Home Chef

Great tasting food doesn't need to be hard to make and a varied diet of good tasting food can improve the quality of your life immensely. I'm not a chef, maybe not even a very good cook, but I'm obsessed with cooking shows, cooking and trying new things in the kitchen. I built this page as my own personal cook book but, obviously others (like you for example), will see it and maybe even try the recipes. So, if you do try any of these dishes, I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions! You won't find anything fancy here, just good food that's easy to cook and that I enjoyed eating. Bon apetite.

’m not a vegetarian and secretly believe that vegetarians are all wacko-nut-job-hippies….at least that’s what I used to think. Until I started making home made calzones. Seriously, these may be the best thing I’ve ever eaten. And unbelievably versatile. You can make them vegetarian or not because it’s literally impossible to make a bad calzone. Everything you put in them ends up tasting great. And so simple to make. Here’s how:

Preheat the oven to 450 f.
Get a pre-made pie crust like those listed below (you can get them at any grocery store) and lay one piece of it down on a piece of grease paper or tin foil sprayed with Pam.
Now, here’s the tricky part, look in the refrigerator….and grab anything that looks like a leftover or anything you don’t have set aside for another dish. Seriously, EVERYTHING is good in a calzone.
Now, put whatever you’ve found on one half of the circle of pie crust.
Fold the other half over, like a lid, to form a self contained, half moon .
Crimp the edges of the pie crust together so the yummy contents doesn’t fall out.
Throw it in the oven and pull it out when it’s golden brown.

Tip 1: Lightly brush egg or oil over the top of the calzone before you put it in the oven and the pie crust will brown up much more quickly.
Tip 2: Don’t put anything inside the calzone that needs to be cooked. Calzone’s cook too quickly for anything inside to cook properly and putting it in the oven just makes the inside hot and cooks the pie crust.
Tip 3: Put small cuts across the top of the calzone to let out any steam and keep it from cracking and breaking.

Examples of great calzone stuffings:
Mushrooms, bell pepper, beans, celery, asparagus, potatoes, carrots and ANY meat!
Keep trying different mixes of contents. I haven’t found anything I didn’t like yet.

Toast some nice bread, French of Ciabatta or anything you like (toast one side only)
Add a layer of delicious cheese.
Spread some bean paste* on, over the cheese (the cheese keeps the bread from going moist and soggy from the bean paste).
Pop it in the microwave to heat up the bean paste.
At the same time throw some chicken or fish into a fry pan with some preheated Olive oil (extra virgin is my favorite). You can also add some garlic to the oil if you like (and I do). The hotter the temperature of the oil the better. The chicken or fish will fry VERY quickly.
Take the toast with the cheese and the bean paste out of the microwave and put your fried meat on top and viola, fantastically delicious.
(Salt and pepper to taste)

*Bean Paste recipe has it’s own entry on this page.

Toast your favorite bread (I use French bread).
At the same time either grill, broil or fry some sausages.
Smother the toast in bean paste (see Bean Paste recipe on this page)
Lay on some mozzarella cheese.
Pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds to heat the bean paste and melt the mozzarella cheese.
Take the toast out of the microwave and add tomato on top, salt and pepper to taste.
Top it off with the sausages.
Eat.
Thank me for giving your taste buds this deliciousness.

Boil your favorite pasta (yes you have to salt the water).
At the same time, heat up some extra virgin olive oil in a pan.
When the oil is hot, add thinly sliced garlic, sliced mushrooms, sliced chillies (any kind) and shrimp and cook the shrimp to the color you prefer.
Put the cooked pasta into a bowl and pour the oil, garlic, shrimp, etc. over the pasta.
Add fresh, black pepper and mix..
Fantastic.
Bon apetite.

Extras
Add pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes or bell pepper.