Calzone with ricotta, pepperoni, roasted eggplant and mozzarella, with cooked pizza sauce

Set two pizza stones, or a steel below and a stone above, on the bottom and top racks; preheat in a maxed-out oven for one hour before use.

In a stand mixer bowl combine the tepid water, yeast and sugar and let bloom 10 minutes.

Add the bread flour with the kosher salt and knead on medium speed about 5 minutes to a tacky, supple dough.

Divide into quarter portions for individual pizzas, or a double portion for a calzone, and stretch each into a taut ball.

Put into a well-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cold ferment in the fridge three days.

Blend the tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, basil and pepper flake with one-second pulses until relatively smooth; high speed would whip in air. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the dipping sauce, cook on the stove top about 30 minutes with a splash of water to keep it from thickening, to cook off the raw tomato flavour.

Variation, for comparison: a dough proofed two hours at room temperature without cold fermenting is floured, rolled from two ends and the centre, stretched over the knuckles to a 10-inch round, sauced with dollops of raw sauce, topped with sliced fresh mozzarella and baked about 5 minutes in an oven preheated at 550F for an hour; it comes out thin and cracker-like, while the cold-fermented dough rises with bubbles and charred spots.

Slice the eggplant, set on a rack in a rimmed baking sheet and lightly salt both sides; after about 30 minutes dab off the bitter brown liquid with a paper towel, both sides.

Line the sheet pan with foil, season the eggplant with black pepper and olive oil and roast at 400F for 20 to 25 minutes until browned and soft. Cool and chop.

Let the cold-fermented double portion of dough sit at room temperature two hours or until doubled, flour both sides, roll out and stretch over the knuckles as wide as possible.

On one half spread the ricotta, leaving a two- to three-inch border; shingle pepperoni, add the eggplant and top with sliced fresh mozzarella.

Fold the dough over, draping rather than stretching; trim the excess with a pizza cutter to seal and pinch the edge shut.

Dust the peel with cornmeal, set the calzone on it with the thicker side toward the hotter part of the oven, and bake between the two stones 5 to 15 minutes depending on the oven.

Slice in half immediately so steam does not make the crust soggy.

Variation, to cut the moisture: drain the ricotta overnight in a sieve lined with four layers of cheesecloth over a bowl, covered with plastic wrap (or weight it 20 to 30 minutes), and use shredded low-moisture mozzarella, with an insulating layer laid down first on the thinner side of the dough.