"Homemade" Veggie Calzones

Once in a while dinnertime is upon us, and I feel like my family hasn't met their veggie goal for the day. I usually throw together a salad to go with whatever we are eating, and load it up with peppers, cucumbers, carrots, and other veggies.

Tonight I decided to do something a little more fun. I had two balls of Trader Joe's pizza dough in my fridge, and thought veggie calzones were the way to go. I rummaged through the fridge/freezer and came up with a few things to toss in (I always have tomatoes and garlic on hand, and my cheese drawer is pretty consistently stocked).

I ended up making two calzones, one with peppers and mushrooms, and one with spinach, peppers, and crushed red pepper.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup flour (to flour your work surface)

Two balls of Trader Joe's pizza dough (fresh, delicious, and only $0.99 each!)

1 cup chopped sweet peppers (I used red, yellow, and orange)

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup organic frozen chopped spinach

2 cups organic shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup grated parmesan

2 cans stewed tomatoes

8 fresh garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

1 t crushed red pepper

I started by putting the garlic cloves and cans of stewed tomatoes in the food processor. I blended them for about 20 seconds. This sauce was used for the inside of the calzones, as well as a dipping sauce for the table.


The directions on the pizza dough say to let it stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before using.

After 20 minutes, flour your work surface, and roll out the first ball of dough. Use a spoon to spread the tomato sauce on the dough, then top with 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Add the mushrooms and half the peppers, then fold the "pizza" in half, and pinch around the edges to form a calzone.

Do the same thing to the second one, but add the crushed red pepper to the sauce, top with cheese and the remaining veggies, and fold over and pinch into a calzone.

Brush the top of each calzone with olive oil, and top with the shredded parmesan. Place them both on an olive oil greased baking sheet and stick in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Check to make sure the dough is cooked all the way through. Serve with a side of tomato sauce and enjoy!