We vary our sausage calzone recipe by using store-bought (whole wheat) pizza dough and adding spinach and artichoke hearts—making it “healthier”. The result is that much easier to prepare and equally delicious!

Alternate Preparations: Sausage Calzones

We start by taking the dough out of the refrigerator and preheating the oven, with a pizza stone in it, to 450° F.

While the oven heats, we get the preparation done for the fillings. We put the spinach in a medium sized bowl with half a tablespoon of water and cook in the microwave until wilted (between 30 seconds and a minute). We squeeze it dry with a clean towel (we could have used our ricer for this) and then chop the spinach.

In a large bowl, we combine the ricotta, mozzarella, and Locatelli. Adding a little salt, and some freshly ground black pepper, the mixture is stirred and tasted for seasoning. The cooled spinach is stirred in.

The already cooked sausage and the canned artichoke hearts are chopped with kitchen scissors.

The dough is divided into two pieces. Each piece is spread into an 8-inch circle on a large, oiled dinner plate. We place some of the spinach-cheese filling on one side of the circle, making sure to leave a half-inch border. We cover the cheese with sliced sausage and artichoke hearts, according to individual tastes. We fold the side without filling over to seal in the filling, folding the bottom edge up over the top edge and trying to seal it as best we can with our fingers.

We drizzle some of the olive oil on top and sprinkle with salt.

Finally, we use our kitchen scissors to make a couple of slits in the top of the calzone to allow for steam to escape.

The assembled calzone is placed on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel. We repeat with the remaining calzone, putting in “just enough” filling. The remaining fillings are reserved in the fridge for another use.

Each calzone is placed on the pizza stone and baked for 25 minutes. We want the top and bottom of the calzones nicely browned and bubbling.

When cooked, we remove the calzones from the oven using tongs and allow them to sit for a few minutes. We quickly reheat the tomato sauce in the microwave. The calzones are served with the hot tomato sauce, some red pepper flakes and dried oregano.

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