Friday, January 6, 2012

Cheese 'n' Sausage Calzones

Source: My mom's recipe box

Ingredients:
15 ounces Ricotta or cottage cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (1 lb.)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped green pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
5 1-pound loaves frozen bread dough, thawed  (I decided to try a homemade version and used Mel's French Bread Roll dough - the same stuff I made the braid from a few weeks ago) (Update Dec 2017: I always use my usual pizza dough recipe and bake at 400 for about 23 minutes nowadays.)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 16 ounce jar spaghetti sauce, heated

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine cheeses, oregano and basil.  In a large skillet, saute onion, green pepper and garlic in oil until tender.  Add to cheese mixture.  In the same skillet, brown sausage; drain and stir into cheese mixture.  Divide each loaf of dough into halves; divide each section in half and roll each portion into a circle. (If you're making the homemade dough, just pinch off clumps - one batch should make about 12 or so - and flatten them in your hand or roll them into small circles - about 5-6 inches in diameter.)  Spoon 2 tablespoonfuls of filling on half of each circle.  Fold the other half over and wet the edges.  Seal with a fork or with fingertips.  Place on greased baking sheets and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with spaghetti sauce for dipping.  Serves 20 (freeze leftovers for lunch).  Optional fillings: mushrooms, olives, scrambled eggs, spinach, etc.

Notes:
This is a yummy and filling meal.  It does take a little time to assemble all the calzones, but in the end it's more than worth it.  And this recipe makes a TON.  We halved it for just Gregg and me, and even that fed us for breakfast, lunch and dinner for days.  Also, don't be afraid of the goop - it will most likely ooze out of your dough as it's cooking,  no matter how careful you are - just scoop it up and plop it on top!  (I don't worry a lot about presentation at my house, can you tell?)

No comments:

Post a Comment