Build-Your-Own Pizza Calzones
Sure, your guests could make their own pizzas, but how about personal size calzones? Build-Your-Own Pizza Calzones – the perfect idea for any get together!
Why You Need To Make Build-Your-Own Pizza Calzones
- They’re picky eater approved! – With this easy calzone recipe, each person can make their own different variation of calzone, depending on what filling ingredients they prefer! Two kids turn up their nose at pepperoni? Husband doesn’t like mushrooms? No biggie! Everyone makes their own!
- They’re a fun dinner activity! – These easy calzones are a favorite for gatherings. I like to set up a calzone bar of sorts, where I have the dough already prepped and the ingredients ready to go in separate bowls. Then each person fills and seals their own calzone, and we bake them together.
- They’re a great pizza night twist! – Pizza makes a regular occurrence on many family’s meal rotations, and it’s fun to change it up from time to time. Instead of ordering out, or even making your own standard pizzas, why not set up a build-your-own pizza calzone bar and try something new!
Ingredients For The Perfect Homemade Pizza Dough
You can’t make calzones without some sort of crispy crust holding all those delicious fillings!
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Of course, you can always use the store-bought pizza dough of your choice, but homemade dough does taste better.
Here’s what you’ll need to make my favorite pizza dough recipe!
- 1 1/2 Cups of Water – Use warm water! Cold water won’t create the right environment for the yeast to bloom, and hot water will kill the yeast altogether.
- 1 Packet of Active Dry Yeast – This equates to 2 1/4 teaspoon. Make sure your yeast is fresh! Expired yeast accomplishes nothing.
- 1 Tablespoon of Sugar – The sugar will feed on the yeast. Plain white sugar works just fine.
- 1 Teaspoon of Salt – All types of bread dough include a generous pinch of salt.
- 1/3 Cup of Olive Oil – This makes the pizza dough more pliable. This is helpful as you’ll be stretching it out a lot while making your calzones!
- 4-5 Cups of Flour – All-purpose flour works just fine for this. You might not need all 5 cups of flour, so only add a little at a time!
Build-Your-Own Pizza Calzones: Fillings To Try
There is no limit to what fillings you can stuff inside that flaky calzone dough.
Any of your favorite pizza toppings will be perfect.
A word to the wise, however – don’t overstuff your calzones!
It prevents the bottom of the calzone dough from crisping up, and makes the calzones a mess to eat.
Limit yourself to 3 filling ingredients, totaling about 1/3 cup altogether.
- Sauce – Any tomato sauce works! Pizza sauce, marinara sauce… they all bring that pizza flavor!
- Cheese – Use moist cheeses, such as ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese, and you can skip the sauce altogether. Or keep the tomato sauce and use a drier cheese mixture, such as parmesan cheese.
- Meat – There’s no wrong answer here! Consider your favorite meats. Maybe you want to try pepperoni slices, Canadian bacon, regular bacon, ground Italian sausage, ground beef, ground turkey, slices of chicken breast, or thick-cut ham.
- Vegetables – It’s amazing how many servings of vegetables you can stuff a calzone with. Use red onion, black olives, green bell peppers, and mushrooms.
- Fruit…? – Does pineapple belong in a pizza calzone? That’s entirely up to you. I would say no, but my husband would say yes!
How To Make Homemade Calzones
- First, you need to make your own pizza dough. Use a stand mixer to combine warm water, yeast, and sugar. Wait bout 5 minutes for the yeast to bloom and become frothy. If that never happens, your yeast is old! Toss it out and get some fresh yeast!
- Add salt and olive oil, and stir again.
- On low speed, work in the flour one cup at a time, never adding another cup until the previous cup is fully incorporated. After adding 4 cups, add the 5th cup in smaller increments (like, 1/4 cup at a time) until the dough is a sticky-yet-cohesive consistency. You might not need to use all 5 cups of flour, and that’s alright!
