Jason – I am going out of town for a work trip and my husband will be alone with the kids. Can you recommend an easy option for dinner that will be fun for everyone?
His Two Cents: Calzones
Rating on the difficulty scale: Medium
(But Guys don’t be a baby my 8 year old daughter can do this almost all on her own)
What you will need: (only 6 ingredients!)
- 1 Pizza Dough(certain grocery stores have it sheeted out and folded in a plastic tray ready to use for pizza or calzones, others sell it in a bag at the deli area)
- 1 lb bag of Shredded Mozzarella
- 1 16oz container Ricotta
- 1 packet of Pepperonis
- 1 small jar of Tomato Sauce or Marinara
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup of all purpose flour (any flour will do)
Kitchen Items:
Stick Sheet Pan
Rolling Pin
How to do it: (Only 30 minutes!)
- Pre Heat Oven to 400
- Grab a large bowl (Stainless – Plastic – whatever)
- Find a clean spot on the counter
- Take a small hand full of your flour and dust the counter with it (This keeps the dough from sticking to the counter)
- In that large bowl add the Ricotta, Mozzarella, and Pepperoni – all of it – and mix together with a spoon
- Next unfold the Pizza Dough onto your dusted counter. Lay it flat. Dust your Rolling Pin with flour and begin to roll over the dough. Get the dough to less than a 1/4 inch thickness and kind of a large circle shape.
- After that cut your Pizza Dough into 4 even pie pieces with a knife
- Take a large spoon and scoop your Mozzarella, Ricotta, Pepperoni Mixture evenly over the 4 pizza dough sections. Make sure to keep those scoops in a tight ball shape.
- Using your fingers – gently pull the dough from the left side over the cheese mixture to the right side – draping over the entire ball of cheese and pepperoni.
Tricky Part:
Take your egg – crack it over a small bowl and whisk it.
Take both hands and touch all of your matching fingers together in front of you like you are holding a soft ball. Now drop your hands over the dough to shape your calzones. Pressing down hard enough to pinch the top and bottom pieces of dough and sealing in the cheese mixture.
Last thing. Tab the sealed edges of all 4 calzones with your egg mixture using your fingers.
Use a spatula to move the calzones onto your non stick sheet pan. Space them evenly on the pan and place in your 400 degree oven,
Bake on the middle rack for approx. 20 minutes. Look for barley toasted tops that look crispy. And expect a little cheese to leak out of course.
While waiting on these to bake – heat up your tomato sauce or marinara in a soup bowl in the microwave – 45 sec tops. This is what you will dip your calzone in when it’s ready.
The First Time you make these Guys it will seem stressful but I guarantee you by your third time you will feel like a Pro!
Enjoy Gents!
Meet Jason!
When I wake up I am a Father, a Husband, and Former Chef and General Manager. When I am sleeping I am a Hotel Owner with a 65 foot boat in South Beach with Sunny Skies. I like Mountain Biking, Hiking, Shooting Guns, drinking whiskey with the guys and spending lots of time with my wife and kids(one girl, one boy). My Dreams: To Raise my kids somewhere so cool that even I can’t believe it’s for real. To open a restaurant that supports my family and all of my hobbies. To really live the next 40 years to the best of my ability.
Always Travel With Peanut Butter 