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Dan Lepard's char-grilled calzone stuffed with ajvar and slow-cooked pork

Dan Lepard

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Get to your favourite local craft brewery and grab a big-flavoured beer for this easy flatbread dough. It's perfect for pizza and calzone, and has a bit more rock and roll than your regular pizza recipe thanks to the malt in the beer and the sneaky bit of spelt flour at the start. If you're a novice on the barbecue you might want bake these in the oven instead, but if you're up for adventure then flip them on the barbie grill over a low heat, and finish them in a hot oven while you cook the rest. It's like bungee jumping for breadheads and pizza geeks.

Craft beer dough

150g warm water

1 level tsp fast yeast

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50g spelt or wholemeal flour

250g craft beer

450g white bread flour, more if you need it

2 tsp salt

Oil for folding

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1. If you're a beginner to bread dough, pour the water into a mixing bowl, stir in the yeast and spelt flour then leave it to bubble for one hour. Then whisk in the beer, stir in the flour and salt and mix to a smooth dough, adding more flour if it's too sticky. Leave it to rest for 30 minutes. Then go to step three.

2. If you're experienced in bread baking, you'll get a better texture if you pour half the water into a small bowl, stir in the yeast and spelt flour then leave it to bubble for an hour. Meanwhile, mix the remaining water with the beer and flour to a soft dough, and leave it for one hour. Then add the yeast mixture and salt to the dough and mix everything smoothly. Leave it to rest for 30 minutes, then go to step 3.

3. Oil a small patch of bench, tip the dough onto it and stretch and fold it in by thirds, then place it back in the bowl. Repeat this every hour until the dough looks puffy and aerated, when it's ready to use.

To make the calzone

Divide the dough into six equal pieces. Roll one piece out flat on a floured bench to measure 20cm in diameter; or if you're experienced, pat and stretch it out as you would make a thick pizza base. Spoon on some ajvar, leaving a two-centimetre rim around the edge, top with cooked pork and onions (and mozzarella if you like), then wet the edges of the dough, fold it over and pinch the edges to seal it. Brush with olive oil and either bake in the oven at 200C on a tray lined with non-stick paper for 30 minutes until golden, or grill on the barbecue over hot coals, flipping it carefully, then finish in the oven at 200C for 10 minutes.

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Makes enough for 6 calzones or small pizzas

Capsicums + eggplant + garlic = ajvar.
Capsicums + eggplant + garlic = ajvar.William Meppem

Ajvar (capsicum and eggplant sauce)

By peeling and baking the eggplant, you dry it out, so when it's pureed with the capsicum you'll get an intense thick red sauce. Some people add a little vinegar to taste, but I'm addicted to it just like this.

5 red capsicums, about 500g

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1 medium eggplant, about 350g

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

salt

olive or sunflower oil

1. Place the capsicum on a tray and bake at 220C (200C fan-forced) for about an hour, until the skin burns and the flesh becomes tender.

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2. Meanwhile peel the eggplant, cut into small cubes and place on another tray lined with non-stick paper, sprinkle with the garlic and salt then drizzle with olive oil. Bake for about 25 minutes at 220C (200C fan-forced) until the eggplant starts to char at the edges.

3. Leave both to cool then puree the eggplant cubes in the food processor with 50ml olive oil. Peel and de-seed the capsicum, and puree these with the eggplant. Spoon into a bowl, season to taste and serve.

Serves 6

Nothing simpler: Slow-cooked pork and onions.
Nothing simpler: Slow-cooked pork and onions.William Meppem

Slow-cooked pork and onions

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Magic happens when you cook pork or any meat this way, I swear. Perhaps it's the aroma of the onions in the sealed pot. They seem to transform the flavour and make cheap meat taste so much better than the usual roasting. Could not be simpler.

750g onions, peeled and quartered

salt

olive oil

1.2kg-1.5kg pork shoulder, rind on, off the bone

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1. Take a large ovenproof lidded pot, such as a Le Creuset (check that the knob on the lid is heatproof; some aren't). Put the onions in the bottom, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with oil.

2. Remove the rind from the pork and cut meat into six big chunks, then place the meat on top of the onions, place the rind on top, then place the lid on and bake at 160 (140C fan-forced) for two-and-a-half to three hours, until the meat is tender. Leave to cool and use as required.

Serves 6

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Default avatarDan Lepard is a columnist.

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