Oh, yeah. These were good. Meaty, cheesy and full of flavor. I made them last week during the challenge to eat from the pantry and freezer. I guess you could say they were inspired by ingredients I had on hand and a desire to eat calzones.
Here’s what you’ll need for the filling:
1 lb. sausage (or use ground beef)
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can tomato paste + 1 can water
basil, oregano, salt and pepper to taste
mozzarella cheese, the amount depends on how cheesy you like it.
Brown the sausage with the onion and garlic. Drain the grease. Add the other ingredients and combine them well, letting them heat together for a few minutes.
For the crust you’ll need:
I found this recipe in a BJUPress 1st Grade Math book several years ago. I altered the amounts a bit. The amounts I list here will make 1 pizza crust. For these calzones, I doubled it to get 2 crusts.
For 1 crust:
1 pkg dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
1 cup warm water
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tbs. oil
2 1/2 cups flour
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the other ingredients (I used a stand mixer with a dough hook for this step.) Beat the ingredients until well mixed. Let the dough rest 5 minutes.
Now it’s time to assemble the calzones. I decided to make 2 giant calzones instead of several smaller ones. I did however make one mistake. See if you can spot it in this picture.
Do you see my mistake yet? I rolled out half of my dough (remember, I doubled the dough recipe) on the counter. Spread half the meat mixture onto one side of the dough and add the cheese. Fold the dough over the top and lift the whole thing up onto a baking stone or lightly greased cookie sheet.
Now, you know my mistake. I would have taken a picture of it but I had dough, meat and cheese all over my hands. Hot meat placed directly on unbaked dough creates a sticky mess. Nearly impossible to lift onto a baking stone. I did manage it, but it made for a pretty ugly calzone. I was smarter with the next one. I rolled the dough on the counter and transferred it to the baking sheet before filling it.
Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes. I’m guessing it might take a shorter amount of time if you make smaller calzones.
These wouldn’t have won any beauty contests, but they tasted wonderul. We had a whole one left for the next day’s lunch. I just heated it in the oven. It was crunchier than the night before, but every bit as wonderful.
Sarah Mae says
Oh baby! YUM-O!
Anonymous says
Thanks a lot
Julie says
That last pic makes me a little weak in the knees!
Cheryl says
BJUPress… Bob Jones?
Tiffany says
Cheryl, yep Bob Jones. I used it for math for 1 year and got a great recipe for it 🙂
jen says
Now I’m hungry!!
Erin says
MMMMM—love me some cheese and bread!
thengourmet says
This looks a lot better than the tuna sandwich I just ate!
tabitha says
I am definitely making this in the next couple of weeks. I have everything but the meat.
MaRiN says
Man that looks delicious! Even at 6:40 AM! Way to go on the pantry meals…I would not survive.
ashley says
That looks yummy! I think I will try it Sunday night.
Leslie says
This looks awesome! Just a quick question – did you use rapid-rise yeast?
Tiffany says
Leslie, I actually used Bread Machine yeast, but it says it’s “ideal for all rapid rise recipes”, so maybe it’s the same thing.
Joy @ Five J's says
I LOVE calzones, but I’m not a fan of sausage. Surely pepperoni would work, wouldn’t it? It sounds delicious otherwise.
Tiffany says
Joy, I think pepperoni would be great!
Melissa says
Why do my calzones not look like that? My family would love these with sausage, but I usually use pepperoni. We also use ricotta cheese, which adds to the leakage. 🙂
Tiffany says
Ooooh, ricotta cheese sounds good!
Julie says
I made these tonight for company and they were SOOOO YUMMY!!! Thanks for an awesome easy recipe! I added a little bit of garlic powder and onion powder to my dough to give it a little kick and then made some different calzones with different ingredients for everybody… sausage, pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, black olives… they were all yummy! Then I made a dipping sauce too! Definitely a keeper recipe!
Bear Bunch says
Oh my gosh! These look so yummy. I know what we are having for dinner tonight.
mub says
Oh yum! I love calzones =) I wonder how well this would work with whole wheat flour? I am going to give it a try.
MrsM says
I could definitely use a good pizza crust recipe-thanks! I think the sausage would be too spicy for our family though. Maybe some nice spinach and feta with tomatoes on top~yum!
Jamie says
Looks SUPER YUMMY!
Robbie S. Redmon, LPC says
Smells good!. LOL Have a great SITS Day!
Jennifer says
Wow, I just realized I am hungry! Sure sounds and looks good.
Helen says
I’ll def be making these! Thank you!
H x
cat says
This looks so yummy!
Preston says
I bet it’s the home made dough that makes this so tasty. Enjoy your SITS day!
Sandy says
Now that looks delicious! My kids will love it!
