Failed five-cheese pizza torta became five-cheese calzone? Why not?
Some of you might know that I have this book, which is an indespensable book for me. I’ve been looking at it last week, flipping through the pages, looking for some inspiration of what to make for Friday’s dinner. I’ve found several recipes that I wanted to try, but this one recipe sounded so good. It’s called Cheese Pizza Torta with five different types of cheeses. Hmmm…just the right fix for my cheese craving soul. It calls for a pizza dough but because I have a bread machine, making a pizza dough is relatively a quick process. Hubby helped me grated the cheeses while I made the homemade pizza sauce. The book gives me a recipe for a quick and quite tasty pizza sauce, which I’ve made several times. Once you try a homemade pizza sauce, you’ll never go back to the bottled one.
I’ve thought I read the instruction carefully but when the torta finished baking, it turned to be a slight disaster. What happened was that I didn’t foresee that the torta would be brown on the outside, but not quite done in the inside. Since the torta had 3 layers of dough, I should’ve tent (maybe?) the torta so the inside would get done perfectly. It wasn’t stated in the recipe so I didn’t think of it. Only after I cut the torta that I realized it wasn’t all the way cooked. The very top dough rose, but the second layer of dough was didn’t quite rise and was mushed together with the cheeses. The bottom layer didn’t puffed as much either. Quite frankly, I haven’t figured out what I did wrong with the layers. Grrr…. And what’s more, I didn’t make a good job braided the edges of the torta. Yes, I was a bit pissed because the dinner was slightly ruined, and we had to nibble around the edges to eat that. The cheeses melted wonderfully though, it’s a good combination. I will vow to make this cheese torta again without making the same mistakes!
Not to be defeated by the failed torta, I devised another solution to use up the cheeses that I have. The goat cheese package was already opened and was already halfway used, so it better be used right away. So I chose calzone. That’s right…. who doesn’t like calzone anyway? Besides, calzone were not as daunting as torta! 
I only had to do another pizza dough, rolled it into rounds, put a dollop or so of pizza sauce and dumped some cheese on it. I brushed the edges with egg glaze, closed to form half circle, brushed the surface of the calzone with egg glaze again and lastly sprinkled it with Parmesan cheese. These were placed in a greased baking pan and they went into a 350 degree F oven for about 25-30 minutes. In the end I was quite happy that even though I failed at making the torta, at least I made the calzone successfully. I will gladly share the recipe for cheese torta here because I know out there, there’s people who can make perfect torta with only one try!
Update (September 29, 2008): I’m sending this picture below for Click! event this month since the theme is perfectly chosen: Crusts. Please see this link for more info.
Five-Cheese Pizza Torta
Makes one 8-inch torta
3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal or coarse semolina, for dusting
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 ounces)
1/2 cup Italian fontina cheese, shredded (2 ounces)
1/2 cup smoked provolone, shredded (2 ounces)
3 ounces soft goat cheese or feta, crumbled (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 recipe pizza dough (enough to make 2 thin 12- to 14-inch)
1/3 cup homemade tomato herbed pizza sauce or commercial marinara sauce
Fresh ground black pepper
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for glaze
Place a baking stone on the lower third oven rack and preheat the oven to 375 degree F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan and dust with cornmeal or semolina.
Combine all the cheeses, except 1/4 cup of the Parmesan in a small bowl and toss together.
Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to very thin 9-inch rounds. Carefully place 1 round in the prepared pan and press the excess dough up the sides of the pan. Spread with half of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with half of th cheese mixture and a few grinds of pepper, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Brush the edge of the dough with the egg glaze.
Position the second dough round on top, again pressing the excess dough up the sides of the pan, spread with the tomato sauce, and sprinkle evenly with the remaining cheese mixture and a little more pepper. Brush the edge of the dough with the egg glaze.
