Episode 298 - Lamb and Ricotta Calzone

Tonight’s dinner is calzone: crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle, and stuffed with two big flavors—quick lamb-tomato sauce and a whipped ricotta filling that’s salty and sharp from pecorino. I’m using my Episode 170 pizza dough here, but store-bought dough works totally fine when you want the shortcut. Quick trivia to amaze your friends: A calzone is the classic Italian half-moon fold; a stromboli is the Italian-American rolled-up “log,” possibly originating in Philadelphia. Ingredients For the calzone: • 1 batch Episode 170 pizza dough (or store-bought pizza dough), • flour/semolina for stretching, • shredded mozzarella (to taste) For the lamb sauce: • 1/2 lb ground lamb; • 2 tbsp tomato paste; • 2 garlic cloves, minced; • a few basil leaves; • 1/4 tsp salt; a few grinds black pepper For the whipped ricotta: • 2 cups ricotta, well-drained; • 1 tbsp good extra-virgin olive oil; • 3/4 cup grated pecorino Romano; • 1/2 tsp salt; • 1/2 tsp black pepper Set a small pot over medium heat and crumble in the ground lamb(no oil is needed - the lamb has adequate fat). Cook, stirring and breaking it up, until it’s browned and starting to render its fat. Stir in the tomato paste and let it toast for a minute so it tastes rich, not raw. Toss in the basil and add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Season with salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook for a few minutes and set aside while you make the ricotta filling. In a bowl, whisk the drained ricotta with the olive oil until it looks lighter and smoother. Stir in the pecorino, salt, and pepper. Give it another good whisk until it’s fluffy. Snip the corner of a zip-top bag and mount a pastry tip to make a quick DIY piping bag. Spoon in the filling and seal the bag. Pre-heat the oven to 450°F. If you’re using a pizza stone, let it preheat for a full hour so you get that great bottom crust. On a lightly floured surface, stretch/roll your pizza dough to about 1/4 inch thick (think: sturdy enough to hold filling, thin enough to crisp). • Add a generous line of whipped ricotta to one half of the dough (leave a border). • Spoon on some lamb sauce. • Top with mozzarella. Fold the dough over into a half-moon, press the edges to seal (crimp with a fork if you want), and cut a couple of small vents on top so steam can escape. Bake until deeply browned, about 20–25 minutes. Then—annoying but true—let it cool for a few minutes so the filling sets up and you don’t burn your mouth on molten cheese. The lamb sauce comes through rich and savory with that concentrated tomato paste flavor, and the basil keeps it from feeling heavy. Then you hit the ricotta-pecorino layer—creamy, salty, and a little sharp—so every bite tastes like it has its own built-in “sauce” even before the mozzarella gets involved. The outside gets crisp, the inside stays chewy, and the cheese does the melty-stretchy thing.