Momma Mia--Calzones!

(Overlook the cookie sheets. I like to call them "seasoned"!!)

 I made calzones over the weekend for friends. I have made meat pies lots of times, but I had never made calzones.  And yes, there is a difference....In the filling and the dough.

The dough for calzones is made with yeast. I think it had a total of four ingredients. It was the easiest thing to make. Ever. The dough for my meat pies does not have any yeast, and they have lots more flour. Funny story: When I make my meat pies I always make lots and lots. I usually do an assembly line type production--cut out my dough circles, stack them up, then fill the pies, crimp them, fry, etc. So, I was doing the same thing on the calzones. I cut out 18 circles and just continued to pile the dough circles on top of each other, then I FINALLY really LOOKED at my pile of dough circles. It was no longer dough circles, but a giant (and growing!!) pile of dough!! Ha! I had 'forgotten' that this dough had yeast and the whole time I was cutting out circles, they were over there growing like crazy. I had to smash them down and start over. It is funny now, but I was so frustrated when I did it!

 Besides that little error, the calzones were very easy to make. I made about sixty of them. Between my friends we cooked for, and my own family, there were only a few left at the end of the night. As you can see, they are a good size too. You know it is a good recipe, when people ask for recipes right then and email and text you for the recipe later!

 I bought the calzone mold at Williams-Sonoma. It is a little bigger than my meat pie molds, and the well for the meat is a little deeper as well.

 Not to mention, I really liked the rim on the calzone mold!

 I used the recipe straight off the box. The only differences were that when I rolled out the dough, I added some corn meal to the flour to roll them out, then I dusted them with a combination of parmesan cheese and cornmeal. To the filling I added a combo of Italian sausage, hamburger and pepperoni and lots of spices and cheeses.

 I only made the 'meat lovers' type this time. Next time I am going to try chicken and spinach, and maybe a few more types.

 Each batch of dough made six calzones. (Again, forgive the well-seasoned cookie sheet.) I will say if you have a pizza stone, then it would be better to use. I (gasp) do not have one, but plan on getting one before I make these again.

The next time you want to have party food that will wow your guests, try the calzones.  They were the best!

I'm linking to Wow Us Wednesdays and Foodie Fridays and Funky Junk Interiors and Be Different/Act Normal.