Homemade Calzones

Homemade Calzones are wicked easy to make and absolutely delicious. Once you learn to make your own you will never order out again!

Today we're taking a break from all the Christmas celebrations to discuss an odd group of friends, a strange pole and a 'show about nothing.' And by now, all you Seinfeld fans are smiling.

It's been 15 years since the TV series left the air but it's still very much around in syndication, popular culture and a little made-up holiday called Festivus.

Celebrated with a bare pole and an airing of grievances, it's a time to come together and say "I got a lot of problems with you people!"

It's all in good fun, of course, and in its 9 seasons, quite a lot of delicious food came up on the show.

So some of my blogger friends and I decided to cook the foods best associated with the Seinfeld years and give away some great holiday gifts.

If you're unfamiliar with Seinfeld (wtf?) here's some links to get you up to speed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus

I chose to celebrate with "The Calzone". It's one of my all time favourite episodes.

We're huge pizza lovers in our house. We make something called a panzerotti which is similar to a calzone.

We deep fry ours though. I've already posted our favourite panzerotti recipe with step by step instructions so if you need help figuring out how to seal the dough head over to that post and my daughter will teach you how to seal them perfectly.

She worked in a pizza joint for years so she is far superior to making these things than I am. She helped me adapt our recipe into a calzone. Worked out beautifully.

Now the 1st and 2nd photo in this post I drizzled olive oil over the calzone prior to cooking, brushing it on evenly so it would crisp up more.

The 3rd photo, below, I didn't drizzle it with olive oil. It looks like a more traditional calzone to me but I really liked the ones I coated in olive oil much better.

So just make that judgement call when making them. It's a personal decision based on how you like your dough.

Now for any die-hard Seinfeld fans you will know that George was eating an eggplant calzone during the episode where Steinbrenner makes him a deal to bring them to him every day for lunch.

We do not like eggplant here so we made Italian Sausage and Peppers Calzones instead. I really hope you like them.

These calzones are amazing. We're huge pizza people here, we can't get enough of it.

We probably eat pizza 2 or 3 nights a week. We are always trying to come up with fun ways to make it.

Other Kick Ass Pizza Recipes:

• Pizza Bites
• Panzerotti 
• Deep Dish Pizza
• Antipasto Pizza
• Grilled Pizza
• Candied Bacon and Candied Tomato Pizza
• Vidalia Onion Pizza
• Wild Rice Pizza
• Cauliflower Pizza
• Rice Crust Pizza
• Cookie Pizza
• Cherry Cobbler Pizza

Recipes for Dough and Sauce:

• Killer Spicy Dough
• Salsarific Dough
• Slow Cooker Pizza Sauce

As you can see, I'm a serious pizza fanatic! I'm absolutely bonkers for pizza!

Seriously, it's an addiction at this point. So needless to say when we were all talking about the Festivus idea I knew I had to do the calzone. It just made perfect sense.

If you're a Seinfeld fan I would love for you to list your grievances for me. It's such a big part of Festivus.

Here is mine:

• People who rush to turn into traffic then drive at a snail's pace. I want to bump your little car with my truck and flip you the bird. No lie.
• People who stand too close to me in a check out line. I want to turn around and kick you in the shins. No lie.
• People who chew gum like they're chewing their cud. I mean seriously, close your mouth before I do it for you. No lie.
• People who whistle. You bug the ever-loving crap out of me. Unless you're hailing a cab I'm going to want you to shut your piehole. No lie.
• People who make lists. It's so bloody pretentious. No lie.

Make sure you stop by all the wonderful bloggers who are celebrating Festivus:

• Susan from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen is making Marble Rye from "The Rye"
• Renee from Magnolia Days is making Eggnog Frozen Yogurt from "The Non-Fat Yogurt"
• Isabelle from Crumb is making Cherry Almond Muffin Tops from "The Muffin Tops"
• Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake is making Challah Pretzels from "The Alternate Side"
• Shanna from Pineapple and Coconut is making Lobster Scrambled Eggs with Wasabi Hollandaise and Crispy Leek and Potato Cakes from "The Hamptons"
• Kelli from Kelli's Retro Kitchen Arts is making a Big Salad from "The Big Salad"
• Kelly from Kelly Bakes is making Mulligatawny Soup from "The Soup Nazi"
• Joan from Chocolate, Chocolate and More is making Cream Puffs from "The Gymnast"
• Marnely from Cooking with Books is making Apple Pie from "The Pie"
• Diane from Created by Diane is making Black and White Cookies from "The Dinner Party"
• Anita from Hungry Couple is making Chocolate Babka from "The Dinner Party"

Be sure to celebrate Festivus on December 23. Air your grievances, show your feats of strength, and above all else hope for a Festivus Miracle.

Make some calzones. You'll thank me later.

Places to stalk Cravings of a Lunatic!

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5 from 7 votes

Calzones

Homemade Calzones to celebrate Festivus in honour of Seinfeld. Easy to make and absolutely delicious. You'll never order out again.

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword calzone

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 1102kcal

Ingredients

• 2 pizza dough, homemade or store bought
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1 lb Italian Sausage, cooked
• 4 bell peppers, chopped
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 1 tsp olive oil, for drizzling

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Line two cookies sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Lightly flour your work space. You want just a small amount of bench flour, just enough to keep if from sticking to the counter but not so much it makes you dough tough.
• Divide each round of dough into two. Roll out into a circle, do not roll too thinly otherwise your dough will break when moving it around. Roll the rest out as well.
• Now before you start adding stuff to each round you need to remember not to over-stuff them. You need to be able to fold each one over to make a half moon shape and have enough edge to seal them. So keep that in mind while stuffing them.
• Scoop a couple of tablespoons of sauce into each round.
• Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of cooked Italian Sausage to each round.
• Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of peppers to each round.
• Now top each with a good amount of cheese.
• Fold the dough over so each one forms a half moon shape.
• Now press down in the middle a bit to get rid of any air pockets. Then start to seal your edges with your fingers. Just keep folding and pressing the dough till you have a nice rim. Now give the middle one last press then double check your seal again. Now take a pizza cutter and cut off the excess so you have a nice smooth line in the shape of a half moon. Cutting it this way also ensures the seal is fabulous. That's a mini-me trick.
• Carefully transfer each calzone to the cookie sheets.
• Now here's where you get to pick whether you want them brushed with olive oil or not. I say go for it. I like the dough so much better when they are brushed with it. But no sweat if you like yours without. Cooking, and eating for that matter are all about personal taste. This is a judgement free zone.
• Pop them in the oven and cook for about 10 to 14 minutes.
• Serve with a big old Seinfeld smile!

Notes

Nutritional information is a rough estimate. Different brands and ingredients will impact the final calculation. 

 

This is calorie heavy as most pizza is. Keep in mind this is stuffed and loaded with sausage and cheese. It packs a calorie punch and it's worth every single one of those calories! If you're on a diet this is not the recipe for you. 

 

*Did you make this amazing recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!

Nutrition

Calories: 1102kcal | Carbohydrates: 105g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 55g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 2919mg | Potassium: 783mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 4370IU | Vitamin C: 158.5mg | Calcium: 320mg | Iron: 8mg

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