One of my family's favorite meals is calzones. They are always ready and willing to help me make these even if I am doubling or tripling the batch for freezing. They freeze well for later dinners or lunches for my hubby.
The one thing that I do differently than most recipes is that I don't put the sauce on the inside of the calzones because I find that they get mushy especially if they are put in the freezer. I simply serve the sauce on the side for dipping.
You can be very creative with these by filling them with ground beef with b-b-q sauce and cheese, or chicken with broccoli and cheese, or pepperoni and cheese. As you can tell, there is a cheese theme when it comes to calzones!
To make the dough:
1 cup + 2 TB. of warm water
2 tsp. yeast
1-1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
The easiest way to do this is to use your bread machine on the dough cycle, but if you don't have one simply start by dissolving the yeast in the water. Next you will add the flour and the salt until you are able to handle the dough (it shouldn't be extremely sticky, although a bit of stickiness is OK). Knead the dough on a lightly floured counter for 8 minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl (covered with a cloth) for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
Gather your filling ingredients:
For these calzones I used meatballs and mozzarella cheese. For eight calzones I used approximately 16 meatballs (each one cut in half) and about 1 cup of cheese. You will also need spaghetti sauce, barbecue sauce or ranch dressing, depending on your filling ingredients.
Once your dough is done, divide it into 8 pieces. Roll one piece into a small circle and place your fillings on one-half of that circle:
Fold one-half of the dough over the filling and seal the edges with a fork (kids love to do this!). Be sure to seal the edges well so that the cheese doesn't leak out. Place these on a greased baking sheet:
Repeat with all of the dough pieces until you are done:
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15-18 minutes or until they are golden brown. Serve and eat with your favorite sauce, or freeze in ziploc bags for later use.
These are great when served with pasta salad or green salad.
Enjoy!
