These soft, cake-like cookies are great when topped with icing. Give them a thick coating and bake for no longer than 8 minutes. Everyone adores them, and they’ll stay soft. I use these as Christmas cutouts.
| Prep Time: | 40 mins |
| Cook Time: | 55 mins |
| Additional Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 1 10-inch pizza |
Ingredients
- ½ pound bulk Italian sausage
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
- 1 (1 pound) loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
- 9 large eggs, divided
- ½ pound sliced mozzarella cheese
- ½ pound sliced cooked ham
- ½ pound sliced provolone cheese
- ½ pound sliced salami
- ½ pound sliced pepperoni
- 1 (16 ounce) container ricotta cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon water
Instructions
- Cook and stir Italian sausage in a skillet over medium heat until browned and crumbly, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain excess grease; set sausage aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Oil the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan with olive oil.
- Cut 1/3 of the dough off the loaf and set aside under a cloth. Form the remaining dough into a ball; roll ball on a floured work surface into a 14-inch circle. Press circle into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared springform pan; excess dough will hand over the edges.
- Whisk 8 eggs in a 2-cup liquid measure.
- Working with only 1/2 of the ingredients at a time, make layers in the pan in the following order: sausage, mozzarella, ham, provolone, salami, pepperoni, ricotta, and Parmesan. Pour in 1/2 of the beaten eggs. Repeat layers once more, starting with sausage and ending with Parmesan. Pour remaining beaten eggs over top.
- Roll out remaining bread dough into a 12-inch circle. Place over the pie to form a top crust. Roll and pinch any overhanging bottom crust over top crust to seal in the filling.
- Beat remaining egg and water in a small bowl. Brush egg wash over top crust.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the crust is golden brown and the filling is set, 50 to 60 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the middle of the crust should come out without any raw egg.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for at least 25 minutes, then release the spring and remove pie from the pan. Transfer to a serving platter and cut into wedges for serving.
- In many Italian homes, this recipe calls for the addition of hard-boiled eggs. They can be added to this recipe — simply slice 4 hard-boiled eggs and layer with the meats and cheeses. Bake as directed.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 707 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 28 g |
| Cholesterol | 284 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 45 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Sodium | 2090 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 45 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I liked this recipe. I however did not have some of the ingredients. I made the dough from the Real Italian Calzone from this site, but did not have ricotta, or provolone. I also hard boiled eggs like the author suggested. Since I made it for two, I made it in the shape of a calzone and baked for 30-35 minutes. I will make it again and next time will make the full recipe, but so far this is VERY GOOD!
I don’t have a springform pan so I made in two cake pans. Of course only one layer fit in each pan. I used 3 tubes of Pillsbury pizza dough, one each for the bottom in each pan and one cut in half and rolled to top each pan. This worked well. I should have put a cookie sheet or foil on the rack below as I did have some egg spillage. I wish I had sprinkled some basil, red pepper and oregano in my layers for some extra spice. But it was good. I had a jar of marinara for optional drizzling or dipping. It looked nice and I would serve it to company or take it to a potluck or take as a “meal train” gift.
I’ll try and make a long story short..after reading the ingredients this was a dish I knew I wanted to make. The reviews are wonderful. This Easter I sat out to make it and I planned on taking some over to my mother. I had problems with this from the get go. I couldn’t get my dough to roll out to save my life. It just kept going back into itself. So I resorted to stretching it onto my baking dish which torn in places. Of course layering was no big deal. Baked it for an hour. Let it rest. I cut into it. I put in the 8 eggs and there was no egg to be had. The only thing I figured was it soak into the crust? The crust was so soggy it was just a gooy mess. The only flavor I tasted was the pepperoni and I only used half of what the recipe called for. I’m just glad I didn’t tell my mother I was bringing some over to her! Followed the recipe to the tee so I haven’t a clue why mine didn’t turn out.
