Monday Dinner

Braided Ham & Spinach Calzone (top view)

Braided Ham & Spinach Calzone (cut view)

I had a little more than 1/2 a carton of ricotta to use up and not much time to do it - it spoils fast. I did some online searches for "leftover ricotta" and calzone recipes kept popping up over and over again. I culled the best ingredient and technique ideas and here's what I did:

1. I made pizza dough in my bread machine. After looking at 4 or 5 different pizza dough recipes, I concluded they're all pretty much the same, so use your favorite. (Mine had water, bread flour, salt, sugar, olive oil and yeast.)

2. While the dough is mixing, make the filling. Thaw a small box of chopped frozen spinach and thoroughly wring out all the water. (I use a clean dish towel for this.) In a medium bowl, mix spinach, 1 cup ricotta, 1/4 cup grated parmesan, 1 cup grated mozzarella, with salt, pepper and ground nutmeg to taste.

3. After dough has proofed, stretch out as large as you can without tearing, then use a rolling pin on floured surface to roll into a large rectangle. (Mine was about 12 x 15, and was a cross between a rectangle and an oval.)

4. Use the straight edge of your baking sheet to measure out a wide strip of dough in the center - about 5 - 6" wide. Use a paring knife to cut the dough along the sides into strips about every 1.5 inches. The whole thing should look something like this:

------l l-------
------l l-------
------l l------
------l l-------

Does that make sense? I hope so. The Kid called it a mutant spider.

5. Spoon the spinach-ricotta filling down the center portion of the dough. Top with about 8 oz. thinly sliced ham, chopped.

6. Now "braid" the strips over the filling. Start at the top, folding a right strip over the center, then a left, and so forth until the bottom. (This really is easy - don't be intimidated.)

7. Brush all over the top with beaten egg, then sprinkle with a little more grated parmesan.

8. Bake in 350 preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into slices to serve. Pass heated marinara or pizza sauce at the table for dipping.

Totals:

.25 - ingredients for crust
$1.22 - chopped ham (Food Lion sale on deli ham this week)
.75- ricotta
$1 - mozzarella
.25 - parmesan
.66 - spinach
.10 - egg
.50 - leftover jarred marinara

$4.73 for dinner for 4, plus another serving leftover for lunch

$4.23