Radical Crafts: Make Your Own Calzone

When I was growing up my family would occasionally have "French Bread Pizza Night" when we would each make our own pizza on a large slice of bread and bake it. I still remember loving the opportunity to put just what I wanted on my pizza, so we do that in our family now, only we do it with calzones.

My college volleyball coach did this with us once, and I've loved it ever since. It's a great recipe for a large group - just have everyone bring a topping.

Unless you're totally awesome and make your own dough, you'll want to pick up a bag of frozen loaves. We normally get 2 and 1/2 calzones (enough for 2 adults, 1 preschooler) out of 1 loaf. Put your loaf/loaves in the fridge overnight to thaw (or do it in the microwave according to pkg directions - this is the method employed by forgetful people like me).

Prepare toppings. Luckily the "Cheese Fairy" (aka my mom) had been to our house the week before, so we had every possibly variety of cheese on hand. I also put out bacon, ham, pepperoni, spinach, peppers, pesto, spaghetti sauce and some spices (other options include: pineapple, sausage, onion, tomato, mushrooms, etc).

You'll also want a small dish of water and one egg, lightly beaten.

Put out some foