Having owned an Italian restaurant/Pizzeria at one time, I can tell you: NO ITALIAN WOULD BE CAUGHT DEAD USING CHEDDAR CHEESE....AND NEVER, NEVER IN CALZONE. ONLY PURE RICOTTA CHEESE! Use one and one half cups of ricotta mixed with dash of pepper, salt, Italian sausage (or pepperoni is acceptable), one egg and dash of parsley and grated parmesan cheese. For those of you who don't want to be bothered making dough from scratch....buy the frozen bread dough. Just as good!
This was a good recipe. It does need a few adjustments. The recipe should state that the yeast should proof first. I dissolved the sugar in the water with the yeast and let it sit for ten minutes. I didn't use the same toppings, I used ground ham, spinach, a little mozarella, mushrooms and of course ricotta, which makes a "real Italian Calzone, and for a little extra yum, a dash or two of Italian dressing, but the dough was great for calzone. Very chewy and beautiful coloring. I made 4 calzones out of this but cut them in half, so next time I will make 8 small ones. Also it took only 20 minutes when I used my pizza stone, so time should be adjusted for the size of individual servings.
I tried halving the recipe, as so many thought these were quite large, and made mini calzones for appitizers. I also added some green pepper and olives. Delish! My only change would be to prick the tops with a fork before baking, as they all exploded a bit!!Thanks for the recipe!!
I absolutely love these, I make 'em every week. Instead of egg I brush the dough with olive oil, to me it makes a better crust for a calzone. I also use Mozzerella instead of Chedder.
Outstanding! Despite having a lot of cooking experience I had never made pizza dough from scratch or a homemade calzone before tonight. What I did differently: Dough: slightly more yeast (Hodgson Mill All Natural Active Dry Yeast which was a 5/16 oz. pack); divided in four; rolled to 9" cirlcles Filling: used Italian 4-cheese blend; mixed and chilled cheeses but not toppings; topped with different approximately 1 1/2 cups combined diced pepperoni diced ham canned mushrooms canned and drained diced tomatoes diced onions and diced green peppers. Hints: use a lightly floured silicone baking mat - this lets you easily fold half the dough over the filling and transfer to baking sheet; use a small roller for small dough formations; spread your cheese down the middle and work toward one side of the round adding toppings in the same manner; leave at least a half inch margin on side with filling; lightly brush that half's edge with some of the beaten egg to make sealing the edges easy; serve with a dipping sauce (like "Way Easy Pizza Sauce/Bread Stick Dip" also featured on allrecipes.com - see my review for how I doctored that to fit my tastes and better match my alterations to this calzone recipe). Bottom Line: This was really easy and worth the time required. Adapt to your own taste keeping in mind the total volume of the filling.
Excellent recipe. Very easy if you let your bread machine do the work. I set mine on dough cycle thru 2nd rise. Instead of Cheddar I use a blend of Mozzarella and Romano add green onions and black olives. Yummy! Thanks for sharing this great recipe Jenny. It has become a favorite of my friends and family!
I'll echo other reviewers in esteeming this dough recipe - it cooks to perfection - & that you can fill to your liking. My filling consisted of 1 cooked/cubed chic breast, oregano, cheddar & mozz cheeses, salt, pepper, garlic powder and I went ahead & put sauce on the INSIDE - sorry! The recipe made what I consider 4 large, very stuffed calzones. I guess I overstuffed but they turned out delicious and didn't overflow. Thanks for this idea!
To quote my husband "This is the best calzone I've ever had!" I used Italian seasoning instead of the basil and cheddar and mozzarella instead of just chedder. I was very pleased to find this recipe because it's so hard to find a true Italian Calzone in my area. THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING!
These turned out great! I used honey in place of sugar and didn't need all the flour that was called for. I pricked the tops of the calzones with a fork before baking and brushed olive oil on top instead of eggs. I also made 4 medium calzones instead of 2 large ones and I baked them on a pizza stone. They turned out nice and cripsy! I will for sure make these again.
