Valentine's Day Spinach and Cheese Calzone



Spinach and Cheese Calzone

 When I think of a Valentine's Day dinner, I think of sharing.  Sharing time, sharing help, sharing friendship, sharing love.

Food is fun to share.  However, chateaubriand steak for two can be pricey.  That's why I thought of calzone.  Although the HBin5 group is making whole grain "Stuffed Sandwich Loaf" for our current assignment, the ABin5 Spinach and Cheese Calzone seemed just right for Valentine's Day.

I made a batch of olive oil dough the other day.  It would be great for pizza, calzone, and foccacia bread.  This dough is "good" for 12 days, and so there's a good chance that I'll make enough recipes with it.  This new square dough bucket really fits nicely in my fridge, too!

I sauteed more spinach than suggested.  One half cup of spinach did not seem like enough--a second batch of spinach was made. The filling was made first , then set aside.  Next time, I'd make the filling while the dough is resting.  The dough needed to rest several times because it kept stretching back while being rolled out.

One change that was made.  The rolled out piece of dough was much larger than my pizza peel.  I thought I'd risk putting the calzone together before transferring it to the peel (after taking a picture, just in case!).  Therefore, I loosened the dough on one half, put the filling on the other half of the dough, and manuevered the folded creation onto the pizza peel. This was a little tricky, but was accomplished with my dough scraper and moving extra flour under the calzone.

Once the calzone was moved to the peel, I adjusted it and cut 3 slits into the top.  It wasn't necessary to seal it, it seemed to seal itself.

I had forgotten to add the broiler pan for the water--it's been awhile since I baked with steam.  Therefore, I spritzed water every few minutes for the first 10 minutes.  That seemed to work just fine.  The calzone baked to a lovely golden brown color, and was firm.  It was easy to slide it onto a baking sheet, covered with a towel to absorb heat.




Cooling on a Towel



Great with salad and Green Beans!
















We both enjoyed the calzone.  However, my hubby confided in me that next time, he wants to try marinara sauce with his calzone.  He just didn't want to hurt my feelings.  Actually, he has a great sense of what would make a dish better.  We had a lemon chicken recipe last week that was so-so.  He suggested green olives, and it was fabulous!  Therefore, we will try marinara sauce on the second half of the calzone.

Here's a romantic baking comic that my hubby gave me the other day.  He reads the comics daily.   We have "Love is..." comics pasted up all over the house.  This was pretty special, since I love to bake!  I thought my co-bakers would enjoy it.

For me, the secret ingredient is the excitement of knowing how much my creation will make people happy--especially my hubby.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Did you do anything special for Valentine's Day?  I hope you will leave your comment about that below.