Braided Calzone Recipe

We love pizza! A major money saver for us is homemade pizza instead of ordering it out. Since pizza is on our menu plan each week, we like to mix it up and try lots of different types of pizza. It keeps things interesting and keeps us from wanting to order a pizza too!

I saw a picture of a braided calzone on Pinterest (I love Pinterest! Have I mentioned that before? Yeah, thought so!) and had to put it on the menu last week. I opted for making one of my more traditional pizza dough recipes, though I added a bit of whole wheat flour because I ran out of white flour.

Roll the pizza dough out into a rectangle, spread pizza sauce down the center, top with your favorite toppings (we used pepperoni) and then cheese. Cut slits (I used kitchen shears since my calzone was sitting on the pizza stone) down each side of the dough opposite the sauce, making sure to not cut all the way to the sauce (Don't want it to run out while baking!). Starting at one end alternate strips of dough from each side, pulling them across and down to cover the filling.

It is really easy to do and looks beautiful!

A peak inside...

Cheesy, pizza pocket amazingness!

This was sooo good...its back on the menu this week!

Pizza Dough (source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook Bridal Edition)

2 3/4 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used about 1 cup wheat)

2 1/2 teasp. yeast

1/4 teasp. salt

1 cup warm water

2 Tbsp. cooking oil or olive oil

Method:

Combine 1 cup flour, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl; add warm water and oil. Beat on low for 30 seconds, then on high for 3 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, kneeding in additional flour to make a pliable but stiff dough. 

Roll dough into a rectangle. Spread pizza sauce down the center, top with your favorite toppings (we used pepperoni) and then cheese. Cut slits (I used kitchen shears since my calzone was sitting on the pizza stone) down each side of the dough opposite the sauce, making sure to not cut all the way to the sauce (Don't want it to run out while baking!). Starting at one end alternate strips of dough from each side, pulling them across and down to cover the filling.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!