fun I had had in the kitchen in a really long time. Considering I had to use a rolling pin on the dough, that’s saying a lot (why I’m okay with rolling pizza dough and desperately afraid of any pie dough that’s not “no roll” is beyond me). As a member of the pizza family, the composition of the calzone resembles the act of carefully stacking blocks–one layer at a time, it slowly takes shape–cheese is topped by vegetables, which are topped by sun-dried tomatoes and/or olives–until you pinch its ends together and put it in a 500 degree oven. Rougly fifteen minutes later, you can enjoy cutting the calzone in half and watching as the air whooshes out of it in a poof.  What you’re left with is basically not unlike a sandwich, but one that has its own unique, weighty charms.

Cheesy Calzones with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I used Clark’s method in assembling these calzones–lots of cheese, greens and garlic–but I went with what was on hand in my kitchen. This is the beauty of bready main courses; they’re forgiving and allow for most flavor combinations. You get to pick and choose what you like best.
      If you need any other reasons to make this, let me say this: you can make pizza dough (I use Mark Bittman’s recipe; sometimes I substitute one cup of whole wheat flour for all-purpose, or 1/2 cup cornmeal for all-purpose. This, however, was all-purpose all the way) and leave it to rise while you go off and do other things. It really is almost too easy and is certainly worth what little effort it takes.

Yields 2 large and deeply satisfying calzones
Adapted from “A Good Appetite“

1 recipe Mark Bittman’s pizza dough (will make 2 calzones)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 lb. (about 4 loosely packed cups) fresh baby spinach
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
4 ounces fresh mozzarella
1 1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese (I used a combination of ricotta made from whole and skim milk)
8 sun-dried tomatoes (stored in oil), roughly chopped
5-7 olives (I used a Greek medley), pitted and roughly chopped

-Preheat the oven to 500 F and lightly oil a baking sheet.
-Heat a large skillet and add 2 Tbsp. olive oil.
-Add 2 cloves of the chopped garlic and fry them for about 30 seconds before adding the spinach, plus 1 Tbsp. water.
-Once the spinach has wilted (this should take no more than a minute or two), add some salt and pepper and set aside.
-Roll out (or stretch by hand) the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface until a 12-inch round.
-Spoon the ricotta onto half of the pizza dough, leaving bare a half-inch to 3/4 inch on the border.
-Top the ricotta with the remaining garlic, then cover it with the mozzarella, spinach and the sun-dried tomatoes (N.B. Since I made two calzones, I divided the filling fairly evenly between them. The only difference was that I added sun-dried tomatoes to both, but olives only to one; this combination can be played with, depending on your preferences).
-At this stage, since my hands were oily from the sun-dried tomatoes, I rubbed the bare edges of the dough round with them, spreading the taste and joy of the sun-dried tomato infused oil. For good measure, I also, brushed these same edges with a little bit of water before folding half of the dough over the filling and pinching all the edges together.
-Transfer the dough to the oiled baking sheet (N.B. I found this stage to be slightly difficult because I didn’t want my calzone to fall apart; fortunately, I have two bench, or dough, scrapers and, after dusting each with flour, I was able to transfer the calzone easily).
-Brush the calzone with olive oil so that it turns crispy in the oven.
-Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is golden (I baked mine in two batches).
-Cut the calzone into two halves or enjoy it as a solo meal and prepare to be satisfied. Once the other one comes out of the oven, cut it in half and, surprise, there’s lunch for tomorrow.