Calzones are an incredibly easy to make dinner that my kids always love! We fill them up with veggies and some sausage and they get scarfed down every time. Even my picky 4-year-old is no match for these guys. Give them a whirl for you next pizza night and you won’t be disappointed.
Calzones are the perfect additi
Sausage & Veggie Calzones
This delicious and kid-friendly calzone recipe is a perfect Friday night dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 pound Italian sausage
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups mozzarella (whole milk, low moisture)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp oregano
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- Marinara Sauce or Ranch Dressing, for dipping (optional)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 450 degrees and allow dough to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
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In a medium sauté pan, add olive oil and sauté sausage, onions, peppers, oregano and 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper until sausage is cooked through. Add garlic and sauté for a minute more. Remove from heat.
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Dust your work surface with flour and roll your pizza dough into a large oval. (Or cut dough into 4 pieces and roll into 4 small ovals like I did for personal calzones)
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Spread pizza sauce on one side of dough and top with meat/veggie mixture and then cheese.
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Pull the untopped dough over the topped dough to create a calzone. Using your fingers, roll and pinch the dough seam closed.
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Place on a greased cookie sheet and pierce the top with a knife (to allow steam out).
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Beat the egg with a few tablespoons of water and brush mixture on top of calzone.
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Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and slice.
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Warm marinara (if using) in the microwave for one minute and serve alongside ranch dressing to dip your calzone in.
Tips & Tricks
Pizza Dough: I really like to use more authentic pizza dough for this guy. I know Pilsbury makes a refrigerated pizza dough and I have udes it before but this recipe is best with a more legit pizza dough. I get mine at Trader Joe’s or I use this bread machine recipe.
Pizza Sauce: I love to make my own pizza sauce. Pizza sauce is super easy to make and tastes great. I typically use this pizza sauce recipe but if I don’t want to mess around with it, I grab some from Trader Joe’s or my local deli.
Cheese: Using full-fat (or whole milk) mozzarella cheese is super important in this recipe. The flavor is so much better than low-fat mozzarella. Just remember to get low-moisture because fresh mozzarella is way too wet for this recipe. Your calzone will be soggy if you use it.
Need Meal Planning Help?
If this is your first time on my blog, welcome! I’m a meal planing blogger that helps busy families stress less at dinner through real-life meal planning. Below you’ll find some of my guide to getting started with meal planning. It’s a great way to start creating meal plans consistently to save time and money. You can also check out this how to meal plan post for a more extensive step-by-step outline.
Taran is a self-proclaimed undomestic mom. She thrives as a stay-at-home-mom by consistently carving out time for herself and practicing realistic self-care. As a busy mom of 3, she knows that if mama ain’t happy, nobody’s happy! With a focus on how SAHMs can carve out time for themselves everyday, she teaches fellow SAHMs how they can do the same.
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