Mom's a Milliner and Calzones

"My mother was a milliner in Wales.  I often had to dress up in her creations and parade up and down the street in front of her shop, as a sort of advertisement."  -Ellen Punnet, 1000 Hats by Norma Shephard

My daughters have been my biggest influence as a milliner.  I started making hats and named the business after them when Zazu was 9 years old and Violet was 7 years old.  I would fashion a hat and try it on their heads.  This was before I had hat blocks.  They considered it a form of dress-up.  I never made them parade up and down in front of my shop, but occasionally they would pose as mannequins wearing hats in the display windows.

Now, they have grown into young women and they do wear their mother's creations.  Another thing I make that they are fond of are calzones.  I started by making big ones, but found the single size portion was everyone's favorite.  The calzones freeze and re-heat perfectly.  An easy lunch or dinner courtesy of Mom and thanks for all the hat modeling.

Calzones

2 gluten-free pizza doughs

Calzone Filling

Makes 16 single portion calzones

This recipe is enough to fill two pizza doughs.  The filling has a better consistency if prepared a day ahead.

1 16 oz. package of frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 16 oz. tub of ricotta cheese
1 8 oz. ball of mozzarella, cut into small cubes
1/2 ham steak.cut into 1/4 cubes, or 3 sweet cooked Italian sausages cut into cubes
zest of one lemon + juice
3 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped fine
2 tablespoons fresh lemon thyme leaves
1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients for filling and refrigerate overnight.  When your dough is almost risen bring the filling to room temperature.  Punch the dough down and knead briefly.  Divide each dough into eight balls and keep under a kitchen towel while forming the calzones.  To form, roll each ball into a 5" circle, mound filling on one half and fold dough over filling and seal.  I roll the edges over and crimp like a pie crust.  Bake 8-10 minutes on a pizza brick in a 500 degree oven until the crust is golden brown.

Eat while piping hot, or cool and wrap in freezer paper to freeze.  To re-heat, unwrap, place the frozen calzones on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

To see the latest collection of Zazu & Violets' hats, please visit our on-line Etsy shop.