Ricotta Calzones

I’ve made these in lots of different ways and I’m not sure it is possible to screw them up.  Pioneer Woman has a calzone recipe that is similar to this one.  I cheated and made these using Trader Joe’s pizza dough balls.  Did you know pizzarias will sell you balls of dough?  I’ve asked several places and they do.  They are usually $1 here in Missouri.

This recipe freezes very well.  Flash freeze the unbaked calzones in parchment and foil, then place in a ziplock bag.  When ready to bake, unwrap and cook from frozen for 30 minutes.

If you don’t like ricotta, simply add your favorite pizza sauce, cheese and toppings.  Or, add BBQ sauce, mozzerella, cilantro and shredded chicken for a BBQ chicken calzone.

Calzones
yield 16 calzones – about 8-16 servings

Dough – I purchased 1 large pizza dough ball and divided in to 8 pieces; or you can use frozen dinner roll dough that you roll out

Filling:
2 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
16 oz. ricotta cheese (2 cups)
8 oz. shredded mozzerella (2 cups)
1.5 oz. parmesan cheese, grated (3/4 cup)
1 egg yolk
1 T. minced fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper
Plus additional fillings:  sausage, pepperoni, cooked chicken, hamburger, veggies, etc.

1.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Place baking stone in the oven.  In a small skillet, cook the oil, garlic and flakes for a few minutes on medium heat.  Just until you hear a sizzle, then remove from the heat.
2.  Roll out your dough onto a floured surface with a floured rolling pin.  Or, use a pastry roller like here on a plate.  I don’t like flour messes!

3.  In a big bowl, mix the ricotta, mozz, parm, yolk, oregano and salt and pepper to taste.
4.  Put about 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture in the middle of the dough.  Add any fillings like sausage, etc.  Fold over and crimp with a fork.

5.  Place the calzones on a parchment or silicone lined cookie sheet or stone.  (You don’t need a liner with the stone.)  Then, carefully transfer the parchment onto the hot stone in the oven.
6.  Bake about 10-15 minutes.  They should be golden brown on top.

I tried this without preheating the stone and just used a cookie sheet.  The outside browned, but the inside didn’t seem quite done.  It did work, but not as successfully.