Homemade Calzones

No gluten-free recipe today–sorry! I’d been wanting to make homemade calzones with the kids because I have fond memories of making large batches of them on Sunday evenings back when my husband and I were first married. They were our lunches for the week, and we ate them for a long while, which probably explains why I hadn’t eaten another one for 10 years or so.

My kids had never tried calzones, and they were a big hit. I let each kid choose their own fillings–so many choices! The favorite was a mix of pesto with ricotta cheese, with a few veggies thrown in. They liked mushrooms, olives, spinach, and tomatoes. If you’re using tomato or pizza sauce, go lighter than you would for a flat pizza crust. You don’t want it to ooze out or make the calzone too wet.

Last note–I have now used this recipe for pizza crust and breadsticks, too–and everyone loved them.

Homemade Calzones
adapted from this recipe

Calzone Dough:

1 pkg yeast
1 Tbsp white sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 cup white flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Filling Options:

marinara sauce
ricotta cheese mixed with basil pesto
mozzarella cheese
raw or sauteed vegetables (mushrooms, green pepper, spinach)
pepperoni or turkey pepperoni
raw or canned diced tomatoes
sliced olives

Note: start the calzone dough 2 hours before you plan to bake them. In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and warm water and let sit for 5 minutes. In a larger bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Add yeast mixture and combine thoroughly. Cover and let dough rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or until double in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pull off a small portion of dough and roll into a circle. Fill middle with filling choices, then fold in half and crimp edges with a fork. My kids had a blast helping to make these! Place on a stoneware or baking sheet, and bake  for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

This Homemade Calzones recipe is linked up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, Friday Food at MomTrends and Feasting in Fellowship Friday at Comfy in the Kitchen.