Calzones for Super Bowl Sunday

Calzones. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Super Bowl eats are all about hearty flavors and who better to deliver the goods than Emeril Lagasse? This calzone recipe from last fall's #SeriousSandwich blogalong is a game-winning touchdown, just right for sharing with family in the glow of the flat screen.

The recipe makes four calzones; I make them half-size, yielding eight breads that fit smaller hands and appetites.

Sopressata and Genoa Salami Calzones

4 calzones

I love this calzone with a variety of salami, but this is a recipe where you can safely go in many directions. Change up the cheese, use roasted red peppers or sautéed mushrooms instead of the meat, add Roasted Garlic (page 79) . . . I could go on and on. And you don’t have to eat them right out of the oven, either—they travel well, so pack your picnic basket!

1 recipe Semolina Pizza Dough (use Emeril’s recipe, or your favorite homemade or storebought)

1 cup Quick Tomato Sauce for Calzones (recipe follows) or your favorite jarred pizza/pasta sauce

1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

8 ounces mixed sopressata, hot sopressata, Genoa salami, and/or pepperoni, chopped

1 cup ricotta cheese, drained

8 ounces smoked mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

¼ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel

1. Place a pizza stone in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 500°F. (Alternatively, place an upside-down rimmed baking sheet on the rack in your oven.)

2. Halve one of the pieces of dough and roll it out on a lightly floured work surface to form two 8-inch rounds. Spread ¼ cup of the tomato sauce over the bottom half of each round, leaving a 1-inch border. Sprinkle ¼ cup of the basil and one-quarter of the cured meats evenly over each portion of sauce. Sprinkle one-quarter of the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and crushed red pepper over each portion of meat. Gently fold the top half of the dough over the filling, rolling and pressing the edges together with your fingertips to seal them, and crimping as you go along. Make 2 more calzones with the remaining ingredients.

3. Depending on the size of your oven, you may be able to bake only 2 calzones at a time. Cut several small slits in the top of each calzone to allow air to escape while baking, and transfer the calzones to a pizza peel that has been lightly dusted with flour or cornmeal (to facilitate moving the dough). Tilt the pizza peel to slide the calzones onto the preheated baking stone. Bake for 16 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the dough is cooked through. Remove the calzones from the oven with the pizza peel or a spatula, and serve immediately or at room temperature.

Quick Tomato Sauce for Calzones

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and pureed

1 sprig fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for 3 minutes, until soft. Add the tomatoes, thyme sprig, salt, and pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the extra-virgin olive oil, discard the thyme sprig, and set aside until ready to use.

This recipe is reprinted with permission from "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches: Stacked with Flavor" (Morrow Cookbooks, $24.99)

For more of Emeril's kicked-up sandwiches cooked by some fantastic bloggers, check out my #SeriousSandwich Pinterest board. Emeril's website, www.emerils.com, features football favorites for your Super Bowl party.

A Piece A Pizza

Every newlywed, every new cook, really should have a copy of the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, for many reasons, but mostly for the best everyday pizza recipe I've ever found. From the sturdy yet tender crust to the perfectly seasoned sauce, the instructions are clear and the results are always excellent. My kids and husband love this pizza, but the best compliment came from my Chicago friends, who said they really knew their pizza and my pizza with Italian sausage was the best they've ever had. (By the way, I used Aidell's sun-dried tomato sausage on that pizza).

I usually make the dough in the morning or right after lunch for dinner that night. I'll make the sauce at the same time. I always have sauce leftover and I just put it in a freezer container and save it for the next time.

Pizza Dough

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 3/4 cups water, warm

You may use a food processor (my preferred way) or standing mixer.

1. Pulse 4 cups of the flour, yeast and salt in processor bowl to combine. With the machine running, pour the oil, then the water through the feed tube and process until a rough ball forms, 30 to 40 seconds. Let the dough rest for 2 minutes, then process for 30 seconds longer.

2. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 5 minutes (I don't do this - I let it go in the processor about another 2 minutes). Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Yield: 2 lbs. dough, enough for 3 (12-inch) pizzas

Pizza Sauce

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil and garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the garlic is sizzling, about 1 1/2 minutes. (I don't do this because inevitably, I burn the garlic. I just heat the oil, add the garlic and then the tomatoes.) Stir in the tomatoes and simmer until the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: 3 cups, enough for 3 pizzas

Classic Cheese Pizza

1 recipe pizza dough
1 recipe pizza sauce
12 oz. mozzarella, shredded (3 cups)
3 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil
6 tbsp. torn fresh basil

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, place a baking stone on the rack and heat the oven to 500 degrees (this is too high for my oven, I heat my oven to 450). Let the baking stone heat for at least 30 minutes. Dust the baking stone with cornmeal.

2. Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, cut it into three even pieces, and cover with plastic wrap. Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape into a smooth, round ball, cover again with the plastic wrap and let rest 20 to 30 minutes.

3. Uncover one ball of dough and stretch and shape the dough into a 12 inch round on a piece of parchment paper (make sure the parchment can handle the high heat of the oven or do without - I do without the parchment). Spread 1 cup of the pizza sauce over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch edge of dough uncovered. Sprinkle with 4 oz. (1 cup) of the mozzarella and 1 tbsp. of the Parmesan. Lightly brush the edge of the dough with oil.

4. Slide the parchment and pizza onto a rimless (or inverted) baking sheet, then slide it onto the hot baking stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and the cheese is golden in spots, 8 to 13 minutes. (Prepare the second pizza while the first bakes.)

5. Transfer the pizza to a cutting board, discarding the parchment. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp. basil and cut the pizza into 6 wedges before serving. Let the stone reheat for 5 minutes before baking the next pizza.