Large, cheese and sauce filled pockets of crispy dough whose stuffings ooze out after your first cut, remember those? Calzones and strombolis had disappeared from my diet along with gluten several years ago but quickly made a homemade return when I discovered Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix. And while I was pregnant I must say this mix, along with those easy to use premade gluten free pizza crusts, were a godsend as I craved pizzas and calzones like crazy. Pregnant or not, I just love the idea of a calzone that has all of the goodness of a pizza just wrapped up in a pocket of dough…so good!!!
From experience, I would say Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix produces the best gluten free pizzas and calzones that give that beloved doughy texture, without them tasting and feeling like bread. Not to mention with one bag of the mix, that costs you about $3.49, you get at least 6 larger personal size calzones that give our family of 3 a couple of meals (You can certainly make a few very large calzones, but we prefer the personal size so we can customize each to each of our own preferences). I’m not going to lie, making pizzas or calzones essentially from scratch is not a quick undertaking, however the end result is fantastic and completely worth every second, not to mention depending on family size, you can get a few meals out of just one round! You can always do as I did while I was pregnant and recruit your spouse to assist with some of the more labor intensive tasks while you do the fun stuff like the assembly (or even just the eating part!). These calzones are so delicious and make my mouth water every time I think about them! Hope you enjoy them too!
Ingredients for Tomato Sauce:
- 28 oz can Tuttorosso Tomato Sauce
- 1 tsp dried basil for tomato sauce
- 1 tsp dried oregano for tomato sauce
- 1 tsp dried parsley for tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp minced garlic for tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil for tomato sauce
Other Ingredients for Calzones:
- 1 Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Whole Grain Mix (includes 1 packet of yeast)
- 2 eggs for pizza crust
- 2 tbsp olive oil for pizza crust
- 1 1/2 cup warm water for pizza crust
- 16 oz block of part skim mozzarella cheese (Galbani Sorrento is gluten free as indicated via phone, but as always call each time you purchase to review gluten status)
- 1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese (Galbani Sorrento)
- Additional toppings desired such as broccoli or pepperoni (our favorite is Hormel which states gluten free on their packaging)
- Gluten free all purpose flour for rolling out dough (I like Bob’s Red Mill)
- Oregano and Garlic Salt to taste
- 28 oz can Tuttorosso Tomato Sauce
- 1 tsp dried basil for tomato sauce
- 1 tsp dried oregano for tomato sauce
- 1 tsp dried parsley for tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp minced garlic for tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil for tomato sauce (I use Pompeian)
- Add 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp minced garlic to sauce pan.
- Cook garlic on low-medium heat until slightly browned.
- Add a 28 oz can of tomato sauce (I like Tutturosso).
- Stir sauce and heat on low-medium.
- Add 1 tsp of dried basil, oregano, and parsley and stir to combine.
- Taste sauce and add a bit of garlic salt if you'd like.
- Heat sauce for about 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from heat and set sauce aside.
- First prepare the sauce by adding 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp minced garlic to sauce pan.
- Cook garlic on low-medium heat until slightly browned.
- Add a 28 oz can of tomato sauce (I like Tutturosso).
- Stir sauce and heat on low-medium.
- Add 1 tsp of dried basil, oregano, and parsley and stir to combine.
- Taste sauce and add a bit of garlic salt if you’d like.
- Heat sauce for about 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from heat and set sauce aside.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Now prepare Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix by first combining 1 1/2 cups warm water and 1 packet of yeast (included in the mix bag) with a mixer and set aside for several minutes.
- Add 2 eggs and 2 tbsp olive oil to yeast and mix.
- Gradually add in Bob’s Red Mill pizza mix, mixing well after each addition.
- When all is combined, divide dough in half, cover with saran wrap, and allow to rise for about 20 minutes.
- While dough is rising, shred 16 oz block of part skim mozzarella cheese.
- Collect all other fillings to assemble your calzones. We like Hormel pepperoni, Sorrento part skim ricotta cheese, and steamed broccoli.
- Now we’re ready to separate and roll out our dough for our calzones.
- Dust your counter, table, or cutting board with gluten free flour and add dough on top. Cover your hands in flour and begin to knead the dough. Do this until the dough is not too sticky to manage.
- Divide dough into 6-7 individual servings. We had 6 personal size along with a smaller one for my little girl. Set all aside except for first one.
- Using a rolling pin dusted in gluten free flour, add gluten free flour to top of dough and begin to roll slowly. Take your time with this and don’t be afraid to keep adding little bits of flour as you go to prevent sticking. Roll out dough to form a thin circle. You can either do this on the baking sheet that you’ll be assembling the calzone on or on a separate surface that might give you more room, just remember you’ll have to move the dough to cook it later on.
- I usually like to roll out my dough on a large cutting board and then either slide it or pick it up to move it onto the baking sheet. However you’d like to do it, gently move the dough onto a baking sheet.
- Now put together your calzones! First, to half of your circle, add some sauce, then some mozzarella and ricotta cheese, and broccoli or pepperoni or whichever other toppings you’d like. The best part here is you can add as much or as little of each of these things as you prefer! I personally love ricotta, mozzarella cheese, and sauce in mine! Just make sure to not over stuff your calzones and leave a bit of an edge to pinch your calzone closed.
- Turn over the empty half of your circle and pinch the cough closed, making sure to create a sealed pocket on all sides. Then using a sharp knife, add several slits to the top. I use this part to mark each of our different calzones, i.e. little one’s have two slits, mine have three, and Dan’s have four.
