A Pizza Calzone is a folded 10″ Pizza Dough with Toppings of your choice, Pizza Sauce & Cheese. This recipe uses an Overnight Pizza Dough with a Pizza Thyme Sauce. Optionally, you can have Pizza/Marinara Sauce on the side to dip the Calzone in. You can also include Special Garlic Sauce and Donair Sauce for dipping, and even Flavored Oils like you would use for Bread Sticks. For these Calzones, we are oven baking and then brushing with a Special Garlic Sauce.

Pizza Calzone Ingredients

Overnight Pizza Dough, Pizza Thyme Sauce (or other choice of pizza sauce), Choice Pizza Toppings, Mozzarella Cheese (optionally a Mozza & Provolone mix at 3:1), Special Garlic Sauce.

Pizza Calzone Dough

The dough is the same as a Pizza Dough. Either the Hand Tossed Pizza Dough or the Overnight Pizza Dough. Both of which makes about 1500g of Dough. Which is enough to make 7 Calzones, or you could portion out 454g for either Garlic Fingers or Twisty bread and make 5 x Calzones. Even further with making both the Garlic Fingers & Twisty Bread. Which will leave you enough dough to do 3 x Calzones.

Roll the Pizza Dough out flat with a rolling pin to distribute the air evenly throughout the dough. On a floured surface and to a 10 ” round pizza.

Calzone Dough Weight

The ideal portion for a Calzone is 200g of dough rolled out to 10 inches.

From a business perspective, you’d ideally want to offer Calzones using Small Pizza Dough. Pizzerias tend not to sell a bunch of small pizzas with more sales in medium and large than small. But they still have to make the small sizes as well. This is an excellent way to up the sales with small Pizza dough and gets a higher turn of inventory ensuring fresh product all the time and minimizing waste. While offering a decent size Calzone.

For this reason, this Calzone recipe uses a Hand Tossed Pizza Dough or Overnight Pizza Dough at 200g for one Calzone. This equates to about 7 Calzones. Twice the amount you typically see in Calzone recipes online. We are making Calzones here, not Pizza Pockets or Panzerottis. Although you could make those too. In any event, the real authentic Italian Calzones also use about 200g or the equivalent to a small pizza dough.

Pizza Calzone Sauce

The Pizza Calzone Sauce is just your standard Pizza Sauce or other sauces. The only thing really is that you want a thick pizza sauce, not a runny one. For this recipe, Pizza Thyme Sauce is used.

There is not suppose to be too much liquid in Calzones, as this will cause the heat to steam any liquids that would puff up the Calzone. This however is for deep fried calzones. I do like a saucy Calzone and often sauce the whole thing. But these are scored and baked in the oven. A true Calzone is deep fried. Because of that all the ingredients used are dried. Typically though, the dough is rolled out to 10 inches and only half of it is sauced and topped.

Pizza Calzone Fillings

No matter what filling is used to stuff the Calzone, it should be spread on half of the dough with the other half folded over and the seam pressed, pinched or folded over to seal the filling in. About 200 g of filling or there about to fill the Calzones.

This is the same as a Pizza. Use any Sauce and any combination of Pizza Toppings. The Authentic Italian Calzone has no Sauce. But this is compensated by adding Ricotta Cheese usually with an Egg and other Cheeses. For the Western Style Calzones or the Pizza Calzone, I like a good amount of Sauce & Filling. For these Calzones I went with Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Bacon, Onions and 1-2 of them with Olives. Use good quality ingredients.

Pizza Calzone Cheese

Use a good quality Pizzeria Mozzarella Cheese such as Saputo’s Mozzarella. Shred the Cheese through a food processor and place into a freezer bag to keep the freezer. Loosen the Cheese up by crushing the bag a bit and use frozen to top the Calzones.

Mozza & Provolone Cheese Blend

Even better is a 3:1 shredded Mozzarella to shredded Provolone Cheese blend. Shred the Mozza Cheese and place into a freezer bag, measuring out 3 cups. Then shred the provolone cheese and measure out 1 cup to combine with the mozza. Toss the bag around to evenly distribute the cheese and keep in the freezer.

This is a superior cheese blend that offers up a beautiful melt and flavors.

Folding and Seaming Pizza Calzones

There should be about a 1/2 to 1 inch crust with nothing on it, just dough, all around the circumference. This is either Pinched, Crimped, or folded over and pressed to seal the Calzone. There’s all kind of ways you can seal the Calzone too, much like Chinese Dumplings.

TIP: Assemble the Calzone on a Pizza Screen or Sheet so that it can be transfered directly to the oven to cook and later removed off of the Pizza Screen to go directly on the Pizza Stone. You can also do 2 or 3 at a time on a pizza screen or baking sheet.

Pizza Calzone Brush Ons

Brush Ons or Calzone Wash, are a finishing touch to Calzones that offer additional Flavors, Aesthetics, Browning or change in outside Dough Texture. Brush ons are applied either before or after cooking, depending on the type of Calzone brush on.

Garlic Butter

Garlic Butter, Garlic Sauce or Aioli adds extra flavor and assists in browning when brushed on beforehand or just flavor if brushed on after cooking. Check out the Garlic Butter recipe, Special Garlic Sauce or Aioli recipe to have this made and ready to go, when you do your Pizza Calzones.

Special Garlic Sauce is used in this recipe for brushing the Calzones after cooking and can also be used as a Pizza Calzone Dip too!

Flavored Oils

This adds extra flavor and assist in browning as well. Use a Flavored or Seasoned Oil that compliments such as Rosemary & Garlic Infused Olive Oil or Basil & Garlic Infused Olive Oil. Brush on the Calzones before going into the oven.

Scoring Calzones

After sealing the Clazone, flatten it out slightly, to distribute the filling evenly. Make 3 slits with a very sharp knife and very quickly. Like you are scoring Bread. This allows steam to escape and not puff up the Calzone.

How to make a Pizza Calzone

Have your Pizza Dough, Pizza Sauce, Toppings, and Cheese, ready to go.

Use a rolling pin to roll the pizza dough out evenly on a floured surface to 10 inches. Toss the dough gently to shake off any excess flour and transfer to a pizza screen to start assembly.

Pizza Calzone Oven Temp

With Pizza Dough for Pizzas, Calzones, Garlic Fingers, Bread Sticks etc…, you want to cook in the quickest time possible at a very high heat. Not at a lower heat and over time which will take longer to cook. Therefore more water evaporation and leave you with a dry dough instead of a soft but crisp dough just like Pizza.

The total cooking time for a Calzone is 7 minutes, with the stove at the highest setting and a pizza stone on the bottom rack. With the other rack in middle position.

How to Cook a Pizza Calzone

Follow the 413 Pizza cook method to cook Calzones just like you would Pizzas.

This is a method that I created for cooking pizzas at home, called the PIE/413 Method. Preheat the oven to the highest setting it will go with a pizza stone positioned in the lowest rack position and another rack in middle position.

• 4 Minute Cook: Place the pizza screen with the Calzone/s on it, on the middle rack and cook for precisely 4 minutes.
• 1 Adjustment: Immediately place the oven on Broil and remove the Calzone/s off of the Pizza screen and directly on the Pizza Stone in the bottom rack position. Turn the Calzone/s around so that the back of the Calzone/s is now facing the front.
• 3 Minute Broil: Leave the Calzones to broil for 3 minutes. After which, immediately turn the oven off of the broil setting and back to the highest heat setting and repeat for each Calzone/s.

Calzones with Special Garlic Sauce

After the Calzones come out of the oven, brush them with Special Garlic Sauce if desired, which adds incredible flavor.

Pizza Calzone Dipping Sauces

• Pizza or Marinara Sauce
• Special Garlic Sauce (used for this recipe as a brush on and dip) or Melted Garlic Butter
• Donair Sauce
• Flavored or Seasoned Olive Oils
• Aioli / Toum

Portioning out the Dough for a Pizza Night

Portioning Options: Either the hand tossed pizza dough or the overnight pizza dough makes about, 1500g of Dough. Which is enough to make 7 Calzones.

Optionally you can make both the Garlic Fingers & Twisty Bread. Which will leave you enough dough to do 3 x Calzones. Or you could portion out 454g for either Garlic Fingers or Twisty bread and make 5 x Calzones.