YumYum Panda

[Click image to show Gallery]

[View with PicLens]

Back in college, Rob and I survived off of calzones when we were just too lazy to cook.  My go-to calzone was the breaded chicken with pesto & mozzarella, which was greasy, cheesy, and big enough for two meals (score!). We wanted to recreate this but make it healthier using whole wheat dough, baked pesto chicken, and spinach.  Yum!
Calzone:

Whole Wheat Dough
Pesto Chicken
1 lb Mozzarella
Spinach

Whole Wheat Dough from Allrecipes.com:

1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 4 pieces. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.

Pesto Chicken:

1 cup pesto (or enough to coat the chicken)
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts

Slice the chicken breasts into 1″ thick chunks and coat with pesto. Marinate in the fridge for 30mins to an hour.
Line a baking pan with foil and spread chicken out evenly in pan.
Bake at 375F for 10-12 mins or until chicken is no longer pink but still juicy.
Using two forks, shred the chicken gently into bite-size pieces.

To assemble the Calzone:

Roll out the pieces of dough using a rolling pin or a plastic-wrapped wine bottle into thin circles.
Layer in this order on one half of the calzone: slices of mozzarella, shredded pesto chicken, blanched and squeezed spinach.
Fold the other half over and crimp with fork. Make a few cuts on top to let the steam out.
Bake at 425F for 15mins or until golden brown.
Serve with marina sauce and enjoy!

We also made one of the calzones into a pizza, just for fun!  Using the leftover pesto sauce from the marinated chicken, spread out on top of dough.  Cover with mozzarella, then pesto chicken. Bake at 425F for 12-15 mins or until

Continue reading Pesto Chicken Calzones