Beef Stew Calzones

This is a Rachael Ray recipe. Last month my mom got the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine and she gave it to me when she was done. Usually that's not my style of cooking. At all. But this looked like something I could tackle. I should have known. Dough and I do not mix. No pun intended. But seriously, I have tried so many things that have to be rolled out, and almost always fails. This one--no exception. But I will still post it, for those of you who are not dough-impaired.

Beef Stew Calzones
1 pound thin boneless sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
16 baby carrots, cut into thirds
1 rib celery, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup red wine (I used more beef broth)
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pound refrigerated pizza dough

In a large bowl, toss the steak with flour, salt, and pepper. In medium Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the steak and cook, turning, until browned, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate. Add the carrots, celery, and onion to the pot and cook for 3 minutes. Return the steak to the pot, add the wine and cook, stirring up the browned bits, until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes (I did mine for a bit longer since broth takes longer to evaporate than wine). Stir in the beef broth, tomatoes, italian seasoning, and 1 tsp each salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Stir in the potato and cook until tender, 10-12 minutes. Set aside to cool, about 15 minutes; coarsley shred the meat.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 475. Divide the pizza dough into 4 pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time, roll out the dough to a 7-inch round. Arrange 1/4 of the beef stew on one side of the dough round. Lightly brush the edges of the dough with water and fold to enclose, crimping the edges to seal. Repeat with remaining dough and stew. Transfer the calzones to a flour dusted rimmed baking sheet and bake until puffed and browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

I bet someone somewhere is laughing about this. The RR people probably giggle at night thinking about hapless wives cooking these complicated things. This time, I did get the dough rolled out, the beef stew on it, the edges sealed, etc, but when I tried to transfer it to the baking sheet, it fell apart. Arrgh. So, we just had beef stew. Because after the first failed attempt, I just threw away the rest of the dough. I didn't want to try again and potentially waste that much more stew. Luckily I had made a fresh loaf of bread earlier today, so we had soup and bread. So it wasn't a total disaster. And we've had worse meals.