Calzones are a good meal to have once in a while. Usually, we get them from our friendly neighborhood pizza joint. I thought it would be fun to make them at home in my dutch oven. They came out great! We used the pizza dough from my Dutch Oven Lid Pizza. The dipping sauce is a thinner version of the sauce from the same post. The recipe easily serves 4-6.
Bread Machine Pizza Dough Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 3/4 tsp. Salt
- 4 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (1 packet)
- 1 3/8 cups Lukewarm Water
- 3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp. Onion Powder
Add all ingredients to your bread machine. Run on “Dough” setting. On my bread maker, the setting is “Manual – White Bread.”
[NOTE: I’ve made this dough in my stand mixer a couple of times and it works just fine. You could also knead it by hand.]
- Bread Machine Pizza Dough
After the dough is ready, place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size.
- Dough after rising and resting
This recipe creates enough dough for 2 MONSTER calzones or 3 normal calzones.
Filling Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups Ricotta Cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Mozzarella Cheese
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Pepperoni, sausage (cooked), ham, bacon, peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc.
Mix all ingredients together except for the normal pizza toppings. Set aside.
Assemble the Calzones:
Roll out the dough on a floured board until it is 1/4 inch thick.
Add the ricotta filling and pizza toppings to the center of the dough. Fold the dough in half.
Roll the edge over on itself to seal the calzone. Brush with an egg wash (1 beaten egg plus a tablespoon of water). Cut a few slits in the top of the dough to allow steam to escape.
Place the calzones in a 12 inch dutch oven. You can see just how HUGE they are!
Place 9-10 coals under the dutch oven and 18-20 on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is brown and it is cooked through.
Dipping Sauce Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 6 oz. can of Tomato Paste
- 1 1/2 cups Water
- 2 Tbsp. Ketchup
- 1 tsp. Dried Italian Parsley
- 1 tsp. Dried Basil
- 1 tsp. Dried Oregano
- 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp. Onion Powder
Mix ingredients together in a small saucepan. Heat on Medium until warmed through. You can adjust amounts to your taste and add more water if you’d like a thinner sauce.