ottawa foodies

Can anyone help point me in the direction of a "true" panzerotti in Ottawa. I mean the large kind, like a medium pizza folded in half then deep fried, served with a side of bolognese sauce and requiring a knife and fork. Seems the closest thing available locally is from Pizza Pizza! It's not bad, but their sauce is so...predictable I guess. And they won't deliver it or even take phone orders for it, you have to walk in, order and wait...(what's up with that?) The only other local place I know of that offers panzerotti is Pavarazzi's, but as mentioned in the comments regarding that establishment, the panzerotti's are very very small! I am hoping for something more like in the photo I attached, from a place in Sault Ste Marie (though the bolognese sauce dish is puny, and in fact it looks more like marinara - not good enough). "Marzano's" on Kent, now closed, apparently was "Soo-style" and offered these delicious treats, but I never got a chance to try. What I want is the panzerotti served at Prince Edward Pizza in Picton. They dry each one with a special towel kept aside for expressly this purpose. However the box bottom will still be saturated in seconds. Surely someone must know somewhere in Ottawa that compares??? Gatineau maybe? Or do Lebanese/Ottawa style pizza places truly have something against this menu item? (Ken, input?) Because it sure seems like it. If all else fails I may have to walk into Carlo's and just ask Simon to make me one, special order.

O.M.G. That looks delicious! I have no idea where to find it in Ottawa though...if you find it please let us know. I would love to try it : )

A few pizza places here have offered panzerottis - but I would guess baked, not deep-fried like that. Wow. When I had them, they were big (not quite as big as that) and needed fork and knife, but definitely wasn't that greasy, just oven-baked. I can't remember from where, and it was ten years ago, I think the place closed now.

The larger ones are more often (esp in Ottawa) called Calzones. You might try looking for these. Deep frying does not seem to be a common mode of cooking, and certainly wouldn't be very useful for the large ones. Most of the ones I've ever had were baked.

Yes, the deep frying as opposed to baking is what sets apart the panzerotti from the calzone. I like calzones too, but I prefer panzerottis. Surprisingly, even an extra large one can be cooked to perfection in the fryer. Obviously, the calorie and cholesterol count is off the charts. It is very important that the oil be somewhat fresh. I find it ridiculous that these are so hard to find here. They certainly aren't uncommon elsewhere. Maybe I should open up a dedicated panzerotti shop. It seems like an untapped market...

I think Pavarazzi's has them...they at least use the term panzerotti...

www.pavarazzigourmet.ca

Being from the "Soo" myself, I can tell you no such thing exists here (or I haven't been able to find one living here for six years)... and it's depressing. I usually just eat as many as I can when I go home. And they DO in fact deep fry the big ones, and they're delicious.

Wowser... I have to admit I'm intrigued...

Wikipedia disagrees on the deep fried thing en.wikipedia.org

My BS detector went off with the term "true panzerotti" because deep frying did not sound very Italian to me.

it's one of those regional things. i've always known calzones to be baked, and panzerottis to be deep fried. a little googling reveals that panzerottis can be baked as well.

reminds of the time when FF burned chimi by pointing out that scones and biscuits are indeed one in the same. i still think they're different, but i'm no baker.

They aren't the same Monty! They're both quickbreads, but not the same beast!

Possible, Zymurgist, though the entry for Calzone has this text: "Fried versions typically filled with tomato and mozzarella, are made in Puglia and are called Panzerotti.[citation needed]" No citation makes it unknown, but someone at least agrees with Scrabbies.

I guess I like calzones, then, if those are the baked versions. :)

i'm partial to the eggplant calzone at Paisano's myself

OK, as long as "regional" does not mean "Toronto" (the only place I've ever seen them)

:-)

The first place I ever had them was London (ont.) and they were great. That was about 30 years ago. I'm shocked and surprised that they apparently came out of Italy - I always figured they were a NA aberration.

They still make them in London--Tony's has the best ones. I get to have them a couple of times a year while visiting family. And the owners of Tony's are old school Italian. Pavarotti's here are ok but much smaller and to my way of thinking overfried (very brown and drier than London or Sault style.) But if you want a fix they are the best here since Marzano's closed.

My home town, Windsor, has a pretty large Italian community... oh how I miss the pizza there. In that "region", Panzerotti's are deep fried and Calzones are baked. Typically, there, Panzerotti's were filled with cheese, meat, and vegetables, but not tomato sauce. A thick and quite spicy pizza sauce was served warm on the side for dipping.

I know it does not help you now, but there is a pzza chain in the GTA called Pizza Nova. They make really good Panzo's. Actually they are the best pizza joint in the GTA bar none. If you are ever out that way, stop by and you will thank me. Having moved to Ottawa 4 years ago from T.O., it is the one thing is miss the most. I make sure everytime I go back to visit, that I enjoy some Pizza Nova at some point in the trip. As an Italian, I can tell you it is the pizza that Italians order most in the GTA. I've been praying for them to open up a store here (even thought about inquiring for a franchise myself).

I only had Tony's panzerotti a couple of times when I was in London but, man, they were so good. Pavarazzi's are close, but just too darn small! To me, finishing a delicious panzerotto should make you should feel like you've eaten a whole pizza.

Oh, in no way do I mean panzerotti's (soo style) are "true" italian, most of the italian food in the soo is red-sauce only north-americanized italian - which probably explains the deep frying. Again though, it is delicious. And I'm not going back til May! Wah!

Pavarazzi's has them for sure BUT they are much smaller. Maybe the side of two balled up man fists. Still very good but you don't get much so order two. (Although they are a bit thicker... almost like a big softball shape).

When I lived in the 'burbs of Toronto my (mostly populated by Italians) hichschool had these in the cafeteria for $2. A steal!

Tiana is right, Pavarazzi does sell panzerotti's and they are small. They are also fried and pre-cooked. They just warm them up when you order it. Actually I think they refry it.

Pizza Pizza has fried and baked versions made to order but they are so so...

Pizza Hut has something called a P'zone which is very close to a Panzerotti/Calzone and it is okay but not great.

The only other place that I know that has them in Ottawa is La Dolce Vita. However, I have not tried one.

The BEST calzones in the world (in my opinion) is from a franchise in Toronto called Mamma's. They are to die for. I think I have said this before on another thread that it is the food item I miss the most from Toronto.

You could try Babbo's on Main at Hawthorne. My husband described eating something like that when he went for lunch one time. Could be that they were baked rather than fried, though.

LWB-when you make panzerotti's do you deep fry them? I love both calzones and panzerotti's but to me p's are fried and c's are baked. And like poutine I only enjoy panzerotti a couple of times a year! We miss Marzano's and we still hit Tony's approximately 1-2X/year when visiting family in London, ON. Going to visit mom-in-law in London next week and will fit in a Tony's visit (I still prefer the old location on Dundas East; if it's still there!)

I don't have a deep fried, but I have shallowed fried mini-panzerottis before. I find if you do it right, the different is not *that* noticable, that having a calzone does the trick. Normally, we keep the oil sane around here and bake them, but with a very thin crust, allowed for the crisp finish that you would usually get in the fryer.

Lorenzo's used to have a panzerotti. It looked very much like the pic above. It hangs over the plate and begs for extra sauce on the side. I haven't had one in about 10 years from there, but it was pretty good.