Whole Wheat Calzones
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Calzones are a popular dinner option at our house, and they work well at home or on the go. Over the summer, I made the pizza pockets from 100 Days of Real Food for one of our many evenings when we were out at a swim meet during dinner time. Everyone liked them except for my daughter, who refused to eat them. I couldn’t understand it because she loves pizza.
I modified the recipe to make the dough less dry, and after a few tries I found a version that everyone, including my daughter, loves. The key is to roll the dough very thin and pinch the edges together on just one side. The possibilities are limitless when it comes to fillings, but I’m partial to this version. If you want to keep it vegan, fill the calzone with dairy-free pesto and dried tomatoes for a delicious twist on this classic meal.
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water 105 to 115 degrees
- 3 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tbs honey
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 6 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce
- 8 ounces mushrooms sauteed
- 1 cup grated mozzarella
- 1 cup ricotta
Instructions
- Mix together the warm water, yeast, and honey. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then add the oil.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the flour and the salt. Add the yeast mixture.
- With a dough hook, beat the mixture until a ball of dough forms. The dough should be well hydrated but not sticky. (It should be almost sticky.) If it’s sticky, add a little more flour. If it seems too dry, add a little more water.
- Divide the dough. If you want large (10 inch by 5 inch) calzones, make 4 evenly sized balls. If you want smaller, individual size calzones, make 8 balls. Cover the dough and let it rise for 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and grease 2 cookie sheets.
- Roll out each piece of dough into a circle 1/8 inch thick. Top the dough with sauce, mushrooms, and cheese. You could also do a Hawaiian version with ham and pineapple, a pesto version with pesto and sundried tomatoes, or a mixed cheese version. Anything you would put on a pizza is fair game.
- Fold the dough in half and pinch down the edge on one side. You don’t want a thick section with two layers of dough. Pierce the dough with a fork once or twice.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the dough begins to turn brown. Let the calzones sit for a few minutes before cutting. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Approximate Nutrition Info
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Whole Wheat Calzones Price Breakdown
This recipe makes 8 servings and the total cost is $6.21, or $.78 per serving. These whole wheat calzones are as delicious as they are convenient.
These turned out great!! Thanks for the recipe!!
Do you need to apply an egg wash or butter the crust at all? Just don’t want them to be too brown without cooking all the way.
An egg wash isn’t necessary, Laura, but it wouldn’t hurt if you wanted to make them that way.
Have you tried freezing them at all? Eight would be way more than we need, but if we could freeze them I would gladly make the whole recipe. 🙂
I do freeze these, Erin. Just cook as directed and let the calzones cool. Place them in a zipper bag or other airtight container and freeze. To reheat, place them in the oven wrapped in foil (or in a covered baking dish), and heat at 350 degrees until defrosted.
Would these be good to freeze for convenient reheating in a pinch? How would I go about doing it if so?
Yes, Willow, I freeze these all the time. Just cook as directed and let the calzones cool. Place them in a zipper bag or other airtight container and freeze. To reheat, place them in the oven wrapped in foil (or in a covered baking dish), and heat at 350 degrees until defrosted.
We made these the other day – terrific! I added pork sausage since I had some leftover to use. I also put the sauce and fillings in the center, leaving a little free space around the edge and they turned out really well. Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m so glad you liked them, Christine! Calzones are a regular dinner around here, especially when we’re on the go at dinnertime.
I’m going to try making these soon, and I’m curious as to whether it makes any difference to put the filling in the center of the rolled out dough (which to me, seems like it would make the folding step more difficult) or putting the filling on half the dough so you can fold over the half that doesn’t have stuff on it. In the end, the goal is not to break the dough as you’re folding, and I think I might have trouble with this if I place things in the center. =) Since you’ve made these tons of times, what are your thoughts on this? Does it even make a difference?
Good question, Tracy. I follow the second approach, putting the filling on one half and folding over the empty half. I’ve been thinking about trying it more like a stromboli next time, distributing the filling all over the dough and then rolling it up. Fingers crossed!
Thanks. There’s a picture on another page–ricotta maybe?–where it shows it all in the middle, and I got concerned about it. =)
Is there only a half cup of pizza sauce to be divided among all 8? And if so, would they do well if I added a little more or would it be too saucy? Thanks!
Angela, they do get soggy if you put too much sauce on them. Use your judgment about how much sauce you would like, but I recommend staying close to 1/2 cup the first time you make them.
Oh, Annemarie! I bet Heather at In Her Chucks’ Cherry Tomato Pesto would be a great vegan filling for these.
Yum!
Thanks, Kirsten! Great suggestion about the cherry tomato pesto. I wish I had some right now.