Country-Fried Mama says
Looks good! I’m always looking for new ideas for dinner. I’ll be back.
Astrid says
Those look delicious! I tried making calzones the other day using leftover taco meat. I think they would have turned out but I used canned biscuit dough (because I had it on hand) and that wasn’t the right thing to use for the crust. Next time I’ll make pizza dough for the crust.
a_healthier_me says
I am totally drooling over those pictures. I think I might try it with ground turkey…
MochaTrina says
HAPPY SITS DAY! Man that looks good. Haven’t had breakfast yet, and it’s not a good idea to look at that calzone on an empty stomach. Yum!
Mariah says
yeah. I’m hungry now. Happy SITS Day!
The Redhead Riter says
That recipe looks addictive…I’M SCARED!
Amanda @ Serenity Now says
Oh, wow! I think my picky husband would like these. 🙂
Rachael W. says
Oh my goodness! It’s 7 am and I’m drooling over the calzones. I have to make these. Thanks for the tute.
DSL Kids says
Sounds great!! Alivia will love helping with the dough:)
Jen says
Yum…calazones are my favorite. I cheat though and use frozen dough.
Janna says
I just got the sudden urge to make calzones tonight! Thanks for the recipe!
Sandy says
This one’s making me hungry!
Beth says
Calzones are one of my favorite things. Your’s looks great.
Reluctant Housewife says
These look delicious!
Laura says
That looks very good. There was a time before kids, work & school that I used to make homemade pizza dough.
Christy says
Yum! This recipe sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try it!
Rachel says
Looks good! I have been looking for a good pizza dough recipe.
Cher says
holy moly. that does look good.
Michelle says
My family would love these. We do homemade pizza every saturday, when I’m not pregnant and in the first trimester. Right now we are doing frozen pizzas for movie night. Oh well.
Joy says
Starving now. For calzones.
Happy SITS feature day!
mrs4444 says
Cooking with yeast terrifies me!!
Rabacal says
Does the bread taste sweet with the sugar in it? It looks fantastic, I can’t wait to try it!
Kristen says
Mmmmm….I want one NOW!! Lol…happy SITS day!
Jeannie says
Over from SITS:
These sound amazing!!! I will definitely make it soon!!
Diana says
That looks soooooooooo yummy!!! I will have to try it. 🙂 Happy SITS Day!!
B.o.B. says
Well that just looks delish. I may lick my computer screen.
Happy SITS Day!
Mimi says
I swear the first thought that came into my head when I saw the pic was “holy crap, do those look good”. Not very eloquent, but heartfelt! lol
Skyler says
Swinging by from SITS!
Happy SITS DAY!
Man those look amazing! I cant wait to make them for my WH!
Smitten by Britain says
You are a brave soul making everything from scratch. I don’t have the patience. It looks way yummy though.
Robin says
I make calzones and freeze them all the time. But when the girls were small, I had a stack (still do) of Tupperware’s individual hamburger patty containers. I would make little individual raw pizzas (uncooked dough with toppings) in them and stack and freeze them. The containers are flexible plastic so you can give them a quick twist and the little pizzas pop out ready to cook. One was just the right size for a small child. They became so popular that I bought a second set of the stack. Best part is you control what goes on top. You can also make your own dough which means you can use whole wheat flour….which is better for the kids.
Judi Bentley says
Yum, can’t wait to try this. I love the pics. Makes it easier for me to visualize:)Happy SITS day
Courtney says
These look delicious and I know my family would love them.
Bitter Sweet Moments says
They look amazing!!
Kathie says
I’m visiting from SITS, congrats on being FB! This sounds and looks amazing!
brandy says
It looks delicious!
Jessica says
I love this! I’m such a huge fan of calzones, but have always thought it’s a little to complicated for me (well, to be fair, it’s the dough aspect of it. It’s too close to baking!).
Thanks again!
Anonymous says
Stopping by from SITS! This looks fantastic…my husband loves calzones and I’ve never tried making them! I can’t wait to try this recipe!!!!
Dddiva says
Oh yum! The pics look wonderful, I’m drooling before 10 am here.
p.s. I added you to my Twitter (dddiva) so that I don’t forget to keep coming back for more.
Tonya says
These look so yummy!
MaRiN says
this looks fabulous! my family would love it, thanks!
Jill says
Love calzones! Happy SITS day!
Leah says
These look so good!!! I always get nervous working with bread dough, but maybe I’ll make another go at it.
{peeking in from SITS}
The Mom @ Babes in Hairland says
My husband loooves sausage so we’ll have to try these. Congrat’s on being FB today at SITS.
