Buddy Valastros Calzone Recipes

PEPPERONI PIZZA PUFFS

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Using floured hands if needed, carefully stretch each piece into a thin disk (the shape doesn't have to be perfect) about 5 inches in diameter.
• Transfer the dough balls to the prepared baking sheet and fill each with 1/2 tablespoon mozzarella on one half, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Line the cheese with 3 slices pepperoni, and a strip of red pepper. Starting from the smaller border, stretch the dough over the filling, then continue rolling the dough (like you would roll a carpet) to wrap the filling twice. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet, seam-side down. Pinch any holes with your fingers to patch.
• Brush the dough with a very light coating of olive oil. Bake until golden-brown, 15 to 17 minutes, then remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

ROYAL HOLIDAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• On a clean work surface, dust with flour and roll the sugar cookie dough to a thickness of 1/4-to-1/2-inch. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or a drinking glass, cut out cookies and place 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Re-roll the excess dough to repeat this process until you have used all the dough.
• Bake until the edges are golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
• While cooling, put 1 ounce of the royal icing into a small bowl and dye it orange. Put it into a pastry bag with a coupler and a plain #6 tip. Put another 1 ounce of the royal icing into a small bowl and dye it black. Put it into a pastry bag with a coupler and a plain #4 tip. Put another 1 ounce of the white royal icing in a piping bag with a small star tip.
• For Santa cookies: Dust your work surface with cornstarch. Roll out the peach fondant to 1/8-inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or drinking glass, cut a circle. Spread a thin coat of royal icing onto the cookie. Lay the peach circle on top of the cookie.
• Roll out the red fondant to 1/8-inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or drinking glass, cut a circle. Cut this circle in half and, using a little water as glue, put this half circle at the top half of your cookie.
• Using the white royal icing, pipe Santa's beard and mustache on the bottom third of the cookie. Use the same icing to add the fur and pom-pom to Santa's hat. Use the candy-coated chocolates for the eyes and nose.
• For reindeer cookies: Dust your work surface with cornstarch. Roll out the light brown fondant to 1/8-inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or drinking glass, cut a circle. Spread a thin coat of royal icing onto the cookie. Lay the brown circle on top of the cookie.
• Roll a small ball of red fondant the size of a grape in your hand. Using a little water as glue, attach the ball to the bottom half of the cookie. Using the black royal icing, pipe the antlers at the top half of the cookie. Pipe 2 black circles for eyes right above the nose.
• For snowman cookies: Dust your work surface with cornstarch. Roll out half of the white fondant to 1/8-inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or drinking glass, cut a circle. Spread a thin coat of royal icing onto the cookie. Lay the white circle on top of the cookie. In the center of the cookie, pipe a sideways triangle with the orange royal icing. Pipe 2 small dots as eyes above the orange triangle. Below the orange triangle, pipe 5 small black dots for the mouth.
• For snowflake cookies: Dust your work surface with cornstarch. Roll out the light blue fondant to 1/8-inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or drinking glass, cut a circle. Spread a thin coat of royal icing onto the cookie. Lay the light blue circle on top of the cookie.
• Using the white royal icing with a plain #6 tip, pipe a snowflake design onto the top of the cookie. Once completed, take the whole cookie and flip it upside down into a bowl of crystal sugar.
• For holiday lights cookies: Dust your work surface with cornstarch. Roll out the remaining white fondant to 1/8-inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or drinking glass, cut a circle. Spread a thin coat of royal icing onto the cookie. Lay the white circle on top of the cookie.
• Using the black royal icing, pipe a wavy line going around the outside edge of the cookie. Add multi-colored candy-coated chocolates to represent lights.

LOVE KNOT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Fit 2 more baking sheets with a wire rack.
• For the dough: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the granulated sugar, sour cream and vegetable oil on medium-low speed. Add the egg, vanilla extract and lemon oil and mix until combined. On low speed, add in the flour and baking powder and mix until a dough forms.
• Remove the dough from the bowl onto a clean work surface dusted with flour. Knead until the dough forms a smooth ball. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough in quarters. Working with one quarter at a time, roll the dough into a snake about 1-inch thick. Using the bench scraper, cut the snake into 8 even pieces. Take one of the smaller pieces and roll into a snake again so that it is approximately 6 inches long. Knot the dough and place the prepared baking sheets with parchment. Repeat this process with the rest of the dough.
• Bake the love knots for 10 to 12 minutes; they should turn a light golden brown on the bottom and double in size. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
• For the glaze: While the cookies are cooling, put the powdered sugar into a large bowl. Add the milk a little at a time until you reach the proper consistency; you want the icing to coat a spoon. Once the proper consistency, add the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
• After the cookies have cooled completely, dip the entire cookie into the glaze. Hold the cookie over a bowl to allow excess glaze to run off and then place on the wire rack. Allow to dry for 30 seconds before sprinkling the tops with nonpareil sprinkles. Store the dried cookies in an airtight container to maintain freshness.

BUDDY VALASTRO'S GRANDMA MADDALENA'S SAUSAGE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Sauce:.
• In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil, add the beef, pork, veal and sausage (without casing) and cook until browned.
• Add garlic and oregano and cook until fragrant.
• Stir in the tomato paste and cook until the meat is coated.
• Add tomatoes with their juices and the tomato puree, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
• Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened about 1 1/2 hours.
• Ricotta:.
• In large bowl, combine the ricotta with the parsley, basil, 1 cup of the Parmesan, 1 pound of the shredded mozzarella and beaten eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
• Noodles:.
• The instructions suggested cooking the dry, curly-ridged lasagna noodles 3 minutes in abundant salted water, drained, rinsed -- I say use fresh, no-cook or even the curly edged pasta, and forget about the pre-cooking. I guarantee the sauce will cook the noodles after 45 minutes of cooking time. This also makes life much easier.
• Lasagna Time:.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F Spread 1.5 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Line the dish with overlapping noodles.
• Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, sprinkle with a little Parmesan and shredded mozzarella then top with 1 1/2 cups of the sauce and another layer of noodles.
• Repeat the layering 2 more times. Top with noodles and cover with 1 1/2 cups of sauce (may want to use extra if using uncooked noodles to ensure the noodles are covered and cook evenly. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over the lasagna.
• Cover Lasagna with foil and bake for about 20 minutes.
• Uncover then cook for 30-45 minutes more or until the top is golden and crisp around the edges and the filling is bubbling.
• Let the lasagna rest for 20 minutes before serving.