I have no doubt there are some awesome recipes out there for this. I’m just posting to offer up something different to do on your family pizza night and/or a way to use up some things you might have on hand.
I’ve always been under the impression that Stromboli’s are filled with meat and cheese while Calzones are filled with cheese only but more and more I see the two terms used interchangeably. Whatever you call them, they are a fun twist on a Friday Night Pizza.
I also have a confession to make. I can’t make pizza dough worth a flip. I can make bread. I can make biscuits. I can make pie crusts. But I CAN NOT make a good pizza dough. My mother made THE BEST pizza dough ever based off a French Bread recipe. I have her recipe box and the stained and fading 3×5 card it’s written on. I go in fits where I try week after week trying to make that dang dough then get so frustrated I shove the card back in its box and swear I’ll never try it again. Then a year will pass and I’ll try again. And again. And again. Only to end up in failure again. Insanity. Pure and simple. So if any of you out there are Mediums or have a way to contact those who have passed over would you PLEASE ask my mother what the hell I’m doing wrong?
The dough I used this night was also a semi-failure. I made it back in February while Mr. Foodie was out of town hoping I would land on something I could surprise him with. I used half of it and stuck the other half in the freezer where it’s been sitting because I’ve been too embarrassed to do anything with it. Then I got the bright idea…what if I made Stromboli’s with it? So that’s what I did.
This amount of dough would have been enough for roughly a 14″ – 16″ pizza with regular thickness so you can use that as a guide when making or purchasing your dough. Other ingredients I used were mozzarella, a fresh tomato, yellow bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, pepperoni and a small amount of onion for Mr. Foodie. Also some pizza sauce (I use this recipe) or marinara on the side for dipping (I used some sauce from the freezer).
Preheat your oven to 450°.
Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal if desired.
Flour a board and divide your dough in to desired size (I divided my dough ball in half but could have gone smaller.)
Roll out in a circle to desired thickness. (*Here’s something I may do next time…transfer the circle of dough to the baking sheet now then fill with toppings. I realized once I had them stuffed they were difficult to transfer…just a thought.)
Fill half with desired toppings.
Fold top over and crimp together the sides by rolling the bottom half of dough over the top half then pinching together. Use a sharp knife to cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to vent out and using a large spatula transfer to baking dish. I brushed ours with Olive Oil but I think an egg wash might work better to get a more golden crust. Then again, maybe it was my sad excuse for pizza dough that didn’t want to brown. 
Bake 17 minutes.
All the pizza goodness but in a single serving package and totally customizable according to tastes.
Maybe your mother could connect with my mother & send some kind of message down to us. I’ve got a pretty decent dough from the William Sonoma cookbook but it’s still not quite my mother’s.
I bet my mother rolls over in her grave every time I try to make her recipe. She probably can’t believe that I could screw it up SO many times, LOL!!
53rd time’s the charm?
LOLOL!!
YUM! And don’t worry about the browning part. I have an Italian friend who owns a pizzeria, his calzones don’t brown much on top. So… Yours looks like the professional ones do!! Hope it tastes as good as it looks!!
They were yummy…I was just hoping the dough would have had more of a golden brown texture. There’s a pizza shop in town and there’s are always so golden, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I’d love to be able to make mine like that.
why don’t you ask them how they make it so that it browns so nicely? I am sure they would tell you.
I love Calzones too! Once you get the dough down you can fill them with so many yummy ingredients. This looks fantastic!
I’m going with store-bought crust, but I can’t wait to make this deliciousness!
If you go with store bought crust check their baking directions first just to make sure you don’t burn or under-cook them. They’re tasty and a fun way to eat an inside out pizza!
Thanks for the tip!
It’s like opening a present filled with meat n’ cheese!
That’s my kind of present!
Yum! Looks great!!
Thanks!
I had the same trouble when I made my calzone. The tip I did get was that my dough may be too wet to brown. So I guess we will keep experimenting.
Yeah, I suppose…sigh.
Yummy! I love stromboli!
Me, too! When the crust is done right, lol!