Craving something extremely tasty? These calzone(ish) style pizza stars should kill the crave and send you whirling into pizza heaven. I love pizza and even more than pizza I love calzones. Even though this is not a traditional style calzone recipe, this is a good way to enjoy an Italian-style meal with a small amount of fun and easy prep. One of our family traditions is making pizza for Christmas Eve. I was trying out new dough recipes ahead of time and wanted to try a new style of pizza since I had seen a picture of something like this.
I start by making my own dough. You have to have pizza dough, whether it is store-bought or made from scratch. Simply buying a pizza crust will not cut it. I like to use this recipe for pizza dough. It only takes about 20 to 30 min. and it doesn’t require the dough to rise. Once you have got the dough kneaded to perfection, take your dough and spread it out into a circle to make your desired size. I use a 14-inch pizza pan. Make sure you lightly spray the pan with oil to keep the dough from sticking.
Now take a knife or a pizza cutter and gently from the center cut a small 2 to 3 inch slit depending on the size of your pizza. Make your next cut the same size but on an angle, just like you’re cutting a mini pizza. And the last cut from the other side so that you make 1 cut straight down and the other 2 cuts creating an X over the first cut. (see picture of cut dough below). That was fun! The dough will stretch, so don’t freak out if after the cuts the slices pull back and become small. They will stretch right back to where you will need them.
Before you add your toppings take melted butter (lightly salted if preferred) and baste it around the outside edge of the pizza. Now you can top the pizza with your sauce and whatever else you like. The traditional calzone has salted bread dough, baked in an oven and stuffed with salami or ham, mozzarella, ricotta, and Parmesan or pecorino cheese, as well as an egg.
I prefer traditional pizza sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella3, and cheddar cheese.
With all the toppings on, take the middle triangle slits of dough and pull them over the top of your toppings and push down onto the buttered edge. The butter should help it stick and stay in place. Finish by lightly buttering the entire top and sprinkling some parmesan on top.
Bake in the oven at 425 degrees until golden brown on the edges and the top.
ENJOY!
I hope this inspires you to get into your kitchen and make one of these delicious Pizza Star Rings. What are your favorite toppings?
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