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Beef Calzone is the perfect meal on the go and is filled with a delicious meat and cheese mixture. The perfect grab and go meal.
A calzone is like a pizza pocket or turnover. In Italian it actually means “stocking” or “trouser”. Not really sure how it resembles a stocking or trouser but oh well!
The great thing about these beef calzone is they can be eaten out of hand or with a knife and fork. They freeze well so they are perfect for a quick snack or lunch for someone. And they are delicious.
Ingredients Needed
- Dry active yeast
- Flour, I use unbleached all purpose flour
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Ground Breakfast Sausage, I like to use mild but you can also use hot.
- Ground beef, you can use all hamburger if you prefer. You can also use any leftover meat you may have in the fridge. Shredded chicken or shredded beef both work great.
- Onion, white or yellow onion
- Canned tomatoes and chilies, I use the Rotel brand
- Ricotta Cheese, whole milk
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Monterey Jack Cheese
- Egg
- Salt and Black Pepper
How to Make Beef Calzone
- Mix up one batch of pizza crust dough and let it rise according to the directions below, about one hour.
- Combine the sausage and hambugrer with the onion. Cook in a large nonstick skillet until browned and then drain off grease
- Pour in the tomatoes and chilies and stir to combine Cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly
- Combine cheese ,egg, and a dash of salt and pepper in a bowl.
- Add the cooled meat mixture to the cheese mixture and stir to gently combine
- Divide the dough into eight pieces and roll each piece out into a circle.
- Spoon beef and cheese mixture onto half of the dough. You can really pile it up! Use approximately 1/8 of the mixture per calzone.
- Fold the other half of the dough over the top of the meat mixture so that your edges line up.
- Roll the edges together or use a fork to press into the edges of dough to close the calzone. Roll the dough edges.
- Give the beef calzone a light coat of olive oil and a sprinkle of coarse salt for extra flavor before baking.
- Heat oven to 450 degrees F and place the calzones on a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Tips
- Substitute your favorite cheese for the mozzarella and Monterey jack.
- You can replace the ground beef with beef barbacoa, pork carnitas, pepperoni or vegetables. It is a great way to use up leftovers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I freeze beef calzone?
They freeze wonderfully. The recipe made more than our reduced size family could eat so after baking and cooling I wrapped them individually in plastic wrap and foil and tossed them in the freezer.
Can I use rapid rise yeast?
Rapid rise yeast will work fine, just delete the step where you proof the yeast in the water and just add all the ingredients in together.
How do I reheat beef calzone?
Oven: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Place calzone on a baking sheet.
Bake in oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until heated through. If the calzone is frozen it will take around 25-30 minutes to heat through.
Microwave: Place the calzone on a plate and microwave for 1-2 minutes or until heated through.
Some other easy dinner ideas you might enjoy:
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Beef Calzone
Ingredients
Pizza Crust
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
Cowboy Calzone
- 1/2 lb. hot breakfast sausage I used mild
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 onion finely diced
- 8 oz. can tomatoes and chilies Rotel brand
- 8 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 egg beaten
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
Pizza Crust
- Yield: 2 pizza crusts
- In a mixing bowl, pour the yeast over 1 1/2 cups of warm water, stirring gently
- the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour and salt Add in olive oil and mix to incorporate.
- Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, mixing until the dough forms a ball. (You can also do this by hand.)
- Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean bowl. Add dough to bowl, cover and let rise for 1-2 hours. It can also rise, covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
- If you only need half of the dough, he other half of the dough may be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 3 days before use, or frozen for up to 6 months
Beef Calzone
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- In a large skillet combine the sausage and hambugrer with the onion. Cook until browned and then drain off grease
- Pour in the tomatoes and chilies and stir to combine Cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly
- In a bowl combine the three cheeses and the egg, dash of salt and pepper
- Add the cooled meat mixture to the cheese mixture and stir to gently combine
- Divide the pizza dough into 8 equal size balls
- With a rolling pin on a floured surface, roll each ball into a 6 inch circle
- Place one eighth of the meat/cheese mixture in the middle of each circle
- Fold half of the circle over the other half, gently pressing to slightly spread and flatten the filling inside
- Press a fork along the edge to seal closed then transfer the calzone to a greased baking sheet Repeat with the remaining dough and filling
- Brush the top of calzone with olive oil and bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
Tips & Notes:
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Nutrition Facts:
Darilyn says
Great review! The dough does look really good. I can’t wait to try these.
Sharon says
do you think the calzones would freeze..and do you freeze them before or after they are cooked?
Laura says
Leigh Anne, I have been wanting to make her calzones for a while. Good to hear you liked them. They look yummy. I have just been afraid to do calzones because I was worried about them turning out doughy, but I think I will give these a shot.
Jelli says
These look good! We had pizza last night too, but as usual, I cleaned out my fridge for the toppings (usually Fridays are pizza nights with leftovers topping the pie). I’d like to try calzones sometime, but I don’t know if I’d like the higher crust-to-fillings ratio. Nevertheless, these look mighty fine!
Sallie Sullivan says
I got this cookbook for Christmas and am excited to try so many of the recipes. This looks like a great one my whole family will eat.