Last night we were in the mood for something different. We had flour, we had meat, and we had cheese. Well – almost enough cheese. So I sent my driving firstborn and his lovely girlfriend (Hi Chelsie!) to the grocery for more cheese. My personal definition of a calzone would be a pizza sandwich, or a pizza pot pie. I made a double batch of my pizza crust dough. I made the dough in the Kitchen Aid stand mixer dear hubby got me for Christmas using the dough hook. The dough turned out perfect! I don’t know why I never thought to use the Mother Mixer for whipping up pizza dough before now?!? We ate a lot of home made pizza this past winter.

While the dough was rising, I combined about half a pound of sausage and half a pound of hamburger meat in a skillet and browned the meats together. Sausage and beef are a perfect marriage in the opinion of the males in this household. I opened a can of fire roasted tomatoes and a can of sliced mushrooms. I also chopped an onion and cut up pepperoni. I would have chopped some green and red peppers, but I didn’t have any.

When the dough was ready to roll out, I dusted the counter with flour and started rolling until it was about ¼” thick. I rolled the dough into an 18” circle. But next time, I will roll the dough in a large rectangle and cut the dough into smaller pieces, making smaller calzones. I cut that 18” circle into fourths. Then everybody was called to the kitchen counter to personalize their own calzone.

The meat mixture went on the dough first, followed by some drained fire roasted tomatoes. Ethan chose meat, pepperoni and cheese. Chelsie is a pepperoni-cheese kind of gal. Dad wanted the works, so his was piled high with meat, pepperoni, mushrooms, and onions. Hope took everything except the onion. I shared with Hope. Generous helpings of mozzarella cheese went on top of the meat/tomato mix. I shook a good amount of Italian seasoning over the cheese, sealed the dough around the edges, brushed the top with oil, and plopped them into greased iron skillets.

It didn’t take the calzones long to cook in a 450 degree oven set to convection bake. The dough was brown and bubbly in less than 10 minutes.

We will be making these again for sure. Think of all the ways to vary your own calzone. You could opt for veggie lovers, a meat lovers, use different kinds of cheese, and even fresh herbs. Some home made Alfredo Sauce or Marinara sauce would be perfect ladled over these calzones. The possibilities are endless.

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Calzones

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Tags: Calzones