Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Spinach and mushroom calzones


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My husband is working from home today - so I thought instead of making these for dinner....I would make us a nice lunch, that we can actually sit down and enjoy.
I am not sure how things are at your house...but around here..(since having kids) rarely do we have a peaceful meal, and I can't even tell you the last time I ate something that was hot!

So, here it is.  My plan for dinner, which ended up being a delicious lunch.

First, I have to tell you.  I LOVE to cook, but I am a horrible recipe-giver-outer.
It isn't because I want to keep them a secret, it simply is because I almost always use a recipe as 'inspiration' and then end up doing my own thing.  It just goes against the grain for me to not jazz stuff up and add a little Jacki-flair to it.

SO - that being said...I don't have measurments for you with this recipe.  I did take pictures, so you can have a visual.  Hopefully that will work :)
You can use any ingredients that you like for this..feel free to use this as YOUR inspiration!


Gather your ingredients:
Fresh Spinach
Garlic
Portobello mushrooms
pizza or marinara sauce
cheese of your choice (I used shredded mozzarella)
1 can refrigerated pizza dough
(not pictured)
half an onion
parmasean cheese
Italian bread seasoning grinder

Grab a cookie sheet and grease it...or line it with parchment paper.
I prefer to use parchment paper because it saves your pan and makes for easy clean up.

pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.

Open up your dough.
I am such a wimp when it comes to this.  I always hold it as far away as I can with one eye closed when opening these types of cans.  It always pops before i expect it to, and it scares me.  Dumb, I know.

Anyway, spread your dough out on the pan.  You are going to cut it into 4 rectangles (about 6x5).
I used a pizza cutter - I am sure a knife would work just fine.

this next step is optional.  I like to cook with a lot of flavor.
Over the years I have used several brands of Italian bread dipping seasoning to cook with.
I am pretty sure that I have never used it with olive oil and dipped bread in it...BUT it is the best to use in sauces, pizza crusts, pasta...just about anything.
I can't be sure, but I think that I purchased this at Costco.
it is wonderful :)
I grinded a little over the pizza crust to give it a little flavor.
Next - shop some onion.
I chopped up about half of an onion.
If you don't like onion - leave it out.  If you love it - use more!

heat up your skillet with a little olive oil.  If you would like to use raw ingredients - you can skip the next couple steps...I am sure it will still be yummy.
when your oil and skillet are hot - add the minced garlic.  I buy mine pre-minced for convenience...and because I use a LOT of garlic when I cook.  Ask my mom.  She is forever telling me I use too much ...  Personally, I don't think there is such a thing as too much garlic!

 Brown your garlic...keep it moving in the the skillet to prevent from burning.  Kind of like you are making scrambled eggs :)  Browning it will open up the flavors..and make your house smell wonderful. :)

I had to take a break here and smooch Mr. Serious.
He is one tasty lil man!

I diced up the portobello mushroom and added it and the onion to the skilled and sauteed
all of it together for about 3-4 minutes on med/high heat.  Just until the onions were starting to get clearish.

spoon some sauce onto the dough.  I kept it in the middle since i was folding the corners in.
Next you are going to put on your ingredients.
on top of the sauce - add your cheese.  I think I used a couple tablespoons of cheese on each.

I tore the spinach up to make it easier to pack onto the dough.
Place the spinach on top of these cheese and then spoon the mushroom/garlic/onion mixture on top.


Fold opposite corners together and pinch the dough to seal.


Repeat this step for the other corners.
I sprinkled some parm cheese on top before putting them in the oven...but you don't have to.

Bake at 425 for about 12-14 minutes.


The crust will be golden brown when ready and look something like this.


YUM!  They were just as delicious as they look!
Let me know if you give this a try..or what variations you made.

Have a great day!
Jacki






2 comments:

  1. Ha! Mr. Serious looks just like Big Mr. Serious (Brian) here......xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yummy! I'm so going to make these tomorrow for dinner!

    ReplyDelete