Spinach and Mushroom Calzones

Doesn't this look just delicious?  I made these a while ago and uploading the photos for this post made me instantly crave a spinach and mushroom calzone! I made these using Jamie Oliver's Calzone recipe, which I had wanted to try ever since I Heart Cooking Clubs featured Jamie as their current cook along chef.  This is the last week of Jamie cook alongs, they are on to a new chef next week, so sliding in as a last minute entry are these yummy packets of cheesy veggie goodness. 

I know this post and the recipe are really long, but they are simple, don't worry :)

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Spinach and Mushroom Calzones
slightly adapted from Jamie Oliver (my changes in italics)

1 pizza dough recipe, recipe follows (I used Jamie's recipe but mixed it in my bread machine, I'm sure you could use your favorite dough recipe and it would work just as well)

Dough Recipe

7 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour or 5 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour, plus 2 cups finely ground semolina flour

1 level tablespoon fine sea salt

2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dried yeast

1 tablespoon raw sugar

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Sift the flours and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a large measuring cup, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Calzone Ingredients

Flour, for dusting

Olive oil

1 pound mixed mushrooms (such as chanterelles, shiitake, enoki and cremini), cleaned and torn up (I just used white button mushrooms)

4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced (I used about 1 head of roasted garlic, smashed)

4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked (I used a pinch of dried thyme)

1/4 cup butter

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup tomato sauce

11 ounces spinach leaves, washed and spun dry

2 (4-ounce) balls good-quality mozzarella, torn into pieces (I used freshly shredded mozzarella)

First, make your pizza dough. Preheat the oven to 450 to 500 degrees F, then tear the punched-down dough into 4 pieces and roll each out on a floured surface. You want to get them roughly circular, about the thickness of a silver dollar, and 12 inches across. You can now either keep these in the refrigerator, stacked and separated with olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted aluminum foil, until you're ready to cook them, or you can put your topping on and cook them straightaway.

Pour a large glug of olive oil into a hot frying pan. Add the mushrooms and toss briefy in the hot oil before adding the sliced garlic and the thyme. Fry until the mushrooms are cooked and smell fantastic. Drop in the butter and toss the mushrooms in it to make them tasty and shiny. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Add the tomato sauce to the pan and stir.



Cook for a few minutes, then add the spinach (in batches if you need to) and stir again. Simmer away the liquid until you're left with a thick, tasty mixture that's not too moist (otherwise it will burst through the dough when you're cooking the calzone).



Divide the mushroom and spinach mixture evenly between the 4 pizza bases and spread it out nicely.



Top with pieces of mozzarella and season with salt and pepper.



To make your calzone, carefully lift the far edge of the pizza dough and pull it over the top toward you - you basically need to fold it in half (imagine it looking like a big Cornish pasty!). Crimp the edges so none of the filling can spill out. Place the calzone side by side on a floured baking sheet, (use 2 if needed), pizza stone or granite slab.



Cook for 10 to 15 minutes on the bottom of the preheated oven until the dough is puffed up and golden on top and the filling is hot.





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And that's all there is to it!  These were so good, probably my favorite calzones ever!  I made them as dinner for me and my kiddos while picky husband was working late one night.  The kids were a little apprehensive about trying these, since they watched me make them and they are a little weary of spinach, but everyone ended up loving these, score one for Jamie Oliver :)  

Picky husband hates mushrooms and really doesn't like spinach, mainly why I made them while he was working, but calzones are great for picky family members because you can really personalize them any way you want.  Give these a chance if you are on the prowl for a new calzone recipe, especially if you are a spinach and mushroom fan, you will not be disappointed!

Roasted Red Pepper and Ricotta Calzones

Calzones are such a fun dinner and are easy to personalize for the kids and picky husband, I wonder why I don't make them more often? This recipe is from Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian and starts with his basic pizza crust recipe...

Mark Bittman's Pizza Dough

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more as needed
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1 to 1¼ cups water
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

1 Combine the yeast, flour, and 2 teaspoons salt in the container of a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water and the 2 tablespoons of oil through the feed tube.

