Michela Chiappa's pocket pizzas
They’re all the rage on social media. Michela’s in the kitchen putting her twist on the viral hit, mini pizza calzones. Exceptionally easy to make and dangerously good, serve these to your kids or take them on a delicious day out.
Mini pizza calzones
Serves 16
Ingredients
For the pizza dough:500g double 00 Flour1 tbsp caster sugar7g quick acting yeast1 tsp fine salt2 tbsp olive oil250ml warm waterFor the pizza passata:
400g tin of tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano,
1 tbsp tomato purée
For the calzone fillings:Grated mozzarellaSliced onions (marinade them in olive oil and salt if you have time)Ham or chorizo
1 egg, beatenExtra flour for rolling
Method
1. Mix the dough ingredients in a food processor or mixer for 5-10 minutes on a medium speed - the longer you mix the better, so always mix for longer than you think. Also give the dough a little hand knead if you have time.
2. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or cling film – this is very important as otherwise the dough will form a crust. Leave somewhere warm for 2-3 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.
3. Tip the dough out of the bowl and knead, then divide into four smaller balls. Cover it again with a damp tea towel or cling film and leave for another half an hour if you can - this step isn’t necessary but it does help give a really lovely light dough.
4. To make the pizza passata, blend the tin of tomatoes with the olive oil, oregano, tomato purée and a pinch of salt.
5. Take a dough ball and roll it thinly into a rough rectangle shape, then divide it into 4 smaller rectangles.
6. Spoon a small teaspoon of pizza passata into the centre of each piece of dough with a sprinkle of mozzarella, leaving a border around the edge of the dough – this is really important so the calzone can be sealed.At this point you can also add one or two of your calzone fillings - don’t add too many fillings or your calzone might explode when cooking!
7. Brush a little beaten egg around the edge of one half of the dough then fold to create a parcel. Seal the sides with your fingers, or use a fork to crimp.
8. For the tastiest results I like to shallow fry these in sunflower oil for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. You can also bake them in an oven at 250C for about 10 minutes, or even air fry them.