Smoked Salmon and Mascarpone Calzone

This recipe was inspired by a recent visit to Piroshky Piroshky, the small, wonderful-smelling Russian bakery in the Pike Place market.  They make some of my favorite street food, and I can’t make a trip to Pike Place without stopping by for a snack.  On my latest trip, I tried their salmon paté piroshky (a piroshky is a stuffed, flaky, handheld pie) and it was divine.  This “calzone” doesn’t attempt to recreate the salmon piroshky, but was simply inspired by it.  The mascarpone cheese melts away during baking, leaving the rich smoked salmon moist and delicious. 

Makes: 2 Coho Calzones
Total kitchen time: 30 minutes

Shopping list:

• 1 pizza crust’s worth of dough (or cheat and use a premade dough from the grocery store)
• 8 oz. smoked salmon
• ½ cup mascarpone (found in a small plastic tub in the cheese case)
• 1 leek
• 1 small handful chives, finely chopped
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• ooks&fgbp 

1. Preheat your oven to 450°F and place the top rack in the lower third of your oven.  Like a baking sheet with parchment paper (optional, for easier cleanup).
2. Wash and pat dry the leek.  Slice the leek lengthwise, then cut each half into long, very thin strips.  Cut the strips into short pieces, about ½” long.  Set aside.
3. Divide the dough into two equal parts, and roll out each into a 10” circle.  Gently spread a thin layer of mascarpone on the surface of the dough, leaving at least a ½” crust. 
4. In a small bowl, break up the smoked salmon using your fingers until it is fluffy.  You want the filling of the calzone to be pretty even, or it will fall apart as you eat it.
5. Divide the salmon between the two crusts, arranging it only on one side of the crust (in a half-moon shape), again leave at least a ½” crust.  Sprinkle the chives and leeks over the salmon, then lightly salt and pepper.  Finally, drizzle with about 1 tsp of olive oil.
6. Fold each calzone in half, making sure that the crusts line up.  Using the tines of a fork, gently press down the edge all the way around the rounded side of the calzone to seal it.  Make sure you get a tight seal – this will help the calzone puff up during baking. 
7. Brush the tops of each calzone with egg white.  Bake at 450°F for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown and delicious. 

These calzones are crunchy, salty and wonderful.  But, they’re not like the gooey, stringy cheese calzones you might be used to.  There’s an unwritten rule against combining cheese and fish (I don’t know why, you just never see them together).  So, it’s a good thing that mascarpone isn’t really a cheese.  The more you know… doo de do dee!