Homemade Calzone

I wanted to make something to take on the road, but the contents of the refrigerator were saying PIZZA. Hmmm... pizza is not so portable. Then I remembered CALZONE!

Calzone is basically the same as pizza but with a much prettier appearance. If you want to impress your family, make your regular pizza into a calzone, and watch them "ooh and ahh." And since the filling is inside instead of on top, it's easier to take on the road! Voila!

Roll pizza dough into a rectangle the length of your baking sheet. It can be wider than the sheet because you will be folding the sides in. Place the dough on the baking sheet and let the sides hang off.

Put sauce on the center half of the dough.



Just like pizza, add your toppings (our favorites are pepperoni, olives, and mushrooms). Calzones can be a good way to use up leftovers. Any small amounts of meat, cheese and vegetables can be put into the calzone.



Then add cheese.



Now comes the special part. Cut the dough on the sides at about 3/4 inch intervals. Don't cut all the way to the filling.



This is what it looks like when all the cuts are made.



Then "wrap the baby." (That's what my friend said it looked like when I showed her how to make this recipe!) Start at the bottom and alternating sides, overlap the strips of dough onto the filling in a lattice pattern. You can stretch the pieces to fit all the way over the filling.



Here is the calzone ready to bake. Bake your calzone at 375° F (190° C) for about 25-30 minutes.

Uh oh... don't do what I did. Now how in the world do I get this huge thing onto a baking sheet? I knew there was something I was forgetting!!

For the second one, I remembered to start with my rectangle of dough ON a baking sheet. That makes cutting the dough a bit harder, but I used my handy kitchen scissors.



By the way, the same dough wrapping technique can be used for sweet fillings too. See my apricot coffeecake for an example.

After baking your calzone, remove it to a wire rack to cool.



Aren't they beautiful? And the whole house smells like a pizzeria!

I use a recipe from allrecipes.com.



Once it's cool, you can cut the calzone into slices.
All the goodies are sealed inside the bread. Portable pizza!

For each calzone you make, you'll need one batch of dough. Click HERE for a printable PDF recipe card.

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour (can use a combination of white and whole wheat if you prefer)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 cup very warm water

Combine yeast, sugar, 1 cup of the flour, and salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water and oil and mix. Stir in remaining flour slowly until dough is soft but not sticky. Knead until smooth. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes before making the calzone.

Do you have a Unique and Beautiful Recipe Card Box to store your pizza dough recipe card?