Homemade Pizza Calzones
One of my earliest posts on SS was my favorite childhood pizza dough. It’s my Mom’s recipe that she’s made for YEEEARS. And for some reason… I was always hit or miss with it. Sometimes the yeast would totally fail me and just sit there. nothing. Sometimes it would double wonderfully, other times, not so much. Researching all my past attempts I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. The water temperature. To be honest, I was lazy; I never really measured how hot the water was, or wasn’t… I just sort of guessed how hot it was. That was my Ah-Ha moment… and since then I’ve been taking my waters temp like a baby and turning pizza’s out like Little Caesars. Boo-yah!
Honestly my friends this recipe is fool-proof. The only thing I do differently now is that I knead by hand and not in my food processor. I just hate washing that big clunk-of-a-thang. For those of you who aren’t up for the kneading process you can still find that recipe here. But for the ones who like taking out some frustration, aggravation or stress on some pizza dough, scroll on down.
All you need is just some common pantry staples one should always have on hand. You never know when the hunger for pizza {or calzones} is going to strike.
I always start by putting some olive oil in the bottom of my “rising” bowl. I’d say it’s about a half a tablespoon.
Moving on to the dough. Place a half a teaspoon of honey into a large-ish bowl. I eyeball-it… you can too.
Run your water on hot, measure a cup and watch the temp rise to 115-120 degrees.
Pour it over the honey.
Sprinkle with the yeast and let it proof or puff up.
Once that happens add a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil to the yeasty water.
A half teaspoon kosher salt.
And stir.
Add a cup of flour…
…Stir…
Add in another cup and stir.
Add the last half cup, stir with your spatula until most of the flour is worked in.
I use my hand for the rest.
Sprinkle some flour out onto a clean surface. Dust the dough and start the kneading process for a total of 5 minutes, dusting with more flour as you go until it’s no longer sticky. Because I’m kneading it by hand I end up adding an additional quarter to half a cup during the whole process.
This is after three minutes of kneading.
And this is what it looks like after five minutes.
Toss in the bowl with the olive oil. Roll and coat all the sides of the bowl.
Cover with a clean tea towel and stick the bowl in a warm draft-free area to rise for 40 – 60 minutes.
While this is going on I get going on the toppings…err fillings. First I cook up a half pound of ground Italian sausage.
Slice the onion into strips from root to tip.
Saute them in the remaining sausage fat until soft and golden.
In a small saucepan add an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, dried basil, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. I even add a pinch of sugar, I like to think it kills some of the acidity.
Quarter a few pepperonis.
Then grate the cheese. On the left you have a half a half cup of the very stinky {yet very delicious} sharp provolone. And on the right is a cup to cup and a half of the very creamy mozzarella.
After about an hour in a warm dry place your dough should have doubled in size.
“Punch” it down to deflate it a bit.
Form the dough into a ball and cut in half. Then divide the halves in half, so you have for pieces.
So I grabbed Wilma and rolled each piece out to form an 8 inch {estimate} circle. You may have to stretch it a bit with your fingers.
Spread out a little sauce, leaving a little room around the edge. Top with Italian sausage and sauteed onions.
Top with the pepperonis, a little mozz and then a little prov.
Fold over, tuck and twist… or is it twist and tuck. Well you get the idea.
Brush with a little beaten egg.
Bake at 375 degrees until puffed, crispy and a deep golden.
All this hard work it’s so totally worth eating the whole thing. Crispy crust, soft gooey center… your family will be giving you high fives all night long.
