Whole Wheat Calzones

   If I'm eating flour in my homemade meals these days, it has strictly been whole grain, whole wheat, buckwheat, etc. Honestly, I just can't see the point in not getting nutritional value from what I'm creating in the kitchen. And although they do not even begin to compare to calzones we enjoyed in Rome, they are the same general idea.

   It's funny that I say that now, because my whole wheat calzones just happen to be stuffed with cheese and (turkey) pepperoni. But hey, what's a girl to do when she's got whole wheat pizza dough in the fridge ready to go, she's been sweating at the gym for quite some time, it's the weekend, and... she's hungry. You've got it. She makes two monster mondo-sized calzones. And eats hers up. And her husband eats his too, because sometimes the best choice you can make is to eat carbs with cheese.

   I didn't have any tomato sauce in the pantry, so I made up for it by dicing some tomatoes and garlic, which has a fresher, sweeter effect. It also cuts down on the "mush factor" that tends to happen with large amounts of dough and sauce.

   This would also be good if you made a fancy dipping sauce as many people enjoy sauce on their calzones, however, in the interest of time, I opted for a green spinach salad. 

Ingredients:

makes 2 very large calzones

1 pre-made whole wheat pizza dough, (Trader Joe's has some delicious options)

2 large ripe tomatoes

1 clove of garlic, diced

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. Italian seasoning (dried basil, oregano, thyme)

1 tsp. sea salt

1/2 c. diced black olives

1/3 c. diced mushrooms

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese 

1/2 c. turkey pepperoni

2 tsp. grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

1/2 c. flour, for dusting and rolling dough out on

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

   Allow dough to reach room temperature. Dust some flour on your rolling surface and on your rolling pin. Roll dough out to a large oval, until it reaches about a 1/3-1/4 inch thickness.

   Mix the tomatoes, olive oil, and seasonings with the olives and mushrooms in a bowl. Throw in pepperoni last. Splitting the ingredients in half, sprinkle them on one end of your calzone, leaving a border of dough around it. Fold over the rest of the dough and press the edges down with a fork. Next, poke holes in the top of the dough and sprinkle with parmigiano reggiano.

   Do the exact same thing to your second calzone. Carefully place calzones on a pizza stone, and bake for 20-25 minutes, when the edges turn golden brown.

   Enjoy your Italian treat with a glass of wine and some Dean Martin playing softly in the background.

Ciao,

k