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/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
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
- PanzerottiÂ
- 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:
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.
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Calzones
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
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
Nutrition
Thanks for visiting today!
Check out my recipe index for more amazing recipes. You can find more dessert recipes and tons of snack recipes.
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Toodles! xx
suzanne Perazzini
What a yummy looking calzone! I often make them. They are great for using up leftovers. I certainly remember Seinfield but not the food they ate. That was a great idea.
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Suzanne. They really are. I love that about Italian culture. So many of their recipes are great for using up the previous days veggies and bits and bobs.
I love that we did this. I hope Shanna does it every year. It's a cool idea.
Barb
I work in retail and wear uniform style clothes and a name badge and people walk up and say do you work here.I want to say no the name badge and uniform are a fashion statement.
Kim Beaulieu
That's priceless. Like people asking if you have a washroom, it's like er, no, please go out and use the bushes outside. lol
Christy Spurlock
My grievance is when people starting planning Christmas before Thanksgiving. Let's get thankful folks.
Kim Beaulieu
Me too. I grew up in a family that put the Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve day, so this idea of putting it up in November slays me.
Carrie H
I so love Seinfeld, but those in my family couldn't understand 'a show about nothing', it was no fun trying to explain it to the Hubs, the funny gets lost in his lack of understanding translation!
Calzones are awesome, still trying to understand the diff between calzones and stromboli...mystery to me.
Christmas, to me, is for the young and over commercialized and expensive to those of us who have set the bar so high that it is impossible to keep up year after year. Love the family time, the traditions and all but the spiritual part is so gone. Waiting for the kids to have kids so I can experience the young perspective on all the fun and miracle of it all again.
Kim Beaulieu
Ha, some people never quite got it. For those who did it was brilliant. It's so funny how they tie all the randomness together at the end of each episode.
I love calzones. I'll make a stromboli soon and try to remember to do a side by side comparison.
It's so true. We try to focus on family and making things to deter the craziness that spirals at Christmas. It's so out of hand.
Tracy Spangler
My grievance is being judged for being poor, even though my husband and I are both disabled and he works as much as he can. We take good care of our daughters, but we have been told and treated like other people with money could take better care of them. Money does not equal love, time spent together or joy.
Kim Beaulieu
Tracy I can totally relate. We went through financial hell these past few years. When we hit the wall and almost lost our house we went to our bank for help, the manager treated us like dirt. I called the head office and talked the head guy. I basically told him we're the same people your bank loved and threw money at years ago, now we're being made to feel like garbage. We had a long talk about how banks treat people differently depending on their financial status. He called our bank and made the manager call to apologize and also to help us come up with a solution to save the house. It restored my faith in people. I learned that money means nothing, it's how you treat people that matter. I'm so sorry your going through such a hard time. And I wish people would stop treating folks poorly based on the size of their bank account. It's just wrong. We should be judged based on the size of our hearts.
Terra
OMG this post just makes me smile! I became a huge Seinfeld fan after marrying my sweet hubby. Now we find so many things in our day to day that is just like a Seinfeld episode LOL! Your calzone sounds fantastic! Hugs, Terra
Kim Beaulieu
Yeah for smiles. Thanks so much Terra. Happy Festivus and Happy Holidays. xx
Mary Moore
This looks yummy, and easy. Always willing to try an easy recipe!
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Mary. xx
Jordan
I know so many people that have double standards. AHHH
Kim Beaulieu
Me too.
Debra Lee
People who have giveaways and never post a winner!
Kim Beaulieu
Ha, that's the joy of these rafflecopters. Makes the winner visible forever. And it's random so there's no funny business. I love the ones done this way.
Kate@Diethood
I would not mind sinking my teeth into a couple of these delicious calzones!! Happy Festivus!! 😀
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Kate. Happy Festivus!
Denise
My grievance is that there haven't been any new episodes of Seinfeld in over 15 years!
Kim Beaulieu
I second that!
Wendy R.
I get really irked about a lot of things! You probably don't want me ranting here. lol
Kim Beaulieu
Ha, I love a good rant. Happy Holidays Wendy.
Susan Broughton
What irks me?! Well I really can't think of anything except maybe the fact that I can't eat the foods I really want to eat anymore. I have to watch my fats and sugars etc and that really irks me. I wish we didn't have to worry about stuff like that!
Michelle @ Sweet Honey Iced Tea
People who drive way below the posted limit and let traffic back up behind them.
People who don't bother replacing a burnt-out headlight, but instead just use their highbeams. You're not being frugal. You're being a jerk.
Debra
OMG! Loud relatives. Actually had a cousin-in-law who turned into the drunk uncle (snl) last night at a pre-Christmas family party. Annoyance deluxe!
Pamela S
People who talk on the phone while driving. HANG UP AND DRIVE!
Jen @Juanita'sCocina
I am SO tired of people who have to be the center of attention...for everything. We have this lady at work, who makes everything about her. She has somehow turned the death of a fellow co-worker's father into something about her! Mind = blown.
Kim Beaulieu
That's not good. Your poor co-worker. Death is a time when the focus should stay on the people affected. You need to b slap the lady. Hard.
Annamaria @ Bakewell Junction
Kim,
What a fun idea - Festivus for the rest of us! I got a horrible virus on my computer and haven't been online for 2.5 weeks and I'm trying to catch up now. Merry Christmas to your and yours!
PS: I love calzones.
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Annamaria. No worries. I'm on a bit of hiatus with my son here. I haven't been blogging actively for a week. We'll catch up after the holidays.
I had to join this event when the gals brought it up. It's such a cool idea and I'm a huge Seinfeld fan. And a calzone fan too.
Merry Christmas. Hope your holidays are incredible. xx
Meg
I keep trying to pin this , but it says the link leads to spam and it won't let me :(. Sorry if this is an easy fix, it's never happened to me before. These look so good!
Kim Beaulieu
Hi Meg, that's so weird. I'll email Pinterest and see what's going on. I promise I'm not spam. Ha
Rach
I made these on the weekend and everyone loved them. Trying your cherry cobbler pizza next!
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks so much. Hope you love it!