Candy’s Calzone Recipe (Gluten Free, Grain Free, Vegan, Paleo)

Candy’s Calzone Recipe

Ingredients:

1 ½ C warm water (110⁰F)

1 T honey (or maple syrup for vegan)

2 T instant yeast

6 egg whites (or 3/4 C aquafaba or vegan yogurt for vegan)

2 t apple cider vinegar

½ C extra virgin olive oil

480 g (2 C) tapioca starch (plus more as needed)

192 g potato starch 

100g almond flour 

1 T salt (I use Himalayan Pink)

1 t baking powder

Gluten Free:

158 g brown rice flour

Grain Free:

120 g (½ C) teff flour

60 g (½  C) cassava flour

Filling:

8 oz Ricotta cheese (or Kite Hill vegan Ricotta)*

1 egg (or 2 T almond milk for vegan)

2-4 C mozzarella cheese (Miyokos vegan fresh mozzarella)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to lowest setting and then turn off after it reaches about 120⁰.

Add honey to warm water and stir.  Add yeast and gently stir again and then let sit for 5 minutes or so as you work the flour and egg whites.

Beat the egg whites or aquafaba on high speed in a large mixing bowl until firm. (Skip this step if using yogurt.)

Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Add the oil and vinegar to your yeast mixture then add your liquid ingredients to the egg whites/aquafaba/yogurt. Mix on low for a few seconds to incorporate ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low until there is no more dry flour then mix on high for a minute.  Dough should be coming off the sides of the bowl.  It will be wetter than normal gluten dough. If it is too wet and looks like batter, slowly add additional tapioca until it is coming off the sides of the bowl.  This is more likely to be necessary with the grain free version than the gluten free version.  

Oil the bowl that your flour was in and put your dough back in the bowl.  

Cover with a towel and place in warm, but not hot, oven to rise for about 30 minutes to an hour. (You can warm oven up to lowest setting then turn off. Open door for a few seconds and then place dough in oven.)

Remove dough from oven and heat oven to highest setting.

Divide dough into 8 pieces. Place one dough ball on a piece of parchment and press out gently with your fingers to form a round, flat circle, thin but not transparent.

Mix egg with ricotta (or almond milk with vegan ricotta). I also add about 1/4t salt, 1/4t garlic powder and 1/2t Italian seasoning but some people like their ricotta plain. 

Place ricotta on one side of the circle, leaving about an inch around the edge. Add meat, veggies and mozzarella. Make sure pointy things, like onions, are on the bottom so they don't break through the dough. Gently take the other side of the circle under the parchment and fold it over onto the top. Use a fork or your fingers to press the edges together. At this point, we take some melted butter or dairy substitute, to which we've added some garlic powder, and gently paint this on to all the outside dough that is visible.

Put entire thing, including the parchment paper, onto your pizza stone and cook for about 10 minutes. Watch it carefully to make sure that it does not burn.

Remove from oven and do the same for the remaining seven dough balls.

These can also be partially cooked and frozen for future dinners.

*We also have used vegan cream cheese mixed with some herbs and salt, in place of vegan ricotta.