Because there is no tomato sauce inside, these calzones are the real deal! At least once a week, we eat them. Provide customers with a bowl of tomato or spaghetti sauce on the table so they can top their calzones with it if they choose.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 35 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 2 large calzones |
Ingredients
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup diced pepperoni
- ½ cup sliced fresh mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
Instructions
- Make dough: Dissolve yeast in warm water in a mixing bowl; let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon oil, sugar, and salt; mix in 1 cup flour until smooth. Gradually stir in remaining flour until dough is smooth and workable.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until it is elastic, about 5 minutes. Place 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large bowl; lay dough in the bowl and flip to coat with oil. Cover and let rise until almost doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
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- Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine Cheddar cheese, ricotta cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, and basil leaves in a medium bowl. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate to chill.
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- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
- Punch down dough; divide into 2 equal pieces. Roll each piece out on a lightly floured surface into 1/8-inch-thick circles. Fill each circle with 1/2 of the cheese and meat filling.
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- Fold dough over filling to make a semicircle. Press edges down with the tines of a fork to seal. Brush the top of each calzone with beaten egg and place on the prepared baking sheet.
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- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 335 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 32 g |
| Cholesterol | 64 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 667 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I agree with mrsdi . I grew up in NY, and my mom was 100% Italian. We used to buy them pre-made at our Italian Deli and they only had Ricotta mixed with an egg, maybe some pepperoni or sausage, and could be served with sauce on the side if you wanted sauce on them. I echo Mrsdi “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.” People who claim Calzone is just a pizza folded over are wrong too. The stuffing is primarily Ricotta—the real stuff, not cottage cheese.
The dough turned out delicious! Just the right amount of salt and crunch; it had everything you’d want to in a crust. The filling I would recommend customizing; I did not care for the exact one in the recipe. I don’t know if it was the ricotta I chose (the cheapest kind) or the combination of ingredients itself, but something was off about the texture and the flavor. I would have preferred a tomato/beef/sausage mixture myself with gooey mozzarella or parmesano.
Easy enough to make BUT cheddar cheese would never be in ANY real Italian dish. Swap it out for mozzarella and provolone and it’s delicious AND authentic
This calzone was absolutely delicious. We did change up by adding smashed italian stewed tomatoes on half of it. We also used fresh ground pork, sliced black olives, mozzarella and green bell pepper. It turned out magnificent and I can’t stop talking about the crust!
Great recipe, would try it again!
I added cream cheese to the filling…good flavor and idea but I omitted the sugar from the dough……bad idea. So this going to be a work in progress. My husband loves pepperoni and sausage so this is an ideal for a basic original calzone recipe, to allow us to runaway with the imagination
10/10 this recipe is great! Personally I would do more ricotta and some mozzarella instead of cheddar but thats just me. I love this so much though and my family will definitely make this again.
This is a marvelous recipe! I have made it twice and we love it! The first time I didn’t have ricotta cheese but it was still great! The next time I did add it and it was wonderful! Thank you for posting and I’m so glad I found this recipe.
The filling to dough ratio isn’t quite right for my taste. Next time I’ll double the filling and keep the dough quantity the same.
The dough turned out great. I decided to try this recipe since the resting time was 40 minutes instead of several hours. I will make it again. Instead of making 2 gigantic calzones, I made 4 large calzones making the dough a little thinner but we like it that way.
The dough for the calzones was so easy to make and delicious. I used quick rise yeast and let the sugar, yeast and water sit for a few minutes before adding the flour. I used mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar, omitted the pepperoni and added onions. So good!! Will definitely be making again with different fillings. Also next time I might consider making 4 smaller calzones instead of 2 larger ones.
Amazingly simple and absolutely delicious. The dough came out perfect and very manageable. This will be my go to recipe for all seasons. Thank you so much.
The dough recipe is delicious. We customized the filling of the calzone with whatever we wanted, and they worked out great. Delicious!
Personal preference, Maybe. The crust was easy to make and tasty but the filling not so much. I did not care for the ricota in the filling. This was my first try at making a calzone so I followed the recipe to the letter. I will look for another before I try again.
I make this often and pretend it I a diet food. I use turkey pepperoni, part skim ricotta and Mozzarella. I use these in healthier (bigger) amounts than what the recipe says. That is kind of skimpy. I also use fresh basil,torn. Good basic recipe. Except the cheddar!
Delicious! My entire family loved it.
This is a review for the dough alone, as I only use ricotta and mozzarella in mine (with onions, peppers, etc), but you do you. This is the best calzone dough I’ve found. I’ve made it dozens of times now and it’s always a hit. Ignore the reviews complaining about the cheddar or anything else, those types are always “fun” (guess what guy, I put sugar in my *sauce* sometimes too!).
I brushed them with garlic butter instead of egg prior to cooking. Yum!!
Won’t make again
There are 5 adults in our house, so I always make more servings. I did 16 I believe. I filled mine with spicy breakfast sausage, ham, and the various cheeses. Had extra sauce on the side to dip the calzone in. My family loved them-Very tasty, filling, great texture. Will be a meal I add into our meal rotation. Because of the extra servings, there were extras on hand for lunch the next day. They heated up well and tasted great the next day.
By far my favorite calzone recipe. It tastes better than the calzones in restaurants. We always add in olives, spinach, garlic and it’s one of our favorite mid week meals.