I’ve been having a freezer meal making bonanza lately for the new parents, and these sausage and pepper calzones received rave reviews.
Not being much of a pizza gal myself, I never really thought about freezing pre-made calzones. My friends at Cooking Light magazine inspired this recipe, and I’m sure glad about it.
Mr. Pizza himself, The Hubs, so knowledgeably  informed me that calzones have no sauce (the reason I don’t really love pizza) and stromboli DO have sauce. Therefore, I have now learned that I love calzones, but don’t entirely care for stromboli.
Whether or not this is actually the case, I’m just gonna go with it.
Traditional toppings (errr, fillings) aside, calzones can be stuffed with pretty much anything you can dream up. I think spinach and artichoke would be awesome, or even bacon and cheddar! Maybe even taco style with seasoned beef, lettuce, tomato and cheese.
My personal favorite pizza is tomato, onion, spinach, roasted red peppers and feta cheese which I think would be great as a calzone!
By using refrigerated pizza dough, its easy to make a big batch of all different varieties and freeze them for a busy night in the future. Simplicity is the name of the game!
Sausage and Pepper Calzones
The best ever sausage and pepper recipe is the one wrapped in a pizza crust. A calzone recipe the whole family will love.
Ingredients
- 1 can refrigerated pizza dough
- 1 Vidalia or other sweet onion chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
- Cooking spray
- 1 pound hot Italian turkey sausage links
- 1 1/3 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees
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Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Coat with cooking spray and add peppers and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables begin to soften. Remove from pan and set aside.
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Remove sausages from casings and crumble into hot pan. Cook until meat is browned. Remove from heat and add to pepper and onion mixture.
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Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface; divide dough into 4 equal portions. Stretch each portion into a 9 x 5-inch rectangle.
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Arrange sausage and pepper mixture evenly over half of each rectangle. Sprinkle each calzone with 1/3 cup cheese.
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Fold other half of dough over filling; press edges together with a fork to seal.
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Place calzones on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat calzones with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown.
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Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut each calzone in half; serve with pizza sauce for dipping.
Recipe adapted from Cooking LightÂ
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Tracey @ The Kitchen is My Playground says
I love to make huge batches of calzones and freeze them, Betsy! Your sausage & pepper version looks delicious … will have to keep it in mind for my next calzone-fest!
Tracey @ The Kitchen is My Playground
Wendy | Around My Family Table says
I’m lovin’ how easy this recipe is! YUM!
Lolli @ Better in Bulk says
I love the idea of freezing them for later! When we make pizza as a family, a few of my kids make theirs calzone-style, but I’ve never done it myself. I’ve got to try this soon!
MelG says
Do you bake them before freezing? Or do you freeze them raw?
betsy says
I froze them raw
Betsy says
These look amazing! They have to be good, we have the same name 🙂
Ralph Nazzaro says
I am going to try this recipe becaude it looks really good.
I am going to add ricotta cheese also. I think that would really separate the calzone vs. stromboli which btw is not even Italian food,it is American.