If you have never tried a calzone then you haven’t lived (LOL)! The easiest definition is, ‘folded pizza’. Wikipedia says, “A calzone is an Italian oven-baked turnover, made with leavened dough. It originated in Naples in the 18th century. A typical calzone is made from salted bread dough, baked in an oven and is stuffed with salami, ham or vegetables, mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan or pecorino cheese, as well as an egg.”

Therefore if a pizza is gloried rarebit, the calzone is a “Breville toastie on uppers”. Either way you can kiss goodbye to a couple of days worth of SW SYNs in one sitting as well as the lose of progress made. Plus re-introducing poor choices into the diet.

Everyone gets bad week’s and bad weigh-ins. It can be frustrating hitting a plateau whereby the choices made were zealous yet the body has gone into hibernation storing anything it can get its hands on. It’s like a headache in the morning. If you enjoyed a drinky poo too many the night before, then you put your hands up and accept the consequences. If not, then you wish you had – it would be worth the excuse. Sadly with diets it takes more willpower to accept things didn’t happen as planned and resolve to staying on track and continuing to the next weigh-in unperturbed.

Back in the pizzeria you’ll be in SYN City with these delicious treats. Looking up calzones in the SW app I find entries for 56 SYNS (nearly 4 days worth for many). Making family outings that end in pizza and impossibility to sustain the plan.

I am not one to crave pizza or calzone but the thought of not having… yes the Eden Complex. Time to make my own and try as best to stay on track, whilst utilising as many supermarket goodies as possible. An everyman approach to cooking.

This is a cheaters recipe and I couldn’t care less because it yields ‘forbidden fruit’. At the heart of pizza or calzone is dough, tomato sauce, cheese and then some fatty (usually pork) preserved meats. This is where the cheating happens. For the base I am using Warburton’s Soft Pitta Breads (Wholemeal) which count towards the Healthy ‘B’ allocation. For the cheese I am using my Health ‘A’ allocation of dairy. Next for the sauce. Good old fashion ketchup. The SYN value of ketchup – wait for it – the cheaper the ketchup the lesser the SYNs. 2 tablespoons for 1 SYN; that’s 30ml which enough to cover the base and some. Next the meats. If its sausage then Linda McCartney Red Onion and Rosemary are SYN Free or if you prefer Chorizo, slices are 1/2 SYN each & to be fair, how many could you stuff in side the folded Pitta? Failing that processed ham or bacon medallions are SYN Free – so there are many options to this. Add mushrooms, peppers, fresh pineapple (yes it does belong on pizza) and herbs which are all free anyway, and you are well on the way to making something that is well within the diet that resembles some of the most unhealthy food on the planet.

This is does not help with the ‘eating out’ dilemma. Sadly even the most well meaning restaurants have hidden evils. Munching on lettuce whilst your fellow diners are enjoying 14 varieties of cheese on their high end burger is a daunting prospect. No one every said this would be easy and working around this, for me, is still a work in progress.

In the meantime, I have calzone for a handful of SYNs and some speed foods to help the digestion.

Buon appetito