Grilled Whole Wheat Calzones

The last time I was grilling pizza, I thought, "hmm. . . I wonder if calzones would work on a grill?"

Yep. They do. They turned out amazing, actually. Like a homemade hot pocket. I was afraid the crust would be too thin, but it held everything in and cooked up nicely.

I used my trusty cast-iron grill pan to make these, and I assume it would be fine on a regular grill, too. I really need to get an outdoor grill so I can test my grill pan recipes on it. Oh yea, I need a backyard first. And a house to go with that. Someday . . .

So, here's how it went down:

Pretty straightforward. I used my go-to (mostly) wheat pizza crust recipe, but I think any recipe would work. If you don't want to grill them you can bake them in the oven. Or even freeze them after you put them together and throw them into the oven later in the week. I did that. I realized I was going to have eight of these things, so I froze four. They turn out beautifully whether you grill them or bake them!

Grilled Whole Wheat Calzones
by Natalie

1 recipe whole wheat pizza crust (or your favorite recipe, about 1 lb of dough)
1 lb uncooked Italian turkey sausage, remove from its casings
2 small zucchini, grated and squeezed to remove excess moisture
1/2 red bell pepper, diced finely
1 tsp Italian seasoning or 1-2 T minced fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, etc.)
2 cups pizza or marinara sauce (I like this sauce.)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Crumble sausage into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring and breaking up the sausage, until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add a little oil to the pan, if needed, then add grated zucchini and diced bell pepper. Cook until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add herbs and pizza sauce to skillet and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Add sausage back to the pan and simmer for another 4-5 minutes until much of the liquid has absorbed. The mixture should be fairly chunky (see photo in post). Let filling cool for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat grill to medium-high or oven to 425 degrees F.

Divide dough into 8 balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball out to a 7 or 8-inch circle. The dough should be pretty thin, about 1/8th of an inch. Place a couple of spoonfuls of mixture onto the bottom half of the dough, sprinkle with a bit of cheese, then fold the upper half over the bottom half. Seal the edges by folding the bottom edge over the top and pinching to seal. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

If grilling, carefully transfer calzones to the hot grill and grill, covered, for about 15 minutes, turning once, until both sides have nice grill marks and the crust is somewhat crisp.

If baking, brush the calzones with a little olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are as brown as you like them.

Makes 8 calzones.

Nat's Notes:
1. These freeze wonderfully! After I realized how many this would make (I wasn't sure in the beginning), I decided to freeze half of them for later. After assembling the calzones, place on a baking sheet and freeze them. Once they're frozen solid, you can transfer them to a plastic zip-top bag and store in the freezer. To cook, simply place them on a baking sheet, brush with oil and bake at 425 for about 25-30 minutes. I wouldn't recommend grilling them once they've been frozen.
2. You can use whatever filling you want for these. If you grill them, I'd recommend using pre-cooked filling and nothing that would release a lot of moisture (like raw vegetables) or they may get mushy.

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Originally posted HERE.