Calzones

This recipe is my version of a recipe from "The Magic Kingdom Cookbook" that my 6 year old bought at his book fair. The recipe in there is called "Pizza Planet Cheezy Calzones," and it has the little alien looking toys from Toy Story (I think) in the picture. Anyway, this is my version of that recipe.

Ingredients

• Turkey Pepperoni (or Canadian Bacon or cooked meat of your choice)
• Pizza dough from this recipe or 1 package of refrigerated pizza dough (I make my own ... you can make this up ahead a day or two and keep in the frig covered or in a ziploc bag in the frig until you are ready to use it)
• 1/3 cup of pizza sauce (I use Kroger brand 4 Cheese Spaghetti Sauce and this is an estimate on amount used)
• 1 C. of mozzarella cheese (this is also an estimate on amount used)
• 1 T. of fat free milk
• Parmesan cheese
• Garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray it with cooking spray.
2. Roll pizza dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle (or unroll your store bought dough into a rectangle.
3. Cut the dough into 6 or 8 rectangles. Sometimes I roll them out thinner and bigger once they are cut.
4. Use a spoon and spoon a small amount of spaghetti sauce in the middle of each rectangle.
5. Sprinkle each rectangle with mozzarella cheese and then place some pepperonis on each rectangle (the recipe calls for cut up Canadian bacon or cooked ham ... and you can cut up the pepperoni if you really want to ... I usually skip this step ... it is just whatever you prefer).
6. Fold each rectangle over in half over the filling (you can make a triangle or a long rectangle ... I think the long rectangle works better than the triangle, but do what you like).
7. Use a fork to go around the edges and seal each one. Arrange them on your baking sheet as you get each one sealed.
8. The recipe calls for you to prick the top of each calzone (but I forgot to do that tonight and it worked just fine without being pricked ... you can see what a "precise" chef I am! :o).
9. Brush each calzone with fat free milk. Then sprinkle each one with Parmesan cheese and then sprinkle on some garlic powder to taste.
10. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before trying to eat them, because the inside will be super hot!
11. My boys love them served with ranch dressing, but you could serve with extra spaghetti sauce.

Best Homemade Pizza Crust Recipe EVER!

I found this recipe on recipezaar.com, and it is fabulous! I don't know if we'll order pizza in again. It makes a dough that is crusty on the outside and bottom and soft on the inside. I followed the recipe exactly (I did the non-bread machine version). It was really easy.

When it was time to bake, I sprayed my Pampered Chef pizza stone with cooking spray. Then I just pulled the dough out into a circle while going around it and patted it out to the edge of the stone (making a little raised area around the edges for the crust). I think it would be too sticky to roll. Then we topped it with Four Cheese Pizza sauce, mozzarella, lite pork sausage, turkey pepperoni, and onions. Oh, I also sprinkled garlic powder around the crust, too. It bakes a LARGE, thick crust pizza that covers that whole large pizza stone.

I made two batches the first time I made this, because I didn't realize how MUCH it made. I just kept the other batch covered in the refrigerator a couple of days and then baked another pizza. It was just as great.

Click here for the recipe:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Basic-Pizza-Dough-26181

Elegant Lasagna

This is the BEST lasagna you will ever eat anywhere in the whole world!!! I made this for my family's Christmas gathering last year, because we were all tired of turkey. Everyone RAVED over it. There is nothing low fat about it, and don't try to make it low fat. Let it be an indulgence. You can easily make it ahead and freeze it or split the recipe and do two 8x8 pans and freeze one of them. This was submitted to Central's cookbook by Kate Hancock.

Ingredients

1 T. butter
1/2 lb. of hot sausage (I use Italian sausage)
1 lb. ground beef
2 cloves of minced garlic (use fresh on this)
3 T. of parsley flakes
1 T. basil
1 tsp. salt
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
12 oz. tomato paste
1 T. oregano
10 lasagna noodles
32 oz. of cottage cheese (I'm not crazy about cottage cheese but it is perfect in this)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. of black pepper
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 lb. of grated mozzarella cheese

Brown meats in butter. Add garlic, 1 tablespoon of parsley, basiz, 1/2 tsp salt, tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano. Simmer meat mixture as you prepare the noodles and the cheese mixture. Cook noodles according to package directions and rinse in cold water to prevent sticking. Combine cottage cheese, eggs, 1/2 tsp. salt, pepper, other 2 tablespoons of parsley and Parmesan cheese.

To assemble: Arrange a layer of 1/2 the noodles in a lightly greased 13x9 pan. Spread 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Add 1/2 of the meat mixture. Add 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or freeze. To bake it frozen, I would cook it about an 1 and 1/2, but check it at an hour. You could always take it out of the freezer the day before you want to cook it and thaw it in the fridge and then cook for 30 to 45 minutes at 375.