Ben's Calzone

Hello on the 27th day of the Vegan Month of Food and the sixth day of my Parks and Recreation theme week! I'm also pretty excited because this is my 100th post! (I would have hit this milestone sooner had I not deleted my first several posts, including those of Vegan MoFo 2010, but ah well...)

Ben's Calzone

In "The Comeback Kid" (season 4, episode 11), Ben, having resigned from his job as assistant city manager, has been keeping himself occupied by shooting a (very short) claymation video and learning to make calzones. (Leslie and the rest of the parks department have been planning a comeback for her city council campaign, but when everything goes wrong, she decides to hire Ben as her campaign manager.)

Chris: So, Ben, why calzones?

Ben: Glad you asked, Chris. You know, there's fast-food hamburgers, there's fast-food Mexican, there's fast-food Chinese, blah, blah, blah. Have you ever wondered why there isn't a fast-food option for Italian food?

Chris: What about pizza?

Ben: "Pizza? Never heard of it!" That's what people will be saying in 20 years because pizza is old news, Chris. Pizza is your grandfather's calzone.

Chris: I never thought of it that way.

Ben: What I'm talking about is a portable, delicious meal that is its own container. It's a whole new spin on Italian fast, casual dining.

Chris: Amazing!

Ben: Now, you of all people will like this: I'm going to use low-fat ingredients.

Chris: Game-changer!

Ben: And I will call my new Italian fast casual eatery the Low-Cal Calzone Zone.

Chris: That idea is literally the greatest idea I have ever heard in my life.

Chris (to camera): That idea is terrible.

Ingredients:

(crust)

--1 Bob's Red Mill 16 oz. package Gluten Free Pizza Crust mix

--2 T flaxseed meal + 6 T water (replaces the 2 eggs)

--1 1/2 cups warm water

--2 T olive oil

--yeast packet (included in the pizza crust package)

(toppings)

--tomato sauce

--shredded Daiya (both mozzarella and cheddar)
--vegan pepperoni slices (I used Lightlife's Smart Deli Pepperoni)

Directions:

(Preheat oven to 425°F.) Combine yeast and water in a large bowl; let stand a few minutes. Add the flaxseed meal and olive oil, stir. Add the pizza crust mix; stir until combined. Split dough in half, leave in bowl, covered for 20 minutes so it can rise. To make two calzones, take one of the doughs, split it in half, and spread out two round crusts on the greased baking tray. Bake for 7 minutes without toppings. (Store second unused dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge.) Remove from oven, add tomato sauce to one half of each crust, then Daiya and vegan pepperoni on top.* Fold the empty half over to cover the toppings. Crimp the edges closed with a fork (if possible; wasn't for me, oops!). Add a bit of olive oil atop the calzones and make a few small cuts in the top, then bake for 9 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool; the calzones will be much hotter than a pizza. Serve and enjoy!

*To use up some leftovers, I (over)filled one of the calzones with some chopped yellow onion and Boca chick'n instead of pepperoni.

This was my first time making calzones, and while they were messy (and I was unable to get them fully closed), they were still delicious. I think it would be fun to experiment with different fillings (the two versions I made were both great), but all in all, I'm more of a pizza person. Sorry, Ben! 

Bonus quotes from the episode:

Leslie (to her former campaign managers): I just had a big meeting with my new advisory board, and they are brilliant and amazing. They're real killers.

Andy (in background): Leslie? I tried to make ramen in the coffee pot, and I broke everything.

Leslie: Thank you, Andy; I'll be right in.

In other vegan news, today is Hug a Vegan Day! So here's a big hug for all my vegan readers and fellow bloggers!

Mystery, however, is rather skeptical of all this hugging going on...

Peace. :)

Ben's Mac & Cheese Pizza

Hello on the 23rd day of the Vegan Month of Food, and the second day of my Parks and Recreation theme week (and another perfect match for Mac-and-Cheese Monday).

Ben's Mac & Cheese Pizza

In "Jerry's Retirement" (season 5, episode 20), Leslie and Ben were supposed to have a day off together, but right as they were leaving, Jerry got up to say his good-byes. No one had remembered that Jerry was retiring that day, so no celebration had been planned. Instead of having a day off, Leslie becomes determined to help Jerry achieve the goals he'd had when he first started working for the government (and only briefly gets distracted by her excitement for Ben's dinner plans, video clip here and dialogue below).

Leslie: I just can't let Jerry leave here with nothing and go home to an empty life.

Ben: Well, I'll help with anything, just promise we'll do it quickly. I'm making us a mac & cheese pizza for dinner...

