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| Didn't get to tour the museum; maybe next time. |
The Meal Plan:
Sat (L) out (S) Squash Soup
Sun (L) Soup (S) Calzones
Mon (yoga) calzones and soup
Tues - calzone and soup
Wed (yoga) - leftover calzones
Thurs - Bacon Burgers
Fri - leftover burgers
Sausage Calzones (modified from Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations)
My modifications were to use a 1/2 lb of regular Italian bear sausage, one red bell instead of half a red and half a green (I didn't have any use for leftover pepper this week), and I made my own pizza dough (Cooks Country recipe).
This made four rather substantial calzones. Too much for one person. So we shared a calzone and had either a salad or a small bowl of leftover squash soup to go along side. Yum! This was also "bready" enough that I had the olive oil on the table so we could dip the calzone into some olive oil drizzled on our plates. Double yum!
These are too putzy for a weeknight meal (unless you've got plenty of time), but by making on the weekend I had leftovers for three more meals. Bonus! These reheated beautifully, tasted great, and I would absolutely make them again. Recommended!
Serves 4 (but mine were large enough to share, so I had 4 meals for two, with a side of soup or salad)
1/2 lb hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper (I used one cup red pepper and skipped the green)
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion (I used a leftover shallot)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Creole seasoning
1 tsp salt (omitted as there is salt in my Creole seasoning)
1 lb store-bought frozen pizza dough, thawed and at room temp (I made my own
All-purpose flour (for rolling out dough)
1/2 cup ricotta (I used cottage cheese)
1 1/2 cup grated mozzarella
1 large egg
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
Sea salt
Position a rack in the center of the oven. Put a pizza stone or upside down baking sheet on the rack and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a pizza peel or flat baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large nonstick skillet, cook the sausage, peppers, onion and garlic over medium-high heat, breaking up the sausage until the sausage is browned and the peppers an onions soft, about 5 minutes. Add Creole seasoning and salt (if using). Remove from heat and set aside.
Lightly flour a work surface and divide dough into four equal pieces. Using your hands or a rolling pin, stretch each piece into a 6-7" round.
Divide the ricotta (or cottage cheese) among the four rounds, placing it only on half of the dough and leaving room at the edges. Top with sausage and pepper mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Fold the dough over the filling and pinch the edges to seal. Transfer to prepared pizza peel or baking sheet.
In a small bowl, whisk egg and water. Brush over the calzones. Sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt. Carefully slide the parchment and calzones onto the pizza stone or baking sheet. Bake 10-14 minutes (I baked mine 20 minutes - that produces the best pizza/calzone results for my oven), or until golden on top and bottom, rotating halfway through baking for even cooking.
Bacon Burgers (modified from Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations)
My modifications are written below. For the full recipe, check out Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations.
I modified this bur overall stayed true to the recipe. I halved the recipe, I omitted the fried pork belly, and I used jarred bacon jam rather than following the "homemade" recipe provided. I had the bacon jam in the pantry, seemed a good a time to (finally) use it.
These are tasty, could easily be cooked on the grill, and come together fairly quickly. Cooking the bacon adds some extra time to the assembly process but it's not too bad. Chopped bacon takes less time to cook than whole slices and I found them more palatable in the burger rather than trying to crunch through a whole slice on top.
If you're looking for a different flavor for a burger, give this one a try. Recommended.
Serves 4
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb bacon
1 tbsp Creole seasoning
1 tsp kosher salt (less if there's salt in your Creole seasoning)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 slices cheddar cheese
4 lettuce leaves
4 slices tomato
pickles
4 buns (I used large English Muffins)
Bacon Jam**
In a large skillet, add the bacon, bring heat to medium-high and cook until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet and set aside. Reserve 2 tbsp bacon grease.
Return skillet to medium-high heat. With reserved bacon grease, cook onion until caramelized, about 5-7 minutes. **Toward the end of the cooking, add 1 tbsp of bacon jam if using. Set onions aside.
Combine ground beef, bacon, Creole seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic oil. Form into equal sized patties. Heat skillet and remaining 1 tbsp of bacon grease over medium-high heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes, flip, and cook another 3-4 minutes (depending on the thickness of your patties, the kind of meat you're using and taste preferences, I cook mine to 160*-170*). Turn off the heat, add the cheese and let melt slightly.
Assemble burgers on the bun with a schmear of bacon jam, patties and cheese, grilled onions, tomato, and lettuce.
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