Three-Cheese Italian Sausage Calzone
Ingredients:
Calzone
1 batch of basic pizza dough
1 onion, diced
1 T. fresh rosemary or ½ t. dried
1 T. fresh thyme or ½ t. dried
1 pepper of your choice: red, yellow or green, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella
1 cup parmesan, freshly grated
*1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
Olive oil for sautéing
Salt and pepper to taste
*Pepperoni, prosciutto, or chorizo, are all great filling alternatives. Use your families’ favorite, or leave the meat out all together for a lighter, vegetarian option.
Sauce
1 14.5 oz can petite cut/diced tomatoes (fire roasted, sweet onion and roasted garlic, or Italian recipe are all good options)
1 T. tomato paste
2 T. red wine
1 t. sugar
Rep pepper flakes, dash
1 T. chopped fresh rosemary and thyme, or ½ t. if using dried herbs
Lets Cook:
Remove dough from package; divide into 2 large or 4 smaller pieces. On a slightly floured silicone mat, knead individual pieces for a few seconds, pat into balls and set aside, covered with a dish towel for about 20 minutes (while you are making your filling).
To prepare the ricotta cheese for the filling, press the 2 cups against a fine mesh strainer to remove as much liquid as possible; this helps keep the inside of the calzone from getting soggy. Let it sit in strainer while preparing rest of filling, to help release the excess liquid.
In a large sauté pan, cook onions and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes until translucent and browned edges; add Italian sausage, red peppers, fresh herbs (or dried) and sauté all together until sausage is mostly cooked (will be cooked in oven, so doesn’t need to be cooked entirely through).
Combine 3 cheeses with meat filling in a large bowl, toss with salt and pepper and set aside.
Roll out/pat dough to desired round sizes. The key here is to have an even thickness across; making sure the middle does not become too thin so calzone does not burst while cooking.
Transfer prepared rounds of dough to baking sheet or pizza stone and place desired amount of filling on one half of each circle. Moisten edges of the dough, fold empty half over and pinch edges together.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes, until calzone is slightly browned.
While calzones are baking, place all sauce ingredients in small stove top pan, bring to a simmer stirring occasionally. Serve calzones topped with warm red sauce and enjoy your freshly baked pizza pockets!