Cherry Tomato Calzones made with fresh cherry tomatoes, Ricotta and Mozzarella cheese, fresh rosemary and garlic is a tasty, meatless weeknight meal.
It's only July and my cherry tomato plants are growing in overdrive. It must be all of the rain we experienced in June. In any event, I'm already trying to create recipes utilizing tomatoes so that they don't go to waste.
Like that would ever happen, but I still wanted to experiment with something new and came up with these Cherry Tomato Calzones.
What is a calzone?
A calzone is a type of pizza that contains a filling, is folded in half then baked and originated in Naples, Italy. A traditional calzone is filled with meat; usually salami or ham, ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
I've made a Ham & Cheese Calzone here before, but haven't made any calzones since April 2012. That goes to show you how often I make these and it's not because they don't taste good...they're phenomenal! I guess I just forgot about them.
In general, I purchase frozen pizza dough or buy dough from my local pizzeria since I live in NJ; outside of NYC and this area has the best pizza. Seriously. I have even had pizza delivered to my mother in Florida and friends in Texas when they're craving the good stuff.
I guess I could make my own dough one of these days, but whenever the mood strikes for pizza it's just easier to order out or use their dough instead. Besides, it's cheap and saves time too!
Anyway, back to these Cherry Tomato Calzones. For the inside I used a mixture of ricotta cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, fresh rosemary, garlic and halved cherry tomatoes. Simple ingredients...gotta love it.
How do you make calzones?
Start with two balls of dough and cut each in half so that you will have a total of four dough balls. Stretch each pizza dough ball out until it is about ¼-inch thick. I generally place it on a hard surface, add a bit of extra virgin olive oil; then use my hands to stretch it out.
In a medium bowl, combine the mozzarella, ricotta, rosemary and garlic. Mix well. Divide the cheese mixture into four portions and spread each portion of cheese onto half of the pizza dough round; then top with eight halves of the cherry tomatoes.
Fold the dough over in a half moon shape so that it covers the cheese and tomatoes; then seal the edges shut by pinching the dough together with your fingers. Spray cooking spray on a baking sheet, place each of the calzones; then spray the top of the calzones.
You can also brush on extra virgin olive oil if you don't have cooking spray. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until dough is puffed up and lightly brown.
These meatless Cherry Tomato Calzones were delicious and so filling and the family really enjoyed them as well. My first instinct was to add basil instead of rosemary, but I was out of that. Swapping fresh herbs really changes the flavor of your recipes and gives them a unique twist.
What if I want to make a stromboli instead?
These calzones can also be made as a Stromboli if you're looking to feed a crowd or want to use this as an appetizer. You would only need one pizza dough instead of two; however, the filling you would use the same since you will be covering the entire dough.
- Leave the dough whole and stretch out as mentioned above.
- Mix filling and spread it across the dough leaving a border around the edges; then add your tomato halves.
- Roll up the dough into a log, pinch the ends, spray with cooking spray then bake. When it's done, you can slice it into smaller portion sizes.
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Cherry Tomato Calzones
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pizza dough
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Start with two balls of dough and cut each in half so that you will have a total of four dough balls. Stretch each pizza dough ball out until it is about ¼-inch thick.( I place it on a hard surface, add a bit of extra virgin olive oil; then use my hands to stretch it out.)
- In a medium bowl, combine the mozzarella, ricotta, rosemary and garlic. Mix well.
- Divide the cheese mixture into four portions and spread each portion of cheese onto half of the pizza dough round; then top with eight halves of the cherry tomatoes.
- Fold the dough over in a half moon shape so that it covers the cheese and tomatoes; then seal the edges shut by pinching the dough together with your fingers.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil, place each of the calzones; then brush a little olive oil on the top
- Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until dough is puffed up and lightly brown.
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Beverley says
I can't tell you how excited I am about making these! Carrie you have such a great way of putting recipes together xoxo
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
Thank you so much Beverley, I truly appreciate that. Simple is best!!! xoxo
Reduceri online says
It looks very tasty!
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
Thank you!