- Before cooking, sprinkle tops with a little bit of garlic salt and oregano.
- Cook calzones for 14-16 minutes until tops begin to turn golden brown. Optional: Halfway through you can brush olive oil on tops to give a golden, crispy crust.
- Enjoy!
I love the combination of the tomato sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese all sandwiched into this fabulous gluten free pizza dough. If you have extra sauce, which we always have a ton, we like to take each bite and dip it into a little sauce on the side, it just adds a little something extra (if you still have extra, add it to a freezer bag when it’s cooled and freeze it for next time or another recipe). I think the best part of this recipe is that these calzones always reheat very well. As a family of 3 we never finish all of the calzones that are made, so we always have leftovers for the next day’s lunch or dinner. It’s so simple to reheat these, all you have to do is pop them into the microwave or oven, whatever is available, for a few minutes and they taste just as good as the day before. After just one bite of one of these calzones, you’ll remember the wonderful flavors of the gluten filled ones that you enjoyed years ago but now you can enjoy without the dangers of gluten!
Sincerely,
Lindsay
TIP: Although I have two non-gluten free eaters in my house, when I make something like these calzones from scratch that requires flour and any other potential gluten containing ingredient, I stick with only making a gluten free version to prevent any inevitable cross contamination. Usually, on a daily basis I prefer to make two versions, one for my daughter and husband and the other for me, when it’s easily and safely accomplished. In this case though, when flour is involved, I shy away from bringing out my gluten free and their regular flour at the same time, thus eliminating the worry of cross contaminating during the prep and of course the necessity of keeping everything separate while cooking too. Altogether, making just one version of the calzones is safer for me and my gluten diners sure have not complained about their gluten free calzones one bit. In fact, each time my husband raves about how delicious they turn out!
- 28 oz can Tuttorosso Tomato Sauce
- 1 tsp dried basil for tomato sauce
- 1 tsp dried oregano for tomato sauce
- 1 tsp dried parsley for tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp minced garlic for tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil for tomato sauce
- 1 Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Whole Grain Mix (includes 1 packet of yeast)
- 2 eggs for pizza crust
- 2 tbsp olive oil for pizza crust
- 1 1/2 cup warm water for pizza crust
- 16 oz block of part skim mozzarella cheese (Galbani Sorrento is gluten free as indicated via phone, but as always call each time you purchase to review gluten status)
- 1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese (Galbani Sorrento)
- Additional toppings desired such as broccoli or pepperoni (our favorite is Hormel which states gluten free on their packaging)
- Gluten free all purpose flour for rolling out dough (I like Bob's Red Mill)
- Oregano and Garlic Salt to taste
- First prepare the sauce by adding 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp minced garlic to sauce pan.
- Cook garlic on low-medium heat until slightly browned.
- Add a 28 oz can of tomato sauce (I like Tutturosso).
- Stir sauce and heat on low-medium.
- Add 1 tsp of dried basil, oregano, and parsley and stir to combine.
- Taste sauce and add a bit of garlic salt if you'd like.
- Heat sauce for about 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from heat and set sauce aside.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Now prepare Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix by first combining 1 1/2 cups warm water and 1 packet of yeast (included in the mix bag) with a mixer and set aside for several minutes.
- Add 2 eggs and 2 tbsp olive oil to yeast and mix.
- Gradually add in Bob's Red Mill pizza mix, mixing well after each addition.
- When all is combined, divide dough in half, cover with saran wrap, and allow to rise for about 20 minutes.
- While dough is rising, shred 16 oz block of part skim mozzarella cheese.
- Collect all other fillings to assemble your calzones. We like Hormel pepperoni, Sorrento part skim ricotta cheese, and steamed broccoli.
- Now we're ready to separate and roll out our dough for our calzones.
- Dust your counter, table, or cutting board with gluten free flour and add dough on top. Cover your hands in flour and begin to knead the dough. Do this until the dough is not too sticky to manage.
- Divide dough into 6-7 individual servings. We had 6 personal size along with a smaller one for my little girl. Set all aside except for first one.
- Using a rolling pin dusted in gluten free flour, add gluten free flour to top of dough and begin to roll slowly. Take your time with this and don't be afraid to keep adding little bits of flour as you go to prevent sticking. Roll out dough to form a thin circle. You can either do this on the baking sheet that you'll be assembling the calzone on or on a separate surface that might give you more room, just remember you'll have to move the dough to cook it later on.
- I usually like to roll out my dough on a large cutting board and then either slide it or pick it up to move it onto the baking sheet. However you'd like to do it, gently move the dough onto a baking sheet.
- Now put together your calzones! First, to half of your circle, add some sauce, then some mozzarella and ricotta cheese, and broccoli or pepperoni or whichever other toppings you'd like. The best part here is you can add as much or as little of each of these things as you prefer! I personally love mozzarella, ricotta, and sauce! Just make sure to not over stuff your calzones and leave a bit of an edge to pinch your calzone closed.
- Turn over the empty half of your circle and pinch the cough closed, making sure to create a sealed pocket on all sides. Then using a sharp knife, add several slits to the top. I use this part to mark each of our different calzones, i.e. little one's have two slits, mine have three, and Dan's have four.
- Before cooking, sprinkle tops with a little bit of garlic salt and oregano.
- Cook calzones for 14-16 minutes until tops begin to turn golden brown. Optional: Halfway through you can brush olive oil on tops to give a golden, crispy crust.
- Enjoy!