I bought a bunch of beautiful rainbow chard from the Farmers Market this October...and resolved to use the leaves like spinach. The result was quite good, though I think maybe I'll do a stromboli next time!
1 recipe basic pizza dough
Calzone filling:
ricotta from 1/2 gal whole milk
1 lb mozzarella in small pieces (shredded or chopped)
¼ - ½ c. shredded parmesan cheese
1 green pepper chopped
½ onion chopped
1- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
olive oil
about 1 lb of swiss chard leaves (I used the stems for something else, but those could go in here too!)
other veggies of choice (including the stems, if you please)
meats if wanted
black pepper and salt to taste
oregano, thyme, basil, parsley and other herbs to taste
cornmeal (or flour) to coat baking sheet
1. Start pizza dough so that it can rise while you make your filling.
2. Prep your veggies, chop onions, and peppers into easily eaten sizes. Peel and chop garlic finely. Remove chard leaves from the stem by folding along the center crease and tearing from that rib.
3. Sauté the chopped onions (and chopped chard stems, if using) with just enough olive oil to cover the surface of a sauté pan. When they start looking transparent, add the green pepper and garlic. Feel free to add other veggies as appropriate, but remember DON’T CROWD THE PAN. Continue cooking until the onions start getting slightly browned around the edges and the peppers are bright but still have crunch.
4. Set this mixture aside in a large bowl to cool.
5. Preheat oven to 375 (if you have a baking stone, place it in now)
6. Using the same pan, wilt the chard leaves. They should fill it to overflowing when fresh, but heat and stirring with take them down like spinach.
7. Once all the leaves are soft and bendy, turn onto a cutting board and allow to cool before chopping.
8. By this time, the first veggie mixture should be cool enough to handle. Mix in the ricotta and mozzarella cheeses (I find it easier to do by hand).
9. When the calzone dough has doubled in size, divide it into 2-4 balls (2 huge, 4 reasonable) and let rest while you coarsely chop the chard leaves and add them to the filling mixture.
10. Plan your calzone dough placement, and dust a small area of a baking sheet with flour or cornmeal for each calzone. The purpose is to keep the bottom of the calzone from sticking, but you don’t want cornmeal to get on the top while you fill it. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a circle (dough should be ¼-1/3” thick) and transfer to your prepared pan.
11. Divide your filling into the number of calzones you’re making, and then spoon the filling onto the half of the calzone you placed on cornmeal. Make sure to leave an edge to seal!
12. Pull the empty half of the dough circle over the filling, and use a fork to seal the edge. It’s not a bad idea to cut a few slits in the top too.
13. Bake for about 30 minutes, removing when the crust turns a golden brown.
Serve w/ tomato sauce
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