Leslie: Mac & cheese pizza?! (gets up from desk)

Ben: Yeah... (looks nervous)

Leslie: You're making that?! (heads around desk to Ben)

Ben: Yeah... (smiles)

Leslie: Huhhh! (starts making out with Ben)

I figured that it must be some pretty good pizza to get that kind of a reaction, so I wanted to try making it myself.

For the mac & cheese:

I used the mac & cheese recipe I posted about last Monday: Hot Dog with Mac & Cheese.

For the crust:

I simply took out the leftover second dough from the fridge and let it sit for 30 minutes before spreading it out on the greased baking tray and baking it for 9 minutes at 425°F. (For instructions on making the dough using the Bob's Red Mill mix, see this post from Friday: Pizza.)

After removing the crust from the oven, add the mac & cheese atop the crust spoonful by spoonful, spreading it out. Add some shredded Daiya mozzarella, pepper, and garlic salt on top. Put pizza in oven for 9 minutes. Remove, allow to cool slightly, slice, and serve (I had some baby carrots and potato chips on the side.)

The mac & cheese pizza was a bit messier to slice and eat than regular pizza. It was good, though I don't know if it's something I'll make again. (I think I prefer more traditional pizzas.) But all in all, it was yummy and fun.

Bonus quotes from the episode:

Jerry: (reading from plaque) Jerry Gergich Memorial Conference Room. R.I.P. (confused look)

Ben: Oh, the guy at the plaque store thought you had died. It was a rush job, so we didn't have time to change it.

Leslie: It doesn't matter; we can just pretend it means “retire in peace.”

In other news, today is Celebrate Bisexuality Day (also known as Bi Pride Day and Bi Visibility Day)! 

image from: http://taskforceblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/bi_pride_graphic.jpg

Mystery briefly got into the spirit by modeling this fun scarf.

Peace. :)

Pizza

Hello on the 20th day of the Vegan Month of Food! Today for Nostalgia Week, it's Pizza Friday!

Pizza

Ingredients:

(crust)

--1 Bob's Red Mill 16 oz. package Gluten Free Pizza Crust mix

--2 T flaxseed meal + 6 T water (replaces the 2 eggs)

--1 1/2 cups warm water

--2 T olive oil

--yeast packet (included in the pizza crust package)

(toppings)

--tomato sauce

--shredded Daiya (both mozzarella and cheddar)
--vegan pepperoni slices (I used Lightlife's Smart Deli Pepperoni)*

*If you leave off the pepperoni, this pizza is gluten-free! :)

Directions:

(Preheat oven to 425°F.) Combine yeast and water in a large bowl; let stand a few minutes. Add the flaxseed meal and olive oil, stir. Add the pizza crust mix; stir until combined. Split dough in half (makes two 12-inch crusts), leave in bowl, covered for 20 minutes so it can rise. Place one of the doughs on a greased pizza pan (I used a baking tray). With wet hands, spread out the dough to cover the pan (I made a round 9 1/2 inch crust). Bake for 7 minutes without toppings. (Store second unused dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge.) Remove from oven, add sauce, Daiya, and vegan pepperoni slices. Bake for 7 minutes (the package says 15-18 minutes, but 7 minutes seemed sufficient for mine since it was smaller). Remove from oven; allow to cool slightly, slice with pizza cutter, and serve. (Mine made 4 slices.)

Notes: I do enjoy a thicker crust, but I probably will spread out the crust a bit thinner when I use the leftover dough to make another pizza. (Even though the cheese got melty and the bottom of the crust cooked well, the middle was a bit doughy; still delicious, though!) I really enjoyed the vegan pepperoni; I loved pepperoni when I was younger, and this tasted very similar (and was notably less greasy!).

Growing up, "Pizza Friday" was always fun; we alternated between ordering a pizza or making it at home ourselves. Of the two options, homemade pizza was much more delicious and way more exciting since I got to help my dad with preparing the dough and adding the sauce and all the toppings. My favorite combination, which I made here today, was cheddar, mozzarella, and pepperoni. As I helped to layer on the toppings, inevitably, here and there, a slice of pepperoni would end up getting eaten instead of being placed on the pizza (and today, I was sure to try one after I was done adding all the toppings). Also, my dad always used baking trays for the pizza, and he would spread the dough out fully, so our homemade pizzas were always rectangular; it was fun because when he sliced the pizza, the slices ended up as squares.

pacman?

Last night, Mystery joined me on the couch when I was watching TV. She decided to snuggle in against my left leg. Luckily my camera was nearby so I was able to snap a picture.

Peace. :)