Ashley says
I usually make homemade calzones with store bought pizza crust. I will definitely be trying out this recipe for dough 😉
Ashley says
That looks so yummy!! stoping by from SITS! congrats on your SITS day 🙂
ashley says
These look so good and simple!!!!
Trying it soon.
Katie says
Happy SITS Day!!! These look so yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Fine-al Thoughts says
These look D-vine! I will be trying them for sure! I am loving your site and gleaning lots and lots of ideas from you. Thanks for not being selfish and for sharing them with us!!
Legallyblondemel says
Hello from SITS!
These look mouth-wateringly delicious & would make my Italian husband oh-so-happy. If I can get myself inspired to cook, I’ll be back!
Mary says
Oh my word does this look delicious!!
Teri says
Those look fantastic!
Camille says
What a great idea! And it looks fairly easy to make… maybe I could do it! 🙂 Happy Sits Day!
Rachel says
Looks great!
Mariel says
Yay! I love recipe sites! Great blog! I’ve got a good handful of yummy recipes on mine too, it’s http://www.oneshetwoshe.com
Mariel
Rhi says
Beauties! I just had lunch and my mouth is watering uhhhhhh get me some of these!!
carma says
This looks great. I’ll leave out the meat and make it vegetarian. Love that you use GV products. I always use the GV mozz and tom paste.
Mira is triplet crown says
Pictures make me hungry, thanks for the recipe.
Rhonda says
I make a ground chicken & basil calzone my family LOVES from Cooking Light magazine (my bible)
Visiting from SITS!
Christina says
YUM
Marrdy says
It’s noon here and I am starving! This looks so yummy!
Angie says
Those look so good! Thanks for sharing the recipe! Happy SiTS day!
Zeemaid says
yumalicious, those look delicious. Thanks for sharing. Happy SITS day
NYC Mama says
This is great! Can the 2 1/2 cups of regular flour be substituted with whole wheat flour? If so, I’m making this tomorrow!!! Thanks!
Tiffany says
NYC Mama, I’ve never tried to sub whole wheat flour. I think you might want to use whole wheat pastry flour to keep it from being too heavy. Let me know if you try. I’d like to know how it turns out.
lemonologie says
YUM!
Alisa Hope Wagner says
OMGosh!! That looks yummy!
Holly says
I bet my DH would like these. We’d probably stuff ours with all kinds of other goodies though, like veggies.
Melissa says
Oh wow, my husband would absolutely love these! Thank you!
Lanie says
Geez! You have great recipes!
Angeline Mair says
The husband will love this dish!
It’s got comfort food written all over it.
Thanks for sharing!
Happy SITS day!
Brooke says
Oh my yum! 🙂
danikeith says
ok, well it is dinner time, but yummmmmmm! i am totally craving a calzone, thank you!!
lemonlime pie says
That calzone looks delicious.
Alicia says
mmmm i don’t think i should be looking at those pictures at dinner time!!
Jeannie Finelli says
These look SO good. If I ever cooked, I’d totally make these.
Tranquility says
That looks so delicious!
I haven’t found a decent gluten free pizza dough recipe yet (and for that much flour, the gf substitute just doesn’t do it), but as soon as I do, I’m going to give this a try!
Michelle (hometc) says
Looks like its fun to make and you could get creative with the filling.
Cindi @ Moomette's Magnificents says
Those look so easy to make, and would be perfect for appetizers for the upcoming 4th of July! Happy SITS!
jeanine says
looks delish ! Sitsa !
http://www.icoulduseadeal.blogspot.com
LinLori says
I just ate dinner and now I’m hungry again. That looks so delicious!
greedygrace says
Sweet Lord, that looks delicious! Yum!
emily says
I love a fantastic calzone!!! mmmm cheese!!!
Stesha says
Calzones are my favorite!
Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha
Jewelry Rockstar says
Yummo!. That crust looks like it came from a real Italian pizza joint.
Anonymous says
Mmmm yum! I make homemade pizza all the time, but I don’t know why I never do calzones. I might have to make a point of it soon. Thanks!
Reeni says
These look delicious! Home-made calzones are the best!
Courtney says
great recipe, these were a hit at my house!
Charmaine says
Yum!!! I can’t wait to try these!
Claire says
Oh my. My mouth is actually watering!
Cxx
Dee says
Wow. Saw you at SITS.
The pics of this alone make my mouth water.
I have everything but the yeast and the sausages. I would love to try it.
Cheers.
MaRiN says
made these last night and loved them! thanks for the recipe!
Rachael says
I love calzones! So yummy!
Whitney says
Have you ever tried making a large batch and freezing these? Just wondering if they turn out?
Tiffany says
Whitney, I haven’t tried that, but it sounds like it would work well.
Becky says
They were excellent. The only thing I would add is a little salt to the crust.