Favorite Food Fridays

Who doesn't love Friday? It is one of my favorite days of the week. At school, I usually try and stack as many fun projects for the kids to do on Fridays and it's also the start of the weekend! I read somewhere that it is a good idea to plan fun things for yourself in the middle of the week so you have something to look forward to. I try to do that, but it doesn't always work. Hubby and I aim for date nights on Tuesdays and in school I have "dessert" day on Monday- a day where students can read dessert items of their choice (items that are too easy for them like picture books, Guinness Book of World Record books, comic books, magazines, or the newspapers) and kids munch on something special during snack. But I still LOVE to put something fun to look forward to on Friday. I think about what's for dinner before I get out of bed in the morning. I love food and for this Friday I decided to try out a recipe I had in my mind for one of my favorite foods- Calzones! This recipe can be made with any toppings that you desire. For this recipe I made a Philly Cheesesteak Calzone for the hubby, and  veggie version for me. A few weeks ago I made this recipe using buffalo chicken. The ingredients and steps for the buffalo chicken calzone can be found  here, or at the bottom of this page, but I did not follow her instructions for cooking it as many people on the blog complained about the inside not cooking all the way through and the outside being burnt. I used the instructions on the pizza dough bag for baking temp and time. So here's the details to make your own calzone (details... get it?)

So here it what you will need:

• 1 store bought pizza crust dough
• 1 garlic clove minced
• "toppings" of your choice 
• Philly CheeseSteak Calzone
• 1 onion chopped (as little or as much as you like)
• 1 green pepper sliced (as little or as much as you like)
• sliced mushrooms (add as many or as little as you like)
• 1/2 clove of minced garlic
• steak strips 
•  provolone and mozzarella (I only used mozzarella because I ran out of provolone)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

• For Veggie Calzone
• Ricotta cheese ( I used 4 oz for half  of the pizza crust)
• a handful and a pinch of mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 tsp of oregano
• 1/2 tsp of basil
• 1/4 tsp of parsley
• chopped onion (as much as you like)
• sliced green pepper (as much as you like)
• sliced mushroom( as much as you like)
• 1/2 clove of minced garlic

 The veggie would also be good as a plain cheese calzone with the seasoning and no veggies. You could also use the cheese mixture and add cooked sausage or burger or pepperoni or ham.

 Directions: Clean, chop, and slice green peppers, mushrooms, and onions. Meanwhile, in a skillet heat olive oil. 

Once veggies are chopped and oil is warm add the garlic and veggies to skillet. Once veggies start to appear tender add the precooked steak strips. (If using raw steak strips add the steak strips first then add the garlic and veggies). Season with salt and pepper.

Skillet on back burner is for veggie calzone, skillet on front burner is for Philly Cheesesteak calzone

While veggies are sauteing, flour a surface and the pizza dough and roll the dough out into a giant circle or oval.

Size of dough after rolled out. 

After dough is rolled to desire size, use a knife or pizza cutter and slice in half. Do this if you are making two different types of calzones. Otherwise, there is no need to slice it in half. You can make one big calzone and cut it to share after baking which is what I did when I made the buffalo chicken calzone.

The dough sliced

At this point the veggies and meats that have been sauteing should be done. Take them off the burn to cool a bit. This will make the rolling process easier later one.

While veggies are cooling mix the ricotta, mozzarella, and seasonings together for a veggie or pizza style calzone.

Cheese "sauce" after

Next sprinkle the dough with the cheese mixture; or if making the Philly Cheesesteak calzone lay the provolone cheese in a layered pattern on the dough and then sprinkle with some mozzarella.

Left side is phillycheese steak. Right side veggie

 Then add "toppings".
After topping have been added roll calzone vertically to the other end and then press the edges shut so that the filling will stay inside once it starts to bake.

Rolling the Calzone

Then place calzones on greased baking sheet and bake according to pizza crust dough directions. In this case it was 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes. I needed to cook mine for about 22 minutes.

Doll rolled, pinched at the edges, and in the oven.

 Your calzone will be ready when the crust is  lightly brown and when you stick a knife in the middle it does not come out doughy.

The finished project!!!

Don't forget if you are making a veggie, cheese, or pizza type you may want marinara dipping sauce ( just marinara spaghetti sauce) on the side.








The buffalo chicken calzone by finding a new life through food blog:

2 boneless chicken breasts1 tsp. olive oil1 pizza dough (I used store bought and let it sit out for about 20 minutes)8 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese (I used part skim)3 oz. of shredded cheddar cheese1/2 cup of Franks Wing Sauce1/3 cup of ranch or blue cheese dressing
Cut chicken into cubes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Heat teaspoon of olive oil in skillet and add chicken when hot.  Cook chicken completely and then add 1/4 cup of wing sauce.  Stir to coat chicken and let simmer for a minute or two.  Take chicken off heat and let cool.
Roll dough the same why I stated above.
add ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing (depending on your preference!) and remaining 1/4 cup of wing sauce.  Spread across the dough.  Add chicken and then top with mozzarella and cheddar cheese.  You can also add a bit more of the wing sauce on top of the cheese if you want it to be a little bit spicier.
Roll dough and bake as stated above.