I used to shy away from making anything that required pizza dough.  Then I discovered frozen dough balls.  Boy, do they make life easy…and the baked dough tastes good and has a nice consistency.  Tonight I used them to make pepperoni calzones.

How does this relate to my garden?  Well, the sauce is frozen tomato sauce I made from my garden tomatoes last summer.  I seemed to have forgotten about all the food I froze last season, so I will be working my way through my freezer before veggies and fruit start coming in later this spring.

Using frozen pizza dough and the frozen sauce made this very easy.  It just took forethought to thaw both the dough and sauce the day before.

Given that we eat main vegetarian and healthy meals, pepperoni calzones are not something I would make often.  But I have to admit, they were actually as much fun to make as to eat!

Look for a healthier version with veggies from the garden this summer!

Pepperoni Calzones

Based on Jeff Mauro’s Pepperoni Pizza Calzones

2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce (doctored up however you like)

1 lb pizza dough, divided into 4 balls (thawed if using frozen)

2 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella

6 ounces pepperoni, thinly sliced

Grated parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Simmer the tomato sauce in a medium saucepan until it is a desired thickness.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out and/or stretch the dough balls into 4 equal rounds.

Place 1/4 of the mozzarella on half of each round, leavin about 1/4 – 1/2 inch border around the curved side.

Layer 1/4 of the pepperoni on top of the mozzarella.

Moisten the border, fold the plain side over the filled side and curl up the edges.

 

Place the calzones on a baking sheet.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with grated parmesan.

Bake until golden  about 10 – 20 minutes.  They should sound hollow when tapped.

Serve with the sauce on the side.  Enjoy!

Serves 4.