Calzones

Serves a Party of 2

Let’s take a journey into the kitchen for a second here to get our hands dirty and knock out one of the most spectacular dinner recipes.

Calzones and strombolis have a been a favorite of mine since I was little, and just recently I discovered that the only difference between the two is how they are sealed. The calzones are rolled in half like a taco, and strombolis are more of a pizza burrito. For now, I went for the calzones and it felt so great to gather all of the ingredients and make them from scratch.

There are a ton of moving parts to them, but when we put them all together it presents an insanely satisfying Italian-style taste and texture with heavy hints of basil and oregano.

The first thing to get going is the dough, as it takes around 2 hours to prepare. I used King Arthur organic bread flour, dried oregano, salt, water, and active yeast all to be mixed together and patiently kneaded to perfection. The reason they take so long is due to allowing the dough balls to rise enough to eventually be kneaded and flattened and ready to be filled with our glorious fillings.

The first filling was my homemade tomato sauce using 4 large tomatoes, 1 can of tomato paste, red onion, garlic, fresh basil, fresh thyme, white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. After being simmered and briefly blended, the sauce will be the first thing to add to the flattened calzone dough in preparation for the next filling – sautéed Field Roast Italian sausages in a bit of avocado oil, followed by sliced red onions, sliced red bell pepper, and a nice handful of baby spinach.

For the cheese, I went with my tofu ricotta recipe that I used for the stuffed shells I made a few weeks ago, only this time I used fresh oregano instead of fresh basil and it was a total hit. Made by blending the extra firm tofu, fresh oregano, nutritional yeast, oat milk, salt, and pepper, it is officially the last thing filling to prepare after adding it on top of the veggies.

It may surprise you how easy making dough can be to handle when folding and sealing all of these beautiful ingredients inside, pinching the edges, and baking them at 450 degrees for only 10 to 15 minutes. I’ll do the best I can to explain more into detail down below and I hope you enjoy the pictures along the way!

Ingredients for the Dough:

Ingredients for the Tomato Sauce:

  • 4 Large Tomatoes
  • 6 Oz of Tomato Paste
  • 6 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
  • 1 Red Onion (sliced)
  • 1/2 Cup of Fresh Basil (finely chopped)
  • 1/4 Cup of Fresh Thyme (scrape the leaves off of the stem)
  • 1/4 Cup of White Wine Vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 Teaspoon of Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon of Pepper

Ingredients for the Sautéed Veggies and Sausage Filling:

  • 2 Tablespoons of Avocado Oil
  • 2 Field Roast Italian Sausage Links
  • 1 Sliced Red Onion
  • 1 Sliced Red Bell Pepper (the bigger the better)
  • 4 Cups of Baby Spinach

Ingredients for the Tofu Ricotta:

Lots of lovely ingredients, and here’s how to put em’ all together.

Begin with a large bowl and add in some of the ingredients for the dough including the flour, dried oregano, and salt. Mix them well and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the water, olive oil, and pack of active yeast, then let it sit for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, add the yeast mixture into the large bowl and mix again, eventually using your hands to knead and combine the dough for up to 5 minutes(nice lil hand work out).

Form the dough into two seperate balls as shown above, lightly cover them in olive oil, then place them on some parchment paper laid on a baking sheet. Set aside for 2 hours, and in the meantime, why not start prepping the sauce, veggies, and tofu ricotta?

For the sauce, begin by sautéing the minced garlic and sliced red onion in the olive oil, then after 5 minutes or so, toss in the rest of the ingredients including the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, thyme, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Let everything simmer with a lid on medium heat.

After about 10 minutes, turn the heat off and blend the sauce just enough to where it is slightly hearty. Set aside, clean the blender(you’ll need it again soon), then begin the veggie and sausage filling.

Get the veggie and sausage filling going by heating up a large saucepan with the avocado oil.

Chop the sausages into slices and add to the saucepan until fully cooked.

When they are fully cooked on both sides, set aside and add in the sliced red onion, sliced red bell pepper, and baby spinach to the same saucepan and let them veggies simmer.

Stir the veggies often, and when fully cooked turn off the heat, and let em’ hang out while you begin the tofu ricotta.

Using a high speed blender, pulse together all of the tofu ricotta ingredients such as the tofu, oregano, nutritional yeast, oat milk, salt and pepper until everything is fully incorporated and maybe even a little chunky if that’s your thing.

By now, it should be just about time to preheat the oven to 450 degrees and begin kneading and flattening the dough.

I always do this by lightly dusting a flat surface with a bit of flour, then flatten the dough to a about 10 inches in diameter and a centimeter or two thick.

Next, dabble on some tomato sauce in the middle, followed by the veggies, sausage, and tofu ricotta.

Carefully take each end of the dough and bring them together, then pinch the edges with your fingers and maybe even get fancy with it and fold the edges into themselves(see pics above). If the dough doesn’t want to stay together, simply use a tiny bit of oil on your finger tip and try it again.

Pop your calzones in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes depending on how crispy your vibe is.

You guys are going to love the heck out of these things, and please please please give me a shout on Instagram if you make them!