Put your pizza down. And embrace the one, true, food.
Why all the hype?
I don’t really know. There’s something about calzones that are burned into my soul. Some fuzzy childhood memory of good times spent making them with my family. And it’s my first memory of cooking anything.
As a kid, rolling around the dough with your hands felt like you were playing with Play-Doh. And, being kids, calzones are perfect for picky palates, as each one can be personalized with a plethora of ingredients. So peppers and spinach added in for adults, and a simple pepperoni and cheese for the kids.
As an adult, I took the practice with me. And there are the same (albeit boozed induced) fuzzy memories about spending time with friends doing the same thing. Rolling dough, drinking bum wine and having a good time with good company. That’s the real essence of food right there.
Enough nostalgia, it’s a dangerous drug. Let’s get started.
We’ll start with the dough. If you want to make this calzone extra special, I’d suggest using your own pizza dough from scratch. I could give you my recipe, but it’s really just a tweaked version of this.
A homemade dough is more fun, more personal, but also, more time.
So if time is a factor, buy premade pizza dough from your local grocery store bakery. It’s cheap and can last a few days in the fridge, so can you can plan ahead of time. Last resort would be to use Pillsbury’s canned pizza dough. It’s decent (read shit), and the dough is loaded with sugar so it’s terribly too sweet.
This recipe yields two beautifully giant calzones.
Time you’ll need
- ~25 minutes prep
- ~20 minutes to cook (this doesn’t account for making your own pizza dough though)
Things you’ll need
- 5 chopped cloves of garlic
- 16 oz of mozzarella
- 6 oz parmesan
- Other cheeses* (optional, but who doesn’t love cheese? Go nuts with it. Pepper jack works great here.)
- Pepperoni slices
- Olive oil
- Garlic salt
- Garlic powder
- Pepper
- Basil flakes
- Red pepper flakes
- 1 chopped red pepper*
- 1 chopped green pepper*
- ~1-2 cups white onions
- Other optional toppings include: pancetta, sausage, or really anything you’d enjoy on a pizza.*optional
What You’ll Do
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Throw some flour on the counter to help work the dough. Split into two equal parts.
- Roll them flat, tossing in flour.
- Coat the dough with seasonings (garlic salt/powder, red pepper flakes, black pepper, basil) and ~2 tsp olive oil.
- Knead the seasonings and oil into the dough. Get those hands dirty.
- Add pepperoni, cheese, onions, garlic and any other toppings.
- Season with garlic salt / garlic powder once more.
- Fold dough over into a pastry shape
- Use fork to seal edges and poke holes in the top.
- Place on well oiled baking sheet.
- Bake for about ~20 minutes till golden brown.
- Enjoy. Not only the calzone. But enjoy the process. This is my favorite recipe to make. It’s best to make with a group of people, over wine and stories.
