HHDD: Pizza!

i couldnt resist but take part in the world famous Hay Hay it's Donna Hay - foodblog event. this months theme is pizza and i have been craving a decent pizza for - at least - 2 weeks but never had the time to actually make one. since it's the united nations international year of the potato i have been cooking with loads of potatoes for work and as i am stuck with a few kilos of all kinds of potatoes my pizza had to be a potato pizza. i have a favourite potato pizza (yep, the new york one!) already, so i had to come up with a new idea and decided to turn it into a potato calzone with creamy cheese and all that good and fun stuff. this pizza is dead easy to make and surely a hit with your guests (i was too greedy, i didnt share!). since potatoes can have a quite bland flavour, make sure you season it well with salt, pepper, herbs or a real stinky cheese!

RECIPE - makes 1 calzone
adapted from pizza, calzone & focaccia

for the dough:
250g flour
12g fresh yeast
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
125ml lukewarm water
about 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

for the filling
about 70g fontina cheese, finely grated / or some mozzarella cheese
200g potatoes, peelend and very thinly sliced
olive oil
1 spring onion or leek, finely diced
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon-thyme or rosemary, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper



to make the dough cream the yeast with water and add olive oil. mix flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a standmixer and make a well in the centre. pour in yeast-mixture and mix together until very smooth and elastic. put in clean bowl, cover and let rise for about 1,5 hours.

preheat the oven to 220c° and put a large, heavy baking tray on the lower shelf of the oven.
toss the potaotes, cheese, spring onion, thyme (or rosemary) and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a bowl.




uncover the dough and roll into a 25 cm cirlcle directly onto the baking parchment. slide this onto a pizza peel or a cookie baking sheet. spread one half of the calzone with the potato mixture, leaving about 1,5 cm around the edge for sealing. season well with salt and pepper. fold the uncovered half of the dough over the filling. pinch and twist the edges firmly together so that the filling doesnt escape during cooking.

working quickly open the door and slide paper and calzone onto the baking sheet. bake for 10 minutes, then carefully slide out the baking parchment. bake for a further 25-30 minutes (i add some under-heat for the last 10 minutes), until the crust is puffed up and golden. remove from the oven and brush with a little olive oil. leave to stand for 2-3 minutes before serving - filling is flipping hot, it needs a rest! then serve.


make sure you turn january into pizza month, too - 80 breakfasts is hosting this round of HHDD and will post heaps of new pizza recipes. dont miss!