Quick and Easy Calzones

Since I waited until 5:00pm to start thinking about dinner, I had to pull something out of my bag of tricks pronto. The Tot does not do well when her schedule is compromised. And when the Tot isn't happy...well, you know the rest.

I pulled all of these ingredients from my pantry and fridge, and I would recommend you do the same. I used refrigerated pizza dough because I had it, but feel free to make it from scratch if you feel feisty.

Here's what you need:

2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz. or 1 bag)

1/2 cup ricotta cheese (you can also use cottage cheese)

1/4 cup basil

1/4 cup plus about 4 TBSP Parmesan cheese

1 can refrigerated pizza dough at room temp (it's harder to work with cold)

All-purpose flour for dusting

1 large egg

*1 TBSP breadcrumbs

Marinara sauce for dipping

Your favorite toppings (onions, green pepper, sausage)- I used turkey sausage, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking pan with foil

*spray foil with Pam - trust me on this. It's almost impossible to get off the foil without it!

2. Make the filling.

Mix mozzarella, ricotta, Parmesan, breadcrumbs and basil until well combined. 

*NOTE: I recently read in Food Network Magazine that you need to add the breadcrumbs to the ricotta because of the moisture. If you omit this, it makes the dough inside a little soggy.

Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll out each piece on a floured surface into a 7 or 8 inch round.

Spoon 1/4 of the filling and your toppings onto one half of the round. (Leave about 1/2 inch spaced edge). Take your egg (beaten) and brush the edges of the dough. Fold the dough over to seal and crimp the edges with a fork. Brush the calzones with the rest of the egg and cut two small slits in the top of each for venting steam. Sprinkle the calzones with remaining Parmesan and bake until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes.

Serve with warm marinara sauce in the side and enjoy.