2 Process for about 30 seconds, adding more water, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. If it is dry, add another tablespoon or two of water and process for another 10 seconds. (In the unlikely event that the mixture is too sticky, add flour, a tablespoon at a time.)

3 Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand a few seconds to form a smooth, round dough ball. Grease a bowl with the remaining olive oil, and place the dough, in it. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let rise in warm; draft-free area until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours. You can, cut this rising time short if you are in a hurry, or you can let the dough rise more slowly, in the refrigerator, for up to 6 or 8 hours.

4 Proceed with calzone recipe, or wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month. Defrost in a covered bowl in the refrigerator or at room temperature.

* I made this dough in my bread machine on dough cycle and it worked perfectly, just follow your manufacturers directions for the wet and dry ingredients and you should be fine.


Mark's recipe for calzones suggests spinach as a filling with the ricotta but leaves the options open, and suggests using pizza toppings to mix with the ricotta as a calzone filling. I thought roasted peppers would be a nice combo with the ricotta and just happened to have some peppers on hand.


I like to roast the peppers in the oven and use the broiler method, it's quick and easy but you do need to stay by the oven and babysit the peppers because they can get overdone quickly. You want them blackened and charred and looking deflated.

Roasted Red Pepper and Ricotta Calzone

• 1 recipe pizza dough -- above -- or use your own favorite dough recipe
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

I found that Mark's dough recipe made 3 very large calzones, you could easily make 4.

Shape dough into 3 or 4 circles, about 8 inches each, by rolling or patting the dough down.

Combine the cheeses, peppers, and salt and mix well.


Fill calzones by making a mound of filling on one side...


and then bring up the other side over and seal shut with your fingers or using the tines of a fork.


I like to sprinkle the tops with some Italian herb blend. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes at 350 on a baking stone (remember stone should be preheated in your oven) or sheet. *I think it is very difficult to move a calzone to a stone or sheet so I would say make the calzone right on the baking sheet. I used my pizza screen sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, which has been a lifesaver when it comes to moving pizzas to bake on the pizza stone. You just bake the calzones right on the screen on top of the stone and they come out perfectly.

These were great served with some homemade pizza sauce. They had a very mild flavor but they were really good, I just think they need maybe some roasted garlic mixed into that ricotta mixture, and maybe some red pepper flakes. Spice them up to your liking.

The theme this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs is 'Damn, that's Sexy' and I know you're probably thinking, calzones? Sexy? Well, I think they are sweet sexy in a way, right? Made for sharing, but only for two, a little rustic, just the two of you in an Italian villa with a wood fired stove having fun making dinner together, having a glass of wine...hmm? I know I'd have fun with it!

I'm submitting this post to YeastSpotting which I haven't participated in for way too long, go check out all of the gorgeous baked goods there :)

Creature Calzones and Banana Bread -- Tyler Florence Fridays

This week for Tyler Florence Fridays I made two Tyler recipes, the first one, Spinach and Three Cheese Calzones was for Megan's Challenge and the second recipe was Tyler's Banana Bread.

The calzone filling was great, I added mushrooms, used frozen spinach, and left out the egg.

I sauteed the mushrooms and spinach and then added the cheeses into the same large pan and mixed it all up then filled the calzones.

I brushed the tops with butter and sprinkled two with Italian seasoning and freshly shredded parmesan.

The came out of the oven looking like this...my fault for goofing up the dough and letting it rise way too long...oops!


And how could I not turn this one into a creature?


The banana bread was really easy and I liked that I got to use up four over ripe bananas in one loaf! The baking time seemed a little long and mine was ready at one hour instead of the suggested 1 hour and 15 minutes. Everyone loved it and this banana bread recipe will go into the 'would make again' banana bread file!

Sorry for the short post, today is my husband's birthday and I'm still under the weather so I'm way behind in birthday preparations...wish me luck! Happy Tyler Florence Friday, everyone :)