- Scoop the dough out into a oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let it rise for 1 hour. During that hour, prep your fillings! Brown your meat, dice your ham, slice your veggies!
- Dump the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface, punch down the air, and divide into dough balls of equal portions. The size of balls depends a lot on the size of calzones you want! This recipe can make about 4 large calzones or 8 smaller ones.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use a rolling pin (or oiled fingers) to press out each piece of dough into circle with a 1/4″ thickness.
- Layer your favorite toppings on half of the circular shaped pizza dough, taking care to leave a 1/2″ margin on the edge for sealing! If you’re going to use any sauce, start with that.
- Moisten the edge of the dough with water, to help it make a tight seal, and then fold the empty half of the dough on top of the fillings. Use the tines of a fork (or, again, oiled fingers!) to pinch and crimp the seams together. Use a sharp knife to cut 2 vent slices on the top of the dough, for steam to escape while baking!
- Place the calzones on a prepared baking sheet (I like to use a piece of parchment paper). If you’d like, brush an egg wash on top of each calzone for a golden brown finish, or top with melted butter and a shake of garlic powder or Italian seasoning.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Be sure to let them cool, and then eat up!
Storing Leftover Pizza Calzones
You might find yourself with delicious calzones leftover at the end of a fun calzone night.
You can store the filled calzones in the same way that you would store leftover pizza.
Simply place the calzones in an airtight container, pop them in the fridge, and enjoy them for up to 5 days.
I like to reheat mine in a preheated oven, rather than in the microwave.
It does take longer, but it keeps that golden crust crispy.
They make a fun lunch option the next day!
Build-Your-Own Pizza Calzones
Sure, your guests could make their own pizzas, but how about calzones? Build-Your-Own Pizza Calzones – the perfect idea for any get together!
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 1/2 Cups of Water
- 1 Packet of Active Dry Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon of Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon of Salt
- 1/3 Cup of Olive Oil
- 4-5 Cups of Flour
Filling:
- Sauce
- Cheese
- Meat
- Vegetables
Instructions
- First, you need to make your own pizza dough. Use a stand mixer to combine warm water, yeast, and sugar. Wait bout 5 minutes for the yeast to bloom and become frothy. If that never happens, your yeast is old! Toss it out and get some fresh yeast!
- Add salt and olive oil, and stir again.
- On low speed, work in the flour one cup at a time, never adding another cup until the previous cup is fully incorporated. After adding 4 cups, add the 5th cup in smaller increments (like, 1/4 cup at a time) until the dough is a sticky-yet-cohesive consistency. You might not need to use all 5 cups of flour, and that’s alright!
- Scoop the dough out into a oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let it rise for 1 hour. During that hour, prep your fillings! Brown your meat, dice your ham, slice your veggies!
- Dump the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface, punch down the air, and divide into dough balls of equal portions. The size of balls depends a lot on the size of calzones you want! This recipe can make about 4 large calzones or 8 smaller ones.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use a rolling pin (or oiled fingers) to press out each piece of dough into circle with a 1/4″ thickness.
- Layer your favorite toppings on half of the circular shaped pizza dough, taking care to leave a 1/2" margin on the edge for sealing! If you're going to use any sauce, start with that.
- Moisten the edge of the dough with water, to help it make a tight seal, and then fold the empty half of the dough on top of the fillings. Use the tines of a fork (or, again, oiled fingers!) to pinch and crimp the seams together. Use a sharp knife to cut 2 vent slices on the top of the dough, for steam to escape while baking!
- Place the calzones on a prepared baking sheet (I like to use a piece of parchment paper). If you’d like, brush an egg wash on top of each calzone for a golden brown finish, or top with melted butter and a shake of garlic powder or Italian seasoning.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Be sure to let them cool, and then eat up!
If you think it would be fun to Build-Your-Own Pizza Calzones, you might want to try our other favorite calzone recipes!
More Delicious Calzone Recipes
