The Buffalo Chicken CALZONE

“ A delicate little dough pocket filled with tomato sauce, cheese and seasoned meat” – Ben Wyatt on Parks & Rec.  NO better words have been said when describing what is honestly one of the best things on earth. . . the Calzone. WHY IS IT SO AWESOME? Because it’s a FOLDED PIZZA.  Although there are many comfort foods that deserve their time to shine, I choose to create a calzone that was able to silence even the mightiest of beasts because I. WAS. STARVING.   

 

Although I don’t have the healthiest of choices when it comes to food, I wanted to make something that was just filthy with flavor. Then an idea struck me like a billy goat to the groin. . . A BUFFALO CHICKEN CALZONE with BLUE CHEESE DIPPING SAUCE. . .

I had all the ingredients already in my fridge EXCEPT pizza dough. So immediately I went to the store and picked some up. And I’m not talking about the crappy Pillsbury kind that you see some lame family making in those commercials. That stuff seriously sucks. If you like it, that’s cool, just know, that for half the price you can buy better pizza dough that won’t suck. There is ONE exception to Pillsbury dough... and that is with the creation of the PIZZA CAKE. Please & Thank You. 

 Also, when it comes to buying this type of dough, you can make all sorts of different meals with it, if you don’t end up using the entire batch. However, in this case, I went huge and used the entire thing.  

 

Once back home, I got everything out that I needed:

*Chicken

*Red’s Buffalo Hot Sauce

*Blue Cheese Dressing

*Pizza Dough

*Mozzarella Cheese  

*Cooking Sheet

*Olive Oil ( optional )

*1 Egg (optional )

*Flour (optional )

*Tin Foil ( optional )

Personally, I chose to make the chicken first and I added some of the Buffalo Sauce to it so it can cook into the chicken so you won’t lose that flavor with any bite, YA DIG?!? 

Once that was done, I made the Buffalo Sauce by just pouring some blue cheese dressing and Red’s Buffalo Sauce into a bowl and mixing it together. I continued to add the hot sauce until it was as hot as I enjoy it without it burning every taste bud I have.

 NOW, turn your oven on to 425 degrees. It’ll take some time to get to this heat, so while this is happening continue with the process.

Shredding of the cheese was next. You can buy the already shredded cheese if you prefer. I just got a block of Mozzarella Cheese and grated it because it makes the cheese pieces thicker. 

 That helps it melt and hold everything together inside when it’s cooking. I then rolled out the dough. I added flour to it and then took some egg yolk and brushed it on the outside corners. I also added it to the spots that were a little thinner than the other spots to help for consistency. 

Once all that is done. . 

ADD your chicken / cheese / and Buffalo Sauce to one side of the dough. You can even mix it all together in a bowl and then add it that way if you feel it’s a better way to make sure you mixed it all up evenly.

 

 NEXT… FOLD IT OVER! Take the side of the 

dough that doesn’t have the stuffing, and fold it 

over the top of your mix of chicken and cheese. 

Make sure you roll up the sides of the dough 

securing that nothing will spill out while it 

cooks.

 

 SLICE 3 holes on the top of your creation. 

WHY?!?!?!?!? This allows it to breathe while it 

cooks. You’ve all seen cartoons eat these things. 

Make it look like that if you need a reference.  

 

  Grab your cooking sheet, tin foil, and olive oil next. The tin foil and olive oil are optional, not everyone has these in the house, so it don’t worry about it. I put tin foil on the cooking sheet so if any food burns or melts to the foil and NOT the pan, so it doesn’t ruin your pan and make it look like shit.

Place the foil on the cooking sheet and pour a little olive oil on the tin foil and place the calzone on the oil. The oil will make a nice crisp brown color on the bottom of your calzone creating a great base for this mammoth of a treat you’ll be eating.

The oven should be at 425 degrees at this point in time. Set a timer for 15 – 20 mins. KEEP AN EYE ON IT. Every oven is different than the next. Once you notice the cheese and sauce starting to boil out of the 3 slices on the top, that’s a good sign that it’s probably done and you can take it out. 

Once you take it out, IT WILL STILL BE COOKING ON THE INSIDE. You know those Hot Pockets you crushed at 2am in college and burned the top of your mouth because you ate it too soon like an asshole? SAME thing here. I know you are STARVING or your kids are BITCHING at you to eat. Take another swig of booze or turn on another cartoon episode on Netflix and wait it out a bit.

 It’ll be worth it. When it’s all said and done and you’ve woken up from your food coma, you’ll be craving these things like George Costanza’s boss Mr. Steinbrenner!