At Ivano's Italiano, the Italian takeaway at 11 Whitesands in Dumfries, our pizza dough also becomes a focaccia we call garlic bread, a folded calzone, and panzanelle, little fried dough balls for dipping. They puzzle people who haven't tried them yet, so here's what each one is, and how to order it.
In this article6 sections
Pizza dough is the busiest thing in our kitchen. Most of it becomes our Romana-style pizzas, but not all of it.
Focaccia
Our garlic bread: the dough baked with garlic, olive oil, oregano and sea salt.
Calzone
A pizza folded over mozzarella, ham and mushrooms. Add a dip for the crust.
Panzanelle
Little balls of pizza dough, fried, in boxes of 12 or 18, for dipping.
Sweet panzanelle
The dessert version, twelve to a box, with a Nutella dip if you like.
Focaccia: our garlic bread
In most UK takeaways, garlic bread means bread spread with garlic butter, or a pizza base brushed with it. Ours is closer to an Italian focaccia: our pizza dough baked with garlic, olive oil, oregano and sea salt, like a pizza without the tomato.
Because it's made with olive oil rather than butter, our garlic focaccia is marked vegan on our menu, which answers one of the most common questions people ask about garlic bread. Here are all four:
| Focaccia | What's on it | Sizes on our menu |
|---|---|---|
| Focaccia (Garlic Bread) | Garlic, olive oil, oregano and sea salt | 10-inch |
| Focaccia Plain with Olive Oil | Just the dough and olive oil | 10-inch |
| Special Focaccia | The garlic focaccia with grated mozzarella melted over the top | 10-inch and 12-inch |
| Special Focaccia al Pomodoro | The Special Focaccia with sliced cherry tomatoes | 10-inch and 12-inch |
The Special Focaccias contain mozzarella, so they aren't vegan. A focaccia goes well with a bowl of pasta, or in the middle of the table to share. The plain and garlic versions are under sides; the Special Focaccias sit with the pizzas.
Calzone: a pizza folded in half
A calzone is a pizza folded over its filling and sealed before it's baked, so the filling cooks inside a closed pocket of dough. It comes from Naples, and the name comes from the Italian word for trousers, or a trouser leg.
Ours is filled with grated Italian mozzarella, ham and mushrooms and comes in one size. Add a dip for dunking the crust when you order, such as the Arrabbiata (our spicy tomato sauce) or garlic mayonnaise, and add extra meats, vegetables or cheese if you like: it takes the same add-ons as every pizza.
If you'd rather build a pizza from scratch, we have three plain 12-inch bases to add your own toppings to, on sale once our kitchen has checked their allergens. See the build-your-own bases, and our guide to creating your own pizza or pasta.
People often ask how a calzone differs from its cousins:
| How it's made | Where it's from | |
|---|---|---|
| Calzone | A pizza folded in half over its filling, sealed and baked | Naples |
| Panzerotti | Smaller turnovers, usually fried rather than baked | Puglia, in the south of Italy |
| Stromboli | The dough rolled up around the filling like a Swiss roll | Italian-American |
| Pizza | Everything on top, open to the oven | Everywhere |
Choose the calzone if you like your cheese and filling soft and molten all the way through; choose a pizza if you like a crisp, open bake.
Panzanelle: fried dough balls, not a salad
On our menu, panzanelle are little balls of pizza dough, deep fried, and sold in boxes of 12 or 18, for dipping.
Panzanelle or panzanella?
If you search for the name online, you'll mostly find panzanella, the Tuscan summer salad of bread and tomatoes. That's a different thing altogether. Ivano was born in Lucca, in Tuscany, and panzanelle has been our name for fried dough balls since at least 2013, when they were already on the menu.
Those older menus served them two ways, under Ivano's Specials: Panzanelle al Aglio, with a garlic mayonnaise dip, and Panzanelle Picante Salsa, with a spicy dip. Today you choose your own from our dips:
- Garlic mayonnaise and spicy Marie Rose
- Arrabbiata, Dynamite (a fiery tomato and chilli dip) and BBQ tomato chilli
- Sweet chilli and garlic
- Formaggio, our cheese dip
The full list is on the menu, and our guide to dips and sides explains each one.
Sweet panzanelle, with Nutella
There's a dessert version too. Sweet panzanelle come twelve to a box, "snow dusted", as our old menu put it, and that menu recommended them with a chocolate dipping sauce. Ours is a Nutella chocolate dipping sauce. If you've had Nutella dough balls in a restaurant, it's the same idea, except ours are fried. The rest of our desserts are on the menu.
Allergies, and the fryer
Everything on this page is made from wheat dough, so it all contains gluten. We don't make a gluten-free dough. The Special Focaccias and the calzone also contain milk, and our allergen table marks the focaccias on the sides menu may contain sesame and soya.
Panzanelle, sweet or savoury, are cooked in fryers shared with battered fish and other foods, so they may contain egg, fish, milk and soya. Our fryers use beef dripping, so panzanelle aren't suitable for vegetarians or vegans. The Nutella sauce contains tree nuts (hazelnuts), milk and soya.
Every dish is listed on our allergens page. Please tell us about any allergy before you order.
Ordering
Once we reopen, Thursday to Sunday, 4pm to 10pm, you can order any of these at ivanos.uk, for collection from 11 Whitesands or for delivery across most of Dumfries. If you'd like to know more about the pizzas themselves, read about our Romana-style thin crust.
Questions people ask
Is your garlic bread vegan?
Our garlic bread is a focaccia made with olive oil, not butter, and it's marked vegan on our menu. The Special Focaccia adds mozzarella, so it isn't vegan. All our focaccias contain gluten.
What's the difference between focaccia and garlic bread?
Garlic bread is usually bread or a pizza base spread with garlic butter. Our focaccia is our pizza dough baked with garlic, olive oil, oregano and sea salt, so there's no butter in it.
Which dip goes with the calzone?
Any of our dips. The Arrabbiata, our spicy tomato sauce, and the garlic mayonnaise are both good with the crust: add one when you order.
Are panzanelle the same as panzanella?
No. Panzanella is a Tuscan bread and tomato salad. Our panzanelle are fried balls of pizza dough, for dipping.
Are panzanelle vegetarian?
No. They're fried in our fryers, which use beef dripping.
Have an allergy? Please read our allergen information and tell us before you order.
Order online
Pizza, pasta and fish and chips for delivery or collection in Dumfries.
- Our own drivers
- Collect from 11 Whitesands
- Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay
Reopening soon · Thursday to Sunday, 4pm – 10pm
Or call 07777 148453