Homemade Pizza Calzones
Yield: makes 4 calzones
Ingredients:
FROM SCRATCH PIZZA DOUGH
2-1/2 cups All Purpose Flour, plus more for kneading
1 cup Warm Water {115-120 degrees}
1 packet Active Dry Yeast
1/2 teaspoon Honey
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Olive Oil, plus more for oiling bowl
FOR THE PIZZA CALZONES
1 recipe for homemade pizza dough
8 slices of Sandwich Pepperoni, quartered
1 medium onion, sliced root to tip
1/2 pound Ground Italian Sausage
1-1/2 cups Freshly Grated Mozzarella
1/2 cup Freshly Grated Sharp Provolone
1 whole Egg, beaten
PIZZA SAUCE
8 ounce can of Tomato Sauce
1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon dried Basil
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
a pinch of Red Pepper Flakes {optional}
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Directions:
FOR THE DOUGH: Add a half teaspoon of honey into a clean large bowl. Add the hot water into the bowl and sprinkle with the packet of yeast. Stir and let sit for a few minutes. Season with a half teaspoon of salt and olive oil. Sprinkle with one cup of the flour, stir with a spatula. Add in the second cup, stir until combine. Lastly add the remaining half cup of flour and stir by hand until combined. On a well floured surface, knead the dough {adding more flour if needed} until no longer sticky. Should take five minutes.
Form the dough into a ball and add it to the bowl with the olive oil. Coat the dough with the oil, using it to work the oil up the sides of the bowl. Cover with a towel and place in a dry warm place for about an hour.
This recipe yields one large pizza, two medium pizzas or 4 individual size pizzas or calzones.
FOR CALZONES: In a skillet brown the sausage, drain and set aside. Over medium heat cook onions until soft and golden.
In a small sauce pan over medium low heat combine the tomato sauce, herbs and spices. Stir until hot then remove off of the heat to cool.
Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal portions. Roll out to about 8 inches in diameter. Smear a couple spoonfuls of cooled pizza sauce. Top with cooked Italian sausage, pepperoni, cooked onions and cheeses. Stretch and pull the dough over the top of the filling and twist and pinch the two seams together.
Beat the egg and brush it over top of the entire calzone. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-minutes. Let cool before eating. Use any leftover pizza sauce to dunk your calzone in.
Over the past few years I’ve been on a mission to find and create recipes that I can make from scratch. I hope you enjoy the recipes on this blog as they are tried and true from my kitchen to yours! (
these look gorgeous and so delicious! homemade dough is the best and there's just nothing that compare! I love all the filling you stuffed in there, delicious!!
These look delish! Love the pizza dough from scratch. Never made it before but generally am scared away by yeast and rising and all that jazz. You made it look so simple! Will definitely be giving this a try this coming weekend. Thanks so much!! Keep em coming!!
The color on those calzones are perfect!
OOOO.
MMMM.
GGGG.
yummy calzones…I too have a recipe in my blog..
This dough sounds delicious. My husband loves pizza and calzones and I always love trying new dough recipes. We'll try this one out. Love it!
I make calzones pretty often too. But yours look delicious! Adding salt directly to the yeast mix can also kill it a little, so maybe try adding it the the dough when the flour is mixed in? Loving all of the cheeeese
Oh yummy. This reminds me of my childhood! Dad used to make these all of the time.
These look so delicious and portable. Something about portable food makes my skirt just fly up!
Looks WONDERFUL!
Mmm such a great idea! Love it!
These seriously couldn't look more perfect! I LOVE calzones!
Come to mama! These look perfect.
They look delish! If I ever need to order pizza, I'll be sure and call you, not Domino's
Those are some amazing look calzones! Nicely done! So hearty and your pictures are just stunning
Can I come over for dinner? these look PERFECT.
those calzones look profressionally made…I guess they are! You have cooking talent for sure.
Oh my goodness, these are truly drool-worthy…beautiful photos and awesome step-by-step directions. This will be something I will be trying in my kitchen for my family!
A woman after my own heart. I HATE cleaning the food processor. Hand kneading is rather satisfying too! Nothing like home-made dough….your calzones look amazing!
These look perfect! It has been way too long since we have had calzones! They are going to have to make the menu soon!
