Veggie Calzone

Calzone (n): an italian version of a turnover stuffed with pizza like ingredients and baked to perfection. I wanted to know if there was any interesting history behind the calzone and didn’t find much except that the words origin comes from the word “trousers”, huh!?

Gather all your favorite pizza toppings and put them into a pastry and you’ve got this amazing meal. I made the bread base from a pizza dough recipe I came across…

This will make two large calzones:

• 2 cups flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1 package of active dry yeast
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 T. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
• 3/4 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In large bowl, whisk together all your dry ingredients. Then, add the egg whites, oil, and water. Using a wooden spoon, beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Place one piece on a lightly floured cutting board and use a rolling pin to roll out into a thin rectangle. Place your desired ingredients in the middle leaving enough edge to fold over; I chose to use spinach, sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, red peppers, and mushrooms. Fold the edges over the center and pinch with your fingers to seal it closed. Lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle with cheese over the top and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Cook 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on the top.