Homemade Calzones

I used to live in Brooklyn, NY for four years and had some pretty yummy calzones during my time there. Though there are many amazing pizza places in NYC, Smiling Pizza was my favorite local pizza joint. It was on the corner of the 7th Avenue subway stop on the F train in Park Slope. The smell wafting out the doors roped me in more often than not when I was coming home from the train. Tonight I attempted my hand at a calzone for the first time. Super easy and you can't really go wrong with any recipe that includes cheese! Please feel free to stuff them with whatever else you wish, the possibilities are endless!

Owen liked these so much, he was trying to eat the crumbs off of his shirt!

Calzones
Recipe adapted by www.weelicious.com

1 pre-made whole wheat pizza dough package, or make it fresh.

1 Tb. olive oil
8 cups fresh spinach (or 1 bag, frozen)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 cup cottage cheese/ or ricotta
*1/3 cup grated Parmesan
*1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
*1/4 cup grated jack cheese
3 Tb. sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped small
10 black olives thinly sliced
1 handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 cup marinara sauce (optional)

*Note, the cheeses are just what I happened to have in the fridge, feel free to use 1 cup from a pre-packaged blend of Italian cheeses.

Preheat oven to 425.

Let pizza dough rest for 20 minutes at room temperature on a floured surface. While waiting for the dough to relax, place oil in a large pot and saute the garlic for 2-3 minutes on medium high heat. Add washed spinach and herbs and cook until completely wilted. Drain the mixture well and place in a large bowl.

Add the cheese, sun dried tomatoes, olives, and basil to the warm spinach mixture and combine thoroughly.

When ready, cut the dough into 4 even pieces. Stretch each piece large enough to hold a quarter of the mixture. Place mixture on one side of dough, leaving room at the sides to pinch closed. Fold dough over the filling and crimp the sides shut with your fingers. Be sure to leave no holes so the filling doesn't leak out. Repeat for each piece of dough until the filling is gone and place on a lightly floured cookie tray. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until lightly brown. Top each hot calzone with 1/4 cup of marina sauce if you like and enjoy!

Serves 4

Yummy in my tummy!