I am a sucker for a good calzone. There is something about cheese, dough, and sauce that makes my heart happy. Maybe that is why I love pizza so much. These calzones freeze great and make a great freezer meal or lunch for my husband. The filling inside is up for interpretation. The inspiration for these calzones came from my freshman year in college. My man and I were dating and would go to the Cougar Eat at BYU and we would always get the cheese calzone with alfredo sauce. We would eat and study and because of our youthful metabolism it wouldn't matter on the hips. So grab a fork and enjoy these great calzones.
Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 cups flour
Fill your stand mixer with warm water and mix the sugar and yeast in. Cover for 10 minutes and let it get bubbly. Then add salt and 1 cup of flour. Mix. Add 1 cup of flour slowly. Mix. Put your dough hook on mix the remaining flour (you don't need to use all the flour). Spray a bowl with Pam spray and put your beautifully round dough ball in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Wait for it to double in size. Then roll it out in a rectangle shape on a floured surface. Cut 8 equal squares and fill with filling.
Pesto Filling
1 container of pesto (make your own if you so please)
1 15 oz container of ricotta cheese
Mix these together and and place 1/3 cup of filling in each dough square. Fold your dough around the pesto filling and place on a cookie sheet. Seam Side down. Poke a couple of holes in the top and put in the preheated oven (375 degrees) and cook for 20 minutes.
We serve this with our favorite alfredo sauce
Alfredo Sauce
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
bring to a boil then add. . .
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
bring to boil and then let simmer and thicken.
