Anyone who knows me, knows one of my favorite foods is pizza. Anyone who knows me, knows I love to try out new pizza toppings when I’m cooking, or ordering for my favorite pizzeria-Aver’s.

This weekend, I decided to break out the pizza stone and try my hand at calzones! Turns out, I’m pretty good at it, provided I have the patience to make them look pretty.

My main goal for this weekend was to eat homemade ethnic food and watch the Olympics. Mission accomplished. I made these calzones and watched Gymnastics all day yesterday, as well as a little volleyball.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH CALZONES
Adapted from Bev Cooks
Yields 4 large clazones

For the Crust

1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon honey (agave if vegan, use a little less)
1 package dry active yeast
2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

For the filling

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 bunch kale, rinsed and chopped
1/2 large red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tablespoons feta cheese (omit if vegan)
3 sprigs thyme
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt, pepper, basil and oregano for garnish

For the egg wash (omit if vegan and wash with olive oil instead)

1 egg
1 Tablespoon water

Other

Cornmeal, for pizza stone
non-stick cooking spray

Directions

For the crust

In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of warm water, honey, and yeast. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until frothy.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Mix in oil, the frothy yeast mixture, and the rest of the warm water. Mix to combine.

Using your hands, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about five minutes.

Oil a bowl with non-stick cooking spray and place dough in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. In this time, you can start preparing the filling!

After an hour as passed, divide the dough into 4 balls. Place them into 4 smaller oiled bowls (cereal bowls work great here).  Let rise for 15 minutes. Here, you can either make all 4 calzones, or store the rest of the dough in the fridge for about a week (you can also freeze this dough for longer).

Lay out a piece of parchment paper and dust with flour. Place 1 ball of dough (or four) on the parchment paper and roll out to an 12-inch circle.  Now you’re ready for the filling.

For the filling

Preheat oven to 400F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and toss squash and red onions onto the sheet. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bake for 20 minutes, flip squash and onions with a spatula, and bake for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 Tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chopped kale and saute 2 minutes, until bright green and softened. Remove from heat.

Assembly

Preheat oven and pizza stone to 375F.

Once stone is preheated, sprinkle with a bit of corn meal. Transfer dough to pizza stone easily, but picking up parchment paper and flipping it over onto the stone.

Brush half of the rolled out dough with olive oil. Sprinkle with feta cheese, 1/4 cup of the butternut squash mixture, and a 1/4 cup of the kale mixture.

Fold the non-topped half over onto the topped half and seal edges with your fingers.

Lightly beat egg and water with a fork. Brush calzone with the eggwash (or olive oil if vegan).

Sprinkle with dried basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and more thyme if desired.

Cut three slits in the top of the calzone for ventilation (a steak knife works great here) and bake for 15 minutes, turn stone, and bake for 15-20 minutes more, until crust is browned.

THE REVIEW

I’ve been eating calzones for 4 days straight and I’m not complaining one bit.

These calzones are quite honestly not like any calzone I’ve ever tasted. The butternut squash adds a sweet factor to the mix, while the red onions provide a potent, almost spicy flavor. The kale adds a crunchy texture, and the oregano, basil and thyme are prominent, but not overwhelming.

These calzones are large, so you may consider splitting one with a friend. I may or may not have eaten the whole thing. I may have.

I did.

As much as I love pizza, I think I may be starting to love calzones even more!

Hope y’all have a great week!

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