Waffle Calzones
Deborah Liu | Mommy School
The kids really love cooking. So I am always looking for new recipes that they can do on their own.
A few weeks, we tried Waffle Pizza. And it was great, but I had to finish it in the toaster oven to get the cheese crisp. So instead, we decided to try calzones to see if we could skip the final step.
If you don't want to make dough, try picking up raw pizza dough from Trade Joe's. It is inexpensive and can be a quick base for a kid-friendly dinner. At our house, we make our own dough from scratch. This recipe is an adaptation of Bobby Flay's No-Rise Dough Recipe, but made in the food processor so the kids can easily mix without the mess.
INGREDIENTS
Dough:
- 4 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for rolling and dusting
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 cups water, 110 degrees F
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Pizza Toppings:
- 1 to 2 cups of shredded cheese - Mozzarella, Parmesan and Cheddar
- 2 cups of pasta sauce
- (optional) Toppings like mushrooms, onions, sausage, pepperoni
Have your kids put the yeast and sugar in the warm water and stir it lightly. Let it rest to foam up for about 5 minutes. Place 3 cups of flour and salt in the food processor and start it. Ask the kids to slowly pour in the oil and the yeast water through the top. The flour mixture should be fairly wet after all of the ingredients are added. While the food processor is still running, slowly add more flour a bit at a time until it turns into a large ball of dough. It should take about another half to full cup of flour. Remove the ball and place it on a well-floured surface to keep it from sticking. Roll into a smooth ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl in a warm place for 10+ minutes. In the meantime, gather the rest of your ingredients and cook them thoroughly.
This is the kids' favorite part. Have them pull off a 2" ball of dough and roll it out to a thin crust. Then they can add their ingredients on one half of the dough. Fold it over and seal the edges by pinching.
Turn your waffle iron on medium heat. Spray a bit of cooking spray on the top and bottom. Square it off a bit so that it fits on your waffle iron in one of the segments. Place the calzone on one of the corners. I like to use the kitty corners so they won't stick as they cook. Leave in for about 5 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
Keep warm in the oven at 250 degrees as you make them. Serve on a plate with some pasta sauce.
