Easy Meat and Cheese Calzones

Shout out to my friend Amy, the ZMBS, who requested me to post this recipe. 


All righty, now that I'm back at it, I've got another ridiculously easy recipe for ya. (Fair warning: This one is not at all healthy.)
Vegan/vegetarian substitution: I made this using real meat, but I'm sure that soy/tofu could be substituted without a problem. Anything like crumbled soy sausage, soy pepperoni, sliced soy hot dogs, etc would probably be good in this recipe. I haven't yet tried it this way, but I hope to soon!

You'll need:

• 1 pckg. frozen yeast rolls
• Marinara spaghetti/pizza sauce
• Dairy-free cheese (I used Daiya*)
• Turkey lunch meat
• Non-stick cooking spray
• I didn't use anything else, but feel free to add your favorite add-ons--peppers, fresh herbs, olives, whatever you like!

Set out however many rolls you want to use and allow them to thaw (depending on how warm it is, you can probably start working with them in as little as 1-2 hours). I used four rolls per calzone.

(I just used some from a pack of frozen rolls I got at Kroger. If you want to feel less like you're cheating, you're welcome to make your own dough from scratch--but who has the time?) 



Once the dough has thawed, spray the surface you plan to work on with the cooking spray, to keep the dough from sticking. (I just worked on a piece of foil.)

Using your fingers, work the dough balls together and flatten them, stretching out your dough as you do. (You'll probably notice that the dough has some elasticity, and won't stay flattened out as round and large as you originally roll it. Just keep working it, and make sure to stretch it back out before you put the filling on.)

On your "dough palette," (we're really getting fancy now!) spoon some of the sauce and spread it out over the whole thing, like you would for a mini-pizza. (Leave some edges.)
The amount of sauce really depends on your preference. I spooned on two small spoons of sauce, and found that it wasn't really enough. Experiment and figure out what you like. Just don't over-fill, because you still have to close the calzone!

Cut the lunch meat into strips, and place the strips on top of the sauce. Be a little liberal; the dough will rise a bit in the oven, and you don't want there to be too much bread and not enough filling.

Over the meat, sprinkle a liberal amount of the vegan-friendly cheese.

Now, fold the "dough palette" in half, and press the edges together. To ensure that the edges stay together, roll them ever so slightly. Then flip the calzone over (carefully!), to help keep the edges from un-rolling.

Set your oven to 375 degrees. Spray your baking sheet with cooking spray, place the calzone(s) onto it, and pop it into the oven.

The main thing you're waiting for is for the dough to bake, and the cheese inside to melt (you won't be able to tell about the cheese inside by looking, but it's safe to say that it's melted once the dough is baked).

I think it took maybe 15-25 minutes to bake the ones I made, but it might take a little longer.
Also, for reasons I won't go into now, I had to cover mine with foil, and they didn't really brown. However, if you bake them uncovered, they should (hopefully) turn out more golden brown.

Voila! Enjoy.
(Sorry there aren't pictures of the finished product--I hope to rectify this eventually!)


*This was the first time I'd actually eaten this cheese, and I was really impressed. The flavor is great, and--unlike regular cheese--it doesn't get hard and solid when it starts to cool off. It stays melty and delicious.