Pepperoni & Mozzarella Calzone

I bought this gadget on a whim.  I'm sure it started as one of those "as seen on TV" products, so I probably should be ashamed of myself. Well, it was cheap and I thought it would be fun to make homemade calzones!

I got the mold from this website for only $6.99, Taylor Gifts Calzone Mold

It actually came with two molds, though I'm not sure why you would ever need two, unless you decided to hire an assistant and start a calzone assembly line!  So, I guess what I'm saying is, I have an extra one, if anyone needs one.

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1 pkg active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

Pizza toppings (up to you)

1 lb mozzarella cheese

Pizza sauce

Directions:

Mix yeast, sugar, and 1/2 cup warm water.  Let set for about 5 minutes for the yeast to activate.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, olive oil, and remaining 1/2 cup warm water.  Add the yeast mixture and stir until mixed.

Dust a surface with flour and remove dough mixture from bowl.  Knead until smooth, about 5 minutes - the dough should be moist but not sticky.

Place dough into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.  Cover with a cloth and let the dough stand until it rises, this should take about an hour.

When the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into small balls.  Each ball should yield enough when rolled out to make a 6 inch round circle of dough.  I ended up with enough dough to make about 6 calzones.

Once you have rolled out your first circle, place it into the mold.  Fill half of the inner circle of the dough with tomato sauce, cheese, and your choice of fillings - I used pepperoni, black olives, and mushrooms.

Fold the mold closed to crimp the edges.  Cut off any excess from the outside. Remove the calzone from the mold, being careful not to open it up.  This was the only place I encountered any trouble - the edges do tend to open, but you can easily squish them back down once you've got the calzones on the baking sheet.  Be sure they are fully closed, otherwise the cheese will spill out and burn on the pan during the baking process.

 Bake the calzones for 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven, until they are nicely browned on top.

Tips:  I think you could easily use this dough recipe without the calzone mold, if you don't want to spring the $7 bucks for the product. I think the only difference would be the crimped edges, and I bet you could do something similar with a knife. Also, a nice touch is to sprinkle parmesan on top at the end.  Just like your local pizzeria!