Puglia — calzone pugliese is found throughout the region but is most closely associated with Bari and the Bari province. The onion-olive-anchovy filling reflects the Pugliese Mediterranean pantry: the flavours of the Adriatic (anchovy, olive) combined with the agricultural interior (sweet onions). The baked calzone distinguishes Puglia from the fried Neapolitan tradition.
Calzone pugliese is not the fried calzone fritto of the Neapolitan street tradition but rather a baked, large turnover of leavened pizza dough filled with slow-cooked sweet onions, black Cerignola olives, salted anchovies, and capers — a preparation that is simultaneously a bread, an antipasto, and a meal. The filling is always vegetable-based in the traditional version; the onions are cooked until completely sweet and caramelised before they go inside; the olives and anchovies are the salt and umami notes. Baked in a very hot oven until the crust is golden and blistered, the calzone is then rested and eaten at room temperature — it is never a hot emergency food but a prepared, considered preparation.
Calzone pugliese at room temperature has the best texture — the crust is golden and slightly chewy, yielding to a gently caramelised onion filling fragrant with olive and anchovy. The anchovies have melted into the onion; the olives provide occasional bursts of concentrated flavour; the capers add acidity. Sliced in thick wedges with a glass of Primitivo di Manduria, it is the Pugliese antipasto that requires nothing else.
Make pizza dough (00 flour, water, yeast, salt, olive oil) and prove 2 hours. For the filling: cook very thinly sliced onions in abundant olive oil over very low heat for 45-60 minutes until completely sweet and caramelised, never browning. Cool completely. Mix with pitted black olives (Cerignola or similar), desalted anchovy fillets, capers, and black pepper. Roll dough to a 30cm circle; place filling on one half; fold other half over; seal edges by pressing and folding. Score the top 3-4 times. Brush with olive oil. Bake at 220°C for 25-30 minutes until deep golden. Rest 20 minutes before eating.
The slow-cooked onions can be made a day ahead — they actually improve overnight. The Cerignola olive (large, meaty, mildly flavoured black olive) is the Pugliese choice; Gaeta olives work well as an alternative. Some Pugliese calzoni add thin-sliced tomato or a few tablespoons of tomato sauce inside with the onion. The calzone is traditionally eaten at room temperature — it is a prepared bread, not a hot sandwich.
Hot filling — the dough tears if the filling is warm; it must be completely cold before use. Under-caramelising the onions — pale onions are sharp and harsh inside the calzone; they need 45+ minutes to become sweet. Not resting after baking — cutting immediately releases steam and the filling becomes wet.
Anna Gosetti della Salda, Le Ricette Regionali Italiane; Slow Food Editore, Puglia in Cucina