Turn pizza night into calzone night with a few easy changes. This healthy dinner is bound to become a family favorite.
I finally fulfilled a wish that my younger son has been voicing for no less than a year. Ever since T tasted a calzone at a pizza joint during a soccer tournament trip to Las Vegas, he's been begging me to come up with a homemade version. I honestly don't know what took me so long to get down to calzone-making business. After all, I make Whole Wheat Pizza Dough all the time for our Friday pizza nights. It's just as easy to set aside a portion of the dough to make a stuffed pocket with some of our favorite pizza ingredients. 
Last week, that's what I finally did. With T by my side, overseeing every step of this epic process, the dough was rolled out, the turkey sausage and peppers were cooked and a calzone was born.
The process is no more difficult than making a pizza (again, what took me so long?!), which was music to T's ears. As soon as he dug into the baked pocket, filled with his favorite flavors and melting mozzarella, he asked, "Will you please, PLEASE make that for me every single night?"
Of course, he always asks for sushi, teriyaki meatballs and rice noodles every night, so I think I can get away with making calzones every couple of weeks.
Now that I'm in the calzone-making zone, you're bound to see some other versions here. In the meantime, fill the dough with any pizza toppings that suit your fancy.
Other recipes with turkey sausage:
Cookin' Canuck's One-Pot Chicken Sausage & Bean Ragout
Cookin' Canuck's Skinny Sausage & Egg Breakfast Casserole
Kalyn's Kitchen's Low Carb Stuffed Peppers with Turkey Italian Sausage, Ground Beef & Mozzarella
The Gal Cooks' Skillet Farro & Turkey Sausage Casserole with Kale & Sweet Potatoes
Whole Wheat Calzone with Sausage & Peppers Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound turkey or chicken sausage casings removed
- ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
- 2 red or orange bell peppers sliced
- 1 recipe of my whole wheat pizza dough
- flour for dusting
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 ounces black olives sliced (½ cup)
- ½ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
- 6 basil leaves thinly sliced
- extra tomato sauce for serving if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until cooked through. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
- Reduce the heat to medium, add olive oil and cook the peppers until tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Dust the counter with flour and roll each piece of dough into a 9- by 9-inch circle.
- Spread ¼ cup of tomato sauce on one half of each dough circle, leaving a ½-inch border.
- Divide the sausage, peppers, olives cheese and basil evenly between the pizza dough, piling on top of the tomato sauce.
- Fold the other side of the dough over top of the filling and, using a fork or your fingers, seal the edges of the dough.
- Place the calzones on the baking sheet and bake until the dough is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let the calzones rest for 5 minutes, than cut in half and serve with extra tomato sauce, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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KalynsKitchen
It sounds delicious. Sounds like you two are having fun cooking together! I love all these flavors.
Thanks for the shout-out for my stuffed peppers.; always appreciated!
Annamaria @ Bakewell Junction
Dara,
This calzone looks delicious. Have a great weekend.
Annamaria
Meigan Cameron
Very informative article... Thanks for sharing