Spinach, Mushroom and Onion Calzones

I think of calzones as portable little pizzas. Minus the sauce of course, which is probably why I enjoy them so much. You see, I’m not a huge fan of tomato sauce. I did serve these with sauce from a jar on the side but Michael didn’t even use it. He said they were perfectly delicious without the sauce.

For the Dough
Ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
¹/₂ tsp salt
1¹/₂ cup warm water (approx. 105^o)

Directions:

1. Combine the flour and yeast into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook and stir
2. Continue mixing as you slowly add the water and salt. Mix until the dough forms a ball on the hook.
3. Transfer the dough into a bowl greased with olive oil and cover with a towel. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place (I put mine in the oven with the light turned on) for 1 hour.
4. Uncover the dough and punch it down. Lightly flour a countertop and lightly knead the dough into a ball. Roll the dough into a log and divide in half for larger calzones or quarters if you want small ones.

For the Filling:
Ingredients:
¹/₂ cup ricotta cheese
¹/₂ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups uncooked spinach
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400^o
2. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Saute the onions until they are clear, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and spinach and cook until the spinach is bright green, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and stir into the vegetable mixture. Remove from heat and cool.
4. Mix the ricotta and mozzarella in a large bowl. Add the cooled vegetable mixture to the cheeses and mix well.
5. Roll the divided dough into circles and fill half the dough with the filling, leaving about a ¹/₂ inch between the filling and the end of the dough.
6. Fold the unfilled half of the dough over to cover the filling and press and fold the edges together.
7. Transfer the calzones to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

As always, enjoy!

Tags: garlic, mozzarella, mushrooms, onions, red pepper flakes, ricotta, spinach, white whole wheat flour