Place the last dough round on top. Bring the edges of the two bottom layers of dough up to the top, and roll the edges together in sections to seal in the cheeses; the edges will naturally form a rope pattern. Brush the top all over with the egg glaze and sprinkle with the reserved 1/4 cup Parmesan.
Immediately place the pan in the oven and bake until thoroughly browned, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven to a wire rack and remove the springform sides. Let rest for 10 minutes. Slide the torta onto a cutting board, cut it while hot with a serrated knife, and serve.
Source: adapted from The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger
To make calzone (this is only an approximate recipe):
After you have your pizza dough ready, divide them into 5 to 6 balls of dough. Let them rest for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until they have risen about 20% in size. Roll each ball of dough into about 9-inch round. Put a dollop of tomato sauce in the middle of the dough, sprinkle with the cheese mixture & a few grinds of pepper. Brush the edges with egg glaze and enclose it so it forms a half round shape. Brush the top of calzone with egg glaze and sprinkle with Parmesan. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough. Place them in a baking stone and bake in 350 degree F oven for about 25-30 minutes.
tapi penampakannya masih keliatan endang kok..:D, jadi pengennnn !
kalo udah jadi calzone sih gak apa2
torta nya itu yg menyedihkan
Comment by elsye — September 9, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
Duuuu…pengen nyicip, kayaknya enak banget
bisa aja kamu Ret
Comment by retno — September 10, 2008 @ 6:03 am
Oh, Liz! I hear your pain, darling – I would be carried away, too, by the idea of a cheese torta made with pizza dough. I think it looks amazing, though.
and the calzones… The perfect solution.
thanks Pat, i did find happiness in calzone instead of torta
Comment by Patricia Scarpin — September 10, 2008 @ 7:40 am
The calzones were a perfect call to use up that cheese!! and 5 cheeses in anything has got to be good!
yes, there’s never too much cheese in pizza/calzone
Comment by Deborah — September 10, 2008 @ 11:25 am
I love pizza in all it’s many forms and calzones are one of my favorites. Very creative save for your failed torta!
i never get bored with pizza/calzone either Mari, so yeah…i was pretty happy!
Comment by mari — September 11, 2008 @ 5:00 am
I am not sure what is a torta but I know calzone and my hubby loves it. Have to try the recipe you posted sometime.
well, torta is essentially a layered pizza cake
i think it came from torte, meaning cake. good to hear that your hubby loves calzone too!
Comment by Lee Ping (Mrs.HBT) — September 11, 2008 @ 9:44 pm
WOW WOW WOW, Eliza, I’m breathless … what a stunning torta! That dish needs to be on a cover of a magazine! OMG Eliza just beautiful!
now, now Chuck..i’m a modest woman, so i’m very flattered by your very nice comment! i do like the outer appearance of the torta, but the inside was just a mess! but it’s good to learn from mistakes, which mean i’ll be making better torta next time around.
Comment by chuck — September 12, 2008 @ 11:10 am
Yes yes, why not? Love all the cheeses enclosed this way. It’s easier to being around and eat
eating on the go, eh?
Comment by tigerfish — September 15, 2008 @ 1:33 am
don’t worry! It’s gonna turn out find the second time around!
oh, hopefully Pei Lin…i have such high hope
Comment by Mrs Ergül — September 15, 2008 @ 2:12 am
this looks amazing. I’ve never made calzones before, but this recipe looks manageable. I have a hungry husband who would be so happy to see this on his dinner plate!
aw yeah…especially when you have a bread machine. or even easier, you could use refrigeraten pizza dough too!
Comment by alexandra's kitchen — September 16, 2008 @ 7:38 am
OMG i’m sooo hungry right now
!! 
thanks for stopping by Teresa, I hope you make calzone soon to ease your hunger
Comment by Teresa — September 23, 2008 @ 11:47 am
wah yang ini menggiurkan banget liz…tp aku belon sanggup bikin yg ginian hehe
ah, ya masak sih? gampang koq hahhahaa…
Comment by rita — September 24, 2008 @ 2:46 am