Try this Easy Calzones recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- fresh basil leaves
- 16 whole frozen un-risen dinner rolls (i use rhodes can also use frozen bread loaves)
- 1 whole medium onion diced
- 1 pound breakfast or italian sausage
- 15 ounces whole milk ricotta
- 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
- 2 whole eggs plus 1 whole egg beaten
- all-purpose flour for dusting
- marinara sauce warmed, for serving, recipe follows
- 3 to 4 whole cloves garlic minced
- 1 whole small to medium onion chopped
- 1/2 cup white wine (or chicken broth)
- three 15-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
- salt and ground pepper
- pinch sugar
- fresh parsley leaves
- Carbohydrate 2.10783444430462 g
- Cholesterol 36.4221220910101 mg
- Fat 10.1889851980439 g
- Fiber 0.0867291663164894 g
- Protein 8.49603450980646 g
- Saturated Fat 6.41234727023811 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (121g)
- Sodium 170.812152532713 mg
- Sugar 2.02110527798813 g
- Trans Fat 0.575785917055617 g
- Calories 134 calories
Step-by-step
- Place the frozen rolls (or frozen bread loaves) on a baking sheet to thaw. Cover with a tea towel and let thaw and rise for 2 to 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and allow to cook for a couple of minutes. Add the sausage and cook until brown, crumbling the sausage as you stir. Add the Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Remove from the skillet and allow to cool on a plate.
- In a separate bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, salt, some pepper, parsley and 2 eggs.
- When the sausage is cool, stir it into the cheese mixture and set aside.
- When the rolls are thawed and risen, roll them out on a lightly floured surface until paper thin. Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons of the filling onto half of the dough circle. Fold half of the dough over itself, and then press the edges to seal.
- Brush the surface of each calzone with the beaten egg, and then bake until nice and golden brown, 10 to 13 minutes. Serve with warm Marinara Sauce.
- Cook's Note: If you want a larger calzone, use frozen bread loaves and use one-quarter to one-third of the loaf for each calzone.
- Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil into a hot pan over medium-high heat and throw in the garlic and chopped onions and give them a stir.
- Now add the wine (or chicken broth), whisking to deglaze the bottom of the skillet. Cook until the liquid reduces by half.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of sugar. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Toward the end of the cooking process, chop up your fresh parsley and basil and add it to the sauce to taste, stirring to combine.
Calzones differ from standard round pizzas primarily through their folded architecture, creating a sealed turnover designed to steam ingredients internally rather than expose toppings directly to dry oven heat. Originating in Naples as a portable, pocket-shaped street food meant to be eaten by hand without utensils, traditional versions rely on standard pizza dough stretched thin enough to cook evenly within minutes. Utilizing frozen dinner rolls or thawed bread loaves simplifies the dough-handling stage entirely, though dough must be brought to room temperature and allowed to proof under a tea towel for two to three hours before rolling. Rolling the risen dough paper-thin prevents heavy, gummy interior layers once baked. Browning sausage over medium-high heat with onions ensures rendered fat is drained before mixing with dairy, preventing excess liquid from breaking the structural integrity of the ricotta and mozzarella blend. Brushing the exterior with a beaten egg wash before baking at 400 degrees Fahrenheit promotes rapid protein browning and produces a glossy, crisp crust within 10 to 13 minutes. Scaling batch sizes requires adjusting the initial dough footprint; utilizing frozen bread loaves instead of smaller rolls permits dividing a single loaf into quarters or thirds for larger portions. Simmering the accompanying marinara sauce on low for 30 minutes allows crushed tomatoes to concentrate while neutralizing raw garlic harshness, finishing with fresh herbs stirred in near the end to preserve volatile aromatic compounds.
