The tasty Calzone - Pizza meets Khachapuri

Pizza is a universally known dish, its many variations are made every day in the world, but today we want to offer you one of the ways to prepare it, which is remarkably similar to Georgian baked goods and at the same time retains the favorite properties of pizza.

Calzone is a variety of pizza, although no less delicious and much easier to eat. Adjust this dish to your taste by adding your favorite ingredients in it and save time by preparing it in advance, as re-heating it is easy and hassle-free and it is very convenient to take with you.

A calzone is an oven-baked, folded pizza that has sealed edges so all the good stuff stays in. It is usually much smaller than a pizza and one piece is only for one person.

 Anything that goes on a pizza can go into a calzone! The pizza fillings are placed on one half of the circular shaped pizza dough. The dough is then folded over, crimped, coated with an egg wash or a brush of olive oil and baked in the oven.

Some tips before we go on with recipe

1. Dough Use homemade pizza dough or store bought/canned. Either works well in this recipe.

 

1. Fillings you can use a bit of pizza sauce the recipe of which you’ll be able to find below. The sky’s the limit for fillings. Although we’ll offer you one of the standard easy recipes

 

1. Cheese Mozzarella (and a bit of parmesan if you like) adds the perfect flavor. Ricotta is both a traditional and delicious addition (but not something I usually have on hand). Sub in whatever you have on hand.

Pizza sauce recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ cup onion finely minced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 8 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Cook onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato paste and stir until smooth.
3. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook 30 minutes or until thickened.

For 4 calzones you’ll need:

• 1 pound pizza dough
• ½ cup pizza sauce
• ½ cup yellow onion diced
• ½ cup green bell pepper diced
• ½ cup sliced pepperoni
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Divide pizza dough into 4 equal parts and roll each dough ball into a 1/4 inch thick circle.
3. On half of each dough circle, add equal parts sauce, yellow onion, green bell pepper, and sliced pepperoni. Make sure to leave a little room around the edges so you can crimp the calzone shut.
4. Sprinkle the toppings with equal parts shredded cheese. Then fold the other half of the dough over the toppings and crimp the edges.
5. Cut 2-3 air vents into the top of the calzone and place it on to the prepared baking sheet.
6. Brush with olive oil and bake for about 15 minutes or until the dough is fully cooked and the calzone is golden brown.

Bon appetite!