Cook like an expert with Mario Batali’s wood-fired recipes!

Recipes courtesy of Mario Batali. All rights reserved.

ESCAROLE CALZONE: CALONE di RICOTTA e ESCAROLA

Serves: 4 calzones

Ingredients
Dough:
1/4 cup light red or white wine, such as Fiano del Avellino
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 ounces fresh yeast
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
1 large head escarole, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons very small capers, rinsed 3 times in water and drained
4 salted anchovies, finely minced
1 cup Gaeta olives, pitted but left whole
1/4 cup dried currants
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cups fresh ricotta
Salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat your Chicago Brick Oven to Baking Oven Grade 1, roughly floor temperature of 425° to 450°F.

To Make the Dough:
Place the wine, water and yeast in a large bowl and stir until dissolved. Add the honey, salt and olive oil and mix thoroughly. Add 1 cup of flour and mix with a wooden spoon until it becomes a loose batter. Add 2 more cups of flour and stir with the spoon for another 2 to 3 minutes to incorporate as much of the flour as possible.

Bring the dough together with your hands and turn it out onto a floured board or marble surface. Knead for about 6 to 8 minutes until you have made a firm, smooth dough. Using the other teaspoon of olive oil, lightly oil a clean bowl, place the dough inside and cover with a towel. Let it rise in the warmest part of the kitchen for 45 minutes.

Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces and knead it into rounds. Let rest 15 minutes.

For the Filling:
Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil.

Remove leaves from escarole head and rinse of all sand and dirt. Drop the leaves into the boiling water and cook until tender, about 12 to 14 minutes. Remove, shock in ice water until cool and drain. Stack the leaves, cut them into 1/4-inch thick ribbons and set aside. In a 12- to 14-inch sauté pan, heat oil over high heat until smoking. Add garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes until light golden brown. Add the capers, anchovies, olives, currants and pine nuts and cook 2 to 3 minutes until garlic is golden brown. Add the escarole ribbons and cook 4 minutes, stirring and moving until well mixed. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Gently stir in ricotta and season mixture with salt and black pepper. Set aside.

Dust a clean work surface lightly with flour. Take the first of the 4 rounds of dough and flatten it with your fingers and palms until it is about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick and oval-shaped, and about 10 inches across. Place one 1/4 of the escarole mixture in upper part of center of the rolled dough. Fold the dough to form a half-moon, then seal the edges. Repeat this process with the other 3 pieces. Place each piece on a well-dusted pizza peel, place in the near 40% on the floor of your Chicago Brick Oven, close the door and cook 7 minutes. Open the door and gently turn the calzones around 180 degrees. Close the door and cook for 8 to 10 more minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve.

This dish is often served at room temperature, but can be eaten fresh from the oven.

HERB ROASTED CHICKEN

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients
1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) organic whole roaster chicken
3 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tablespoon chopped sage leaves
2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves (reserve the parsley stems)
1/2 cup extra–virgin olive oil
1 lemon, quartered
2 bay leaves

Directions
Preheat your Chicago Brick Oven to Baking Oven Grade 1; roughly floor temperature of 425° to 450°F.

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Season aggressively, inside and out, with all of the salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, thyme, sage, parsley and olive oil. Rub the olive oil and herb blend into the cavity of the chicken, as well as all over the exterior.

Place the parsley stems into the cavity of the chicken and squeeze each lemon quarter into the chicken and place the rind in as well. Put the bay leaves inside the chicken, place the bird into an oven-friendly ceramic dish and place into the Chicago Brick Oven and close the door. Roast for about 1 hour, or until the chicken is golden brown, the juices run clear and a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 160°F. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before carving.

Serve with a simple salad and enjoy life, you have arrived my friend. Have a nice glass of Aragone and make out with your wife; she digs you now more than ever.

WHOLE ROASTED FISH with CELERY, LEMON and ORANGE

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (1– to 1 1/2–pound) whole fish, sea bream or sea bass, scaled and gutted, head and tail intact

4 stalks celery, sliced thin, leaves reserved and mixed with the following:
1 small bunch each parsley, thyme and oregano (or any other mix of herbs)
8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle for each portion to finish
2 lemons, sliced thin
2 oranges, sliced thin

1/2 cup dry white wine like Bastianich friulano or Cuomo falanghina

Directions
Preheat your Chicago Brick Oven to Roasting Oven Grade 2; roughly floor temperature of 550° to 575°F.

Season the fish aggressively, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Stuff the celery leaves and herbs inside the cavity of the fish. Pour 4 tablespoons of the olive oil on the roasting dish floor and cover with the celery, lemon and orange slices, reserving 4 slices each of the fruit. Place the fish on top of the celery and sliced citrus and place the remaining slices of citrus on top of the fish. Pour the remaining olive oil and white wine over the fish. Place in preheated Chicago Brick Oven, close the door almost all of the way and cook for 20 minutes. Remove and allow to rest 10 minutes.

Serve the fish whole to each guest or filet it tableside, divide the citrus/celery/herb mixture on each plate and serve with a drizzle of good olive oil.

CROSTATA di CILIEGIE: Cherry Jam Tart

Serves: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup superfine sugar
Pinch fine sea salt
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 sticks chilled sweet butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup cold vin santo, plus a bottle for your friends
2 cups red cherry jam
2 or 3 turns of the peppermill

Directions
Preheat your Chicago Brick Oven to Baking Oven Grade 1; roughly floor temperature of 425°F.

Pulse the flour, sugar, salt and zest 2 or 3 times in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks together with the cold vin santo. With the machine running, add the egg/vin santo mixture to the dough through the feed tube. Process 5 to 6 seconds or until the mass combines and leaves the sides of the bowl. Permit the pastry to rest for 30 minutes, wrapped securely in plastic, in a cool place.

Thin the cherry jam a bit with a little hot water, stirring well to combine. Add a few grindings of pepper to heighten the flavor of the cherries and stir again. Set aside.

On a well-dusted clean work surface, roll out the dough in a free-form circle of about 12 inches and transfer it to a well-dusted pizza peel. Leaving a 1-inch border uncovered, spread the cherry mixture over the dough, folding, pleating and tucking the border of the dough up over the fruit.

Place tart in the front 40% on the floor of your Chicago Brick Oven, close the door and bake for 8 minutes. Open the door and gently turn tart clockwise 1/2 way around. Close the door and cook 8 minutes. Open the door and turn clockwise 1/3 of a turn. Close the door and cook 10 minutes, or until the pastry is deeply golden and the fruit is glossy. Gently remove to cool on a rack for several minutes.

Serve warm with a glass of the vin santo.