Calzones

These will be making an appearance again in our house, that's for sure. My husband actually ASKED for the leftovers. Unheard of. Adapted from this recipe. You can make this a quick meal by using refridgerated pizza dough, just roll it out and cut it into rectangles and fill from there.

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  
• 1 cup diced turkey pepperoni
• 1 cup chopped spinach
  
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 1 egg, beaten

1. To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water for 10 minutes. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled.
2. To Make Filling: While dough is rising, combine the ricotta cheese, mozarella cheese, pepperoni, spinach and basil leaves in a large bowl. Mix well, cover bowl and refrigerate to chill.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. When dough is ready, punch it down and separate it into 8 equal parts (they will still be quite a bit larger than a hot pocket at this size). Roll parts out into thin circles on a lightly floured surface. Fill each circle with 1/8 of the cheese/meat filling and fold over, securing edges by folding in and pressing with a fork. Brush the top of each calzone with egg and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

I served this with homemade marinara sauce, that I just made up on the fly. I wish I would have written down what I did, because it was really good! I can give you an idea though and you can make it to suit your tastes.

1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste (a larger can, not the tiny ones)
1 can of tomato sauce
a tablespoon or so of dried basil
a bit of sage - not sure why, just sounded good
a tablespoon or so of olive oil
a few cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 of an onion, chopped
a dash or so of sugar
a dash or two of salt