$5 Friday: Picnic calzones

Canberra Day long weekend and the weather is perfect for being in the great outdoors.  So I created these simple and easy calzones to take with us as part of a portable feast.

It’s official: Canberra has more public holidays than any other state and territory. By only one day, but I do enjoy that extra day.  This Monday we celebrate the 105th founding of Canberra. And this weekend is the launch of the Balloon festival and the second week of Enlighten. Yep, I love Canberra and I love living here.

Last night my Neil and I went out with some friends and sat under the stars in the Senate Rose Garden, watching a selection of short films.  Lights! Canberra! Action! is an innovative and quirky competition.  Competitors are given a list of ten Canberra landmarks, a theme, and a short time frame in which to come up with ideas.  I loved the interpretations, I loved the creativity and best of all I loved that the event was FREE.

My Neil, being the good man that he is, often goes out and buys a whole heap of cheese and dips and stuff to take with us to picnics and bring a plate functions (such as Diner en Blanc).  I certainly do not want to sound ungrateful that he goes shopping and packs and prepares, especially as he shops frugally at Costco and ALDI.  But it does all add up, and then I eat too much.  Way too much.  At least we don’t go and spend a lot on food vans.  Well, okay, we did share some lovely gelato from Pure Gelato. And we did have some dumplings from the Gyoza Man.  And we enjoyed it.  But I still love the joy of bringing something homebaked. We had a lot of compliments so definitely will be making these as well.

The pastry is a bit of a cheap and cheats way of doing it – but I  like it more than a proper pizza dough because it is softer and stays fresh longer. The ingredients were inspired by my good friend Trish, who came over for dinner recently with a bag of yummy home grown goodies to share.

Ingredients

2/3 cup Greek or Natural Yoghurt
pinch of salt
Self-raising flour
100g feta cheese (around half a block)
6-8 olives, chopped
1-2 tomatoes, chopped (I used cherry tomatoes gifted by a friend)
1 small zucchini, chopped (also gifted by a friend)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (homegrown)
salt and pepper
olive oil

Method

1. Stir the salt and yogurt together.  Add in self-raising flour, bit by bit, stirring to combine.  Mix to form a dough and knead – around five minutes. Leave to sit in a bowl covered with cling wrap for at least 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make the ingredients.  Chop the feta cheese, and add the remaining ingredients. Mix to combine, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Divide the dough in half.  Take one half and roll out into a log (I find I usually need to add more flour).  Cut into four pieces.  Flatten each piece with the palm of your hand, and roll out into a circle.  Repeat with the remaining half of the dough.
4. Place a few tablespoons of the mixture into the centre of each pastry round.  Fold over to make a crescent and seal the edges (use some water if the dough is not moist enough).
5. Brush with olive oil.  Bake in a hot oven of around 160C for 15 minutes or so until golden.  Enjoy hot or cold.

Total:

Yoghurt (homemade) 20c
Flour:  15c
Feta $1.50
Olives 20c
Tomatoes – free or 50c
Zucchini – free or 50c
Parsley – free
Seasonings – 5c

Total:  $2.10 for eight medium-sized calzone @ 26c each (or $3.10 if buying tomatoes and zucchini, in season)