I love calzones! Making a yeast dough scares me, but I may just have to get over that fear and bake some of these up soon. Yum!
Could you make up the calzones in advance put them in the fridge than take them out alittle bit before baking them?
Hi~ I don't see why not. As long as the filling is completely cooled before assembling. It should work!
Laurie- which pizza dough is better for pizza making- this one or the earlier favorite pizza recipe from earlier? We are looking for a great pizza dough and also need to know what temperature and the amount of time to cook it at (when it's not a calzone). Thanks!
I love making calzone and these look delicious!
These sound absolutely delish! Love your pics!
Calzones was one of my favorite dinners as a kid!
Oooooo, yummy!
Me and Yeast had a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship going on for a long time, too. It was all in the water. Stupid finicky water temps. Once I broke down and spent money on the instant read thermometer – yeast and I were friends again. Frienemies no more! ~M
Gorgeous! These look delicious and I love your step by step photos. Well done.
I am a huge fan of calzones and yours look amazing! I now have a huge cheesy carb craving!
Which dough recipe is better for pizza. This one or your favorite pizza recipe? Also, if I want to make a pizza with this recipe (or whichever one is better) what temperature and for how long should I cook it? Looks yummy!
Thanks!
Anonymous~ I'd bake the pizza at 400 for 15-20 minutes. Both recipes are virtually the same… I use less flour in the hand kneaded version and add more while kneading to ensure a non overly floured dough.
Anne~ I like the hand kneading better because I like to knead, but it depends on if you have or like using a food processor. But other wise they produce the same results. Hope
You totally just brought me back to home economics in high school – I learned how to make these and then made them every friday at home! Thanks for the great memory and delish updated recipe.
Your calzones look incredible! I love that you made the dough from scratch… I have featured this post in today's Friday Food Fetish roundup. Let me know if you have any objections and thanks for the inspiration
Fantastic color on the calzones! I love dishes like these that are awesome the first time around, but freeze well in case of emergency.
1 cup of water is 240 ml? And 2-1/2 flour are 300 gr? Please answer me. Love the recipe and want to try.
Teodora
Hi! 1 cup of water is 235mls and 275 grams of flour, plus more for dusting of course.. hope this helps!
Hi, Just want to say that I stumbled on your site last night and then proceeded to print out about 30 of your recipes. Everything looks so good! And in my opinion, "from scratch" is the only way to go! Tonight I made your calzone crust (I used a different filling since I had already planned to make a ham/bbq sauce/red onion pizza) and my family loved it! The 4 smaller calzones were
Hi there! I randomly found this blog post by searching for “easy pizza dough recipes” and I have to see, this recipe really is fool proof! Up until trying this recipe, I had absolutely ZERO experience making my own pizza dough, pie crusts, or breads. I was really intimidated by the process, but I finally had a moment of, “I have to try!” So I used this recipe for our weekly calzones (I normally used store-bought crust) and my my! This recipe is PERFECT! The dough came out EXACTLY right and my husband loved it! While eating his calzone he even said, “Is there honey is this dough?” Delicious. Thank you so much! I’ve saved your blog on my google reader and will be attempting my first ever real BREAD this weekend with your easy dinner roll recipe. You are fantastic, thank you so much!
Hi! I am not sure how I found your website, but I am glad I did! Thanks for the great calzone recipe. I made them tonight and they were a hit! I will definitely use your dough recipe for a homemade pizza as well!! Thanks again! Perfect calzones!! I will be browsing your site for more goodies to cook…
Thankyou, thankyou….these were so delicious and alot of fun to make. I have retired my mixmaster and using my hands to make dough once again. You have a great site, awesome step by steps and the end results are a real treat.
simplyscratch replied: — October 25th, 2012 @ 4:41 am
That’s great! It’s so much fun to get your hands dirty right!?
We just tried this recipe today and it turned out beautifully! My sister & I impressed our family and they asked for us to make more next week. Thanks for the great recipe!