Very Very Nice
Overall, I loved it. It is important to say I did not use store bought frozen pizza dough because I think it can taste like rubber, so I used the “Quick and Easy Pizza Crust” recipe on this site. It turned out well. NOTE: Next time, I will not simply let this cool 25 minutes before slicing it. I will keep the pie in the springboard pan until it has thoroughly cooled in a refrigerator for hours, then slice it cold and heat/toast the individual slices. Why? Because when I sliced the pie after it cooled for 30 minutes, its contents oozed out all over the place and the pie lost its shape. By waiting until it is cold, the slices are manageable and more appealing to the eye and palate. Lastly, I might try to dice the meat instead of layering slices that way the egg is more evening distributed. Not sure how this will affect the end result, but it is worth a shot. Overall, I really enjoyed this and will make it again.
I hope it tastes better then it cooked…I had a very hard time with the bread it wouldn’t roll out for me so I used a pie crust at the bottom and top then the bread on the sides it looks great however when I took it out of the oven and let it cool the egg ran all over the counter I had to put it back in the oven. I wouldn’t make it again
It sounded really great – but it was expensive, a lot of work and very heavy. While I think some people will love this- I won’t make it again.
I made this recipe according to the directions. The only thing I did differently was using homemade dough rather than frozen dough.
I made it exactly as the recipe is written. Its absolutely delicious and everyone loved it. Next time I’ll use the entire package of bulk sausage I could only find 1lb packages.
This is so much better than the Easter Pie recipe I have been using and until now thought was great. Little did I know.
This is a lot of work and very costly to make. I believe it’s not worth the effort but perhaps it’s better the second day.
Absolutely loved by my family. I haven’t had homemade Italian Easter calzone in over 25 years so I decided to make it myself this year. Everyone in my family loved it and has asked for more. (The non-Italians loved this ‘Easter Pie’ and have already requested a yearly repeat!) I did make modifications based on how I recall my mom making this: First, I made pizza dough from scratch. The pizza dough recipe on this website is perfect. Second, I used 9 x 13 pan. I was worried about free forming my first time. Use a little more than half the dough for the bottom so that you have enough to overhang. Third, I used a pound of bulk hot Italian sausage that I added a little onion and garlic while cooking as well as a little bit of cayenne. I like a little zing in my sausage and this gave the calzone a nice kick. If you or your family cannot tolerate this, just leave the cayenne out. Fourth, I used skim shredded mozzarella (3/4 of the one pound package) and light ricotta (one 15 oz container). Just to lighten it up. Fifth, I left out provolone, ham, salami and pepperoni. Our tradition did not include these ingredients so I left them out. Sixth, I layered it as suggested and brushed with egg wash. I also vented the top layer to prevent doming as someone suggested. Finally, I baked this at 375 degrees for about an hour. It came out perfectly and I will definitely make this again.
followed the recipe but added olives to it. it was a super hit with everyone. thank you for sharing this addicting comfort food!
Great recipe. Made last Easter in search of a Pizza Gain recipe and this is very nice substitute for what I remember as kid (although not quite a match) . This Easter everyone was asking if I will make it again so here I am. A few notes I cook to an internal temperature of 160 degrees based on the recommendation of eggsafety.org. Also I do one layer of ham and one layer of prosciutto instead of 2 layers of ham. Sprinkle a little grated cheese on top of the egg wash. (we use pecorino romano for the grated cheese throughout as well). Cover with foil last 20 or so minutes once the crust is nice and browned.
Gordon Ramsay and Italian purists would call that a travesty of the pizza dish. And it does not even have to contain pineapple.
This was amazing I loved it very easy to cook 🙂
Unbelievable!!! I only had a 9″ spring form pan, so it took longer to cook. It made a very nice presentation on our Easter table…lots of oohhh’s and aahhh’s! I did serve mine with a side of pasta sauce. Instead of frozen bread dough, I used Pillsbury Pizza dough in the can. ( like biscuits and crescent rolls) It took two cans. This will be an Easter tradition!
Made this for my family for Easter and it was a HUGE hit! I used pizza dough instead of bread. Worked out very well, not too much bread. Even my Italian husband loved this dish!
The only change that i made was that i used pizza dough for both crusts. However, next time I will vent the top crust to keep it from doming.
Made it with homemade pizza dough! Amazing! I want to try it again with the bread dough but I’m sure it will be a five star just the same. Yum!
There is only one of me — two when my daughter come s for dinner — and neither of us likes pepperoni so…I halved the recipe by eliminating the pepperoni and increasing the other meats by one-third. It was wonderful! I almost — almost — regret not making the recipe at its original size.