Thursday, March 19, 2009

Mad Fusion to the Rescue: Reuben Calzones for Dinner!

Normally, we'd be whipping up a nice batch of Reuben sammiches after St. Patrick's Day. And trust me, that's NOT a bad idea. But, neither is Reuben pizza... which was another option that came to mind.

Rather than trying to decide between the two, we opted to try our hand at a bit of good old fashioned experimentation. Ireland Meets Italia. Mad Fusion ensues.

First, you need the fixin's for pizza dough. But, this won't be just any pizza dough. Get your rye flour ready, honey. Cuz this pizza dough is gonna rock you like a Jewish deli... or something like that.
Once the dough is mixed, give it a short rise. Then knead in some caraway seeds, if you like them. If you'd prefer to leave them out, go right ahead. We'll just point and laugh. Loudly. Until you give in and add these delicious little seeds to your dough. Cuz they're AWESOME. But really, do whatever you like. We won't judge.
Now, lay your dough to rest again for a bit. And tuck him in. Cuz he likes that.
When he's risen all pretty-like, you can divide him up into four pieces. Roll each into a 12 inch circle. Or some sort of circle-ish (or maybe squarish) shape like you see here. Perfection is NOT the point here, people. Your calzone will not mind if he's a bit different from the rest. Trust me.
Now, you want to load on the filling... a few slices of cheese, a few slabs of corned beef, maybe some horseradish sauce (a Reuben wouldn't be a Reuben without horsey sauce at our house), and maybe a bit more cheese for good measure.
Tuck that filling in very neatly, and transfer your calzone to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Or a silpat. We opted for an exopat with very angry writing along the one side.

You should poke a few holes in your calzones so that the steam has a place to escape. Otherwise, heavens knows what could happen. Something might blow up.

You might also want to secretly brush them with a bit of whipped egg yolk so that they get a nice, sexy, sheen. But, don't tell anyone. Or take pictures. Cuz whipped egg yolk looks gross.
Bake your calzones at ... oh... 450ºF for about.. ah... 18-20 minutes. And then behold their loveliness!
You can leave them on a plate and just let them look pretty. OR you can cut them into slices and serve them to the hungry masses. Like we did.
Yum. Yum. Yum.
And don't forget to wash these down with a bit more of that delicious Irish Stout. Preferably something local. Guinness if you must.

And if you're curious about that rye flour pizza dough, we've got just the thing for you!

Rye Pizza Dough

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©BURP! Where Food Happens

24 comments:

  1. my mounth is hanging wide open! I love reubens. I want that sammie!!! You just made my day cuz we can't have beef here so I can just look at the pics and pretend!!! Maybe I can use the dough and make some plain oud sauerkraut calzones or something...

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  2. what an awesome idea - we love caraway seeds but never thought of putting them in pizza dough (I can't believe I'm not sick of caraway seeds by now - I ate a lot of Irish soda bread last week)

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  3. This is calzone week! We gotta make one. The reuben is a new way to go. Weee!

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  4. Oh, my goodness that was clever combining the two dishes to create one magnificent one!

    I want to take this moment to bake it clear that I like caraway seeds so my dough should I make one will have caraway seeds. Oh, and horseradish is a must!
    ~ingrid

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  5. Yum, yum, yum, indeed! You are so creative it boggles my mind. The caraway seeds are sheer genius.

    Your corned beef also looks most excellent and your St. Pat's Day memories are wonderful. I would love to see a green snowball! And even though I've never tried green beer myself, I have a lovely little niece whose origins there lie.

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  6. You sooooo rock!! This is amazing, why don't I ever think of these things! I'm so glad you do!!!

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  7. This is such a good idea! I'm out of corned beef, but may have to make more soon just for the leftovers.

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  8. Just blog hopping and wanted to say hi. You have a delicious blog!!!!! This calzone looks outrageous! And I love the Jewish Deli's since I'm from NY!

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  9. Your so very clever! I love these! They look so supremely delicious!

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  10. I discovered this blog a few weeks ago, and absolutely adore your wonderful food-itude...this "fusion" creation is a perfect example of playful experimenting, with solid skills to back you up!

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  11. Oooh de LALLY!

    They look amay-yay-yay-zing!

    Great way to use corned beef too! Is pastrami similar do you think to authentic american corned beef??

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  12. CabFranc - So glad you're enjoying the blog. Your compliment is blush-worthy!!

    Lisa - If I'm not mistaken, pastrami is actually smoked corned beef -- so very similar, just with a bit more (smoky) flavor. Would be great in a calzone like this!

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  13. your calzones look perfect!

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  14. That did rock me like a Jewish deli...what a snappy idea. Love it.

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  15. What a brilliant idea to make Reuben calzones - wow, YUM!!!

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  16. Ok, that's just genius. I love it!

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  17. Mmmm mmmm mmmmm! I love when Jewish delis rock me! And your idea was so creative - yum yum yum. Rye flour is so expensive here in Japan and I did have some for a while to make Nigella's welsh-rarebit muffins (to drool for), but then I let the dang flour expire and I haven't seen any more for sale anywhere. Anyway, I can always come back to your post and admire some more! This is making me hongry (like a hongry jack).

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  18. Wow! What a fantastic idea! These look delicious.

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  19. Very very cool idea. I love reubens. This is one way to have your reuben to go and notmake a mess. You dont need a fork to eat it.

    I confess to leaving out the caraway seeds. Commence laughter.

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  20. Chris loves reubens. I've never caught on due to my hatred for rye bread. Maybe this would be my ticket past the aversion.

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  21. Sadly, we did not have corned beef this year, so I am waaaaaay sad about not having leftovers (um, it's a week later?) to make one of these babies. I've been lusting after a ruben I have marked and just lookie what you have here. Now I need to round up some corned beef.

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  22. Wow, that's a pretty cool idea. Same great flavors - more handheld. Nice!

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