One time, I saw The Pioneer Woman make calzones, so I made calzones.
Please tell me someone caught my Mean Girls drift because if you didn’t then I don’t know if we can be friends.
Just kidding! But that’s really what happened. I was watching the Food Network and The Pioneer Woman was making these and I decided right then and there that I was going to make some calzones.
It was actually my first time ever having a calzone but I figured it would just taste like pizza. Also —-> Why is it that the recipes that you don’t plan to post (or measure) always end up being the best ones? I just took things I had in the fridge and stuffed it all into a pocket of dough and it was ahhhmazing.
I used green peppers, mushrooms, sausage, mozzarella, and cottage cheese since I didn’t have any ricotta. I based the dough off of this recipe and it was perfect! Mom and I ate two for dinner with a side salad and froze the other two. A few weeks later we didn’t know what to have for dinner when we remembered them in the freezer! I love premade meals 😀
I didn’t mix the sausage with the veggies and cheese so each bite was different. I would definitely recommend mixing them all together before filling the dough!
I’ve had this recipe post in the drafts since July…kind of forgot to post it! I’m a little iffy about meat right now so I think I’ll remake these with an all veggie filling. Yum!
- 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 breakfast sausages
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1/2 green pepper
- 8 oz mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 cup mozzarella
- 1/3 cup cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- oregano, italian seasonings, pizza seasonings
- Place the flour on a surface where you have a lot of space. Make a well, and add in the warm water, sugar, and yeast. Stir or let it sit until the yeast is dissolved or foamy.
- Add in the salt and olive oil and start incorporating the sides of the flour into the middle with your fingers. Keep stirring it until the dough starts coming together. Use a pastry cutter to help all of the flour come together.
- Knead for about 7 minutes or until you can stick a finger in the dough and it bounces back. Place dough in an oiled bowl and let rise for about 45 minutes, or until doubled.
- While dough is rising, cook sausage on a pan over medium heat. If it's not already ground, use a pastry blender to cut it up. Once sausage is cooked and cooled, pour grease into a small bowl and place sausage over a plate covered with paper towel. In the same pan, add the chopped mushrooms, chopped green pepper, chopped garlic clove, and a little bit of olive oil. Additionally, make the cheese mixture by combining 1 cup shredded mozzarella, 1/3 cup cottage cheese, and an egg. Reserve about 1/4 of the egg for brushing the dough. Mix the sausage, veggies, and cheese mixture together.
- Once the dough is doubled in size, turn it out on a floured surface. Roll it out, then cut it into 4 equal squares. Roll out each square about 1/4 inch thick and spoon in about 1 tbsp of sauce. Add 1/4 of the sausage/veggie/cheese mixture, then fold the dough over itself to close the calzone. Seal with a fork. Repeat for the other three calzones. In each one, make 3 small slits with a knife and sprinkle with oregano.
- Cook on a parchment lined pan at 375F for about 25 min, or until the edges are browned but not burned. Serve with warm marinara on the side for dipping.
- For my dough to rise, I place the bowl in the oven heated to 200F, then turned the oven off and leave the door open.
Leigha, these look GREAT! Impressive stuff for a first time, and I can’t believe you haven’t had one before! You still need to try squash!!!! ASAP 🙂 These look like a great runner dinner, especially with the carbs 🙂 Hope your cross country season is finishing up well! I miss it!
Yes, I know I need to get a squash!! Every day I’m seeing recipes using it! Thanks, Tina 😀
That always happens to me too! The recipes I don’t plan to post always end up so good.
And this looks amazing. I used to love calzones but I haven’t had it in years. Gotta make it soon again 🙂
Why does that happen?! lol! Thanks, Josefine! Definitely make some 🙂 I’m sure you’d come up with an amazing filling idea!
These look fantastic! I love all the cheesy filling! YUM!
Thanks, Kelly! 🙂
This is going to sound horrific, but the only calzone I have ever had was from Boston Pizza. I remember it being pretty darn delicious…but that was also when I was a fan of they pizza – this would most definitely be 100x better nowadays. I’m bookmarking this to make when I go home this December! Can’t wait! 🙂
Woohoo! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
I LOVE anything involving bread wrapped around a filling – burritos, pasties, calzones… they’re all SOOOOO good! I have some pizza dough sitting in the fridge right now so I just might have to make some calzones tonight!
You’ve had a pasty?! I thought they were only here in the UP! So cool! I want to hear how it goes it you make calzones tonight! 🙂
I’m totally a sucker for everything Italian and with cheese. These look so tasty!
Thanks! The Italians definitely know what’s up 🙂
Yum!! These look so amazing!! I’m definitely going to be trying these. We love pizza-type meals at our house 🙂
Anything pizza related is always a winner! Let me know how you like them 😀
I was seriously looking up calzone recipes last night. Perfect timing! I’m definitely going to use this dough recipe. They look amazing!
Woohoo! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
These look delicious – I’d love to make them all veggie as well since I’m not the biggest fan of meat 🙂
Do it and let me know how you like them!! While the sausage was tasty, I could definitely go without it 🙂
My boyfriend LOVES pizza and I’ve been telling him we should make calzones because he’s never had one. This is where we will begin! Thanks for such a good looking recipe.
Woohoo! Let me know if you make them! 🙂
Leigha, i’m going to sound like a stalker (haha, too bad) but your photography and recipes are incredible- I LOVE calzones! Pinning!
Stalkers are okay if they’re awesome like Arman.
Woop! Thanks dude!
Yum! They look like pizza pops !! Luv these ideas !
I’ve never had a pizza pop! Thank you 🙂
I caught the Mean Girls drift right away! {You go Glen Coco!!} hahaha.
Looks amazing <3
Hehehe 😉 thanks beautiful!
AHH-MAZING!! The best things are always the spontaneous ones! <3
Totally!
My husband and I are trying to make this, and maybe I missed something, but how much sugar do you use? This is our first time making homemade dough for anything. This looks delicious though! I’ve never had a calzone!
Hi Katlyn! I am so sorry! Use 1/4 cup of sugar. Let me know how they turn out! Good luck 🙂