Last week my dad came up to me and requested something entirely different for dinner. This was unusual because he almost never requests anything for dinner. Don’t get me wrong he’s a picky eater and will knock down everyone else’s dinner ideas in a heartbeat. But to go out of his way to actually ask for a specific dish is definitely not his MO. None the less, being the good son that I am, I agreed to his request and asked him what he had in mind. His response was calzones.
I was in shock for a couple of seconds. “Seriously, calzones,” I thought to myself, “No offense to calzones but why in the hell are you craving that?”.
Now for most of you, a calzone might not sound like an odd dinner request, but let me explain why I considered this to be abnormal behavior. In my entire 28 years of life, I have seen my dad eat a number of different dishes. However, I can only recall him eating a calzone once. Just once! Uno! And my numbers aren’t even that much better, I’ve probably taken down a grand total of three. Needless to say, calzones aren’t really a thing in my family, so requesting them for dinner is beyond strange.
However, let’s fast forward two days later. The calzones are made, and my dad and I are taking our first bite of these homemade calzones. Mid-chew we look at each other and both give that undeniable stare. The stare that says “Damn, this is good, like ungodly good”. Literally, nothing was said during the remaining 7 minutes of our meal. All you could hear was the sounds of knives slicing into crusty pizza dough, and rabid chewing.
And it was during this finite moment, cast throughout the grandeur of time and space, that my father and I realized we were fools. Fools for wasting so much of our lives before jumping on the calzone train.
Now is there a moral to this story? Ummm, nope. It’s just what happened.
Anyways, I have no great segue to make so let’s just get to making these calzones folks.
Tips, Tricks, & Suggestions
- I highly suggest you use our recipe for homemade pizza dough. However, if you are still a little bit skittish about the idea of making your own pizza dough then feel free to buy some at the store. Just keep in mind that the amount you buy at the store and the amount we are using in today’s recipe can differ.
- Also, try out our recipe for easy no-cook pizza sauce.
- Just like any other type of pizza you can use any toppings you want.
- This recipe makes 8 calzones. If that is more than you want, then you can always cut the measurements in half, or you freeze some for later use.
- To freeze the calzones simply bake them like normal and then freeze them on a cookie sheet for 2 hours. Then transfer them to a zip lock bag. When you are ready to eat simply defrost them in your fridge for an hour and then rebake them at 375 for 15 minutes.
Calzone Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Servings: 8 calzones
Ingredients
Homemade pizza dough, separated into 8 equal pieces
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Pizza sauce
All-purpose flour, for rolling out the pizza dough
For the egg wash:
1 Egg and a teaspoon of water whisked in a bowl
Suggested fillings:
Pepperoni
Onion
Bell pepper
Olives
mushrooms
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit
- Prep all of your toppings so that they are ready for the next step
- Assemble the calzones one at a time: Sprinkle a little bit of flour out on a flat surface and use a rolling pin to flatten out one piece of pizza dough into a circle that is 6 to 7 inches wide.
Next, spread a tablespoon or two of the pizza sauce on one half of the circle. Follow this up with a tablespoon or two of cheese on top of the sauce. Then add the toppings you have selected to use.
Don’t go overboard on the toppings or else you might not be able to seal up the calzone. Next, sprinkle on another tablespoon or two a cheese, and follow it up with a few dollops of the pizza sauce.
Now in order to seal the calzone, you will want to wet the rim of the dough with water. Just get a bowl of water out, place a finger in the water, and then spread the water over the rim. Then carefully fold the pizza dough over the toppings and press, pinch, and seal its rim down on the other sides rim.
- Prep the calzones: Transfer all of these calzones over to the baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Then take a knife and poke a small hole on the top of each calzone. If you don’t do this then the steam inside the calzone could cause it to burst while cooking. Finally, brush all the tops of the calzones with the egg wash.
- Bake the calzones: Place these calzones into your oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. You will know that they are done when they have achieved a nice golden brown color.
- Let the calzones rest for 10 minutes before you dig into them. Enjoy!
Calzone Recipe
Ingredients
- Homemade pizza dough separated into 8 equal pieces
- Mozzarella cheese shredded
- Pizza sauce
- All-purpose flour for rolling out the pizza dough
For the egg wash:
- 1 Egg and a teaspoon of water whisked in a bowl
Suggested fillings:
- Pepperoni
- Onion
- Bell pepper
- Olives
- mushrooms
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit
- Prep all of your toppings so that they are ready for the next step
- Assemble the calzones one at a time: Sprinkle a little bit of flour out on a flat surface and use a rolling pin to flatten out one piece of pizza dough into a circle that is 6 to 7 inches wide. Next, spread a tablespoon or two of the pizza sauce on one half of the circle. Follow this up with a tablespoon or two of cheese on top of the sauce. Then add the toppings you have selected to use. Don’t go overboard on the toppings or else you might not be able to seal up the calzone. Next, sprinkle on another tablespoon or two a cheese, and follow it up with a few dollops of the pizza sauce. Now in order to seal the calzone, you will want to wet the rim of the dough with water. Just get a bowl of water out, place a finger in the water, and then spread the water over the rim. Then carefully fold the pizza dough over the toppings and press, pinch, and seal its rim down on the other sides rim.
- Prep the calzones: Transfer all of these calzones over to the baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Then take a knife and poke a small hole on the top of each calzone. If you don’t do this then the steam inside the calzone could cause it to burst while cooking. Finally, brush all the tops of the calzones with the egg wash.
- Bake the calzones: Place these calzones into your oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. You will know that they are done when they have achieved a nice golden brown color.
- Let the calzones rest for 10 minutes before you dig into them. Enjoy!
Inspiration from other blogs
From Barbara Bakes
From Taste of Home
These sound good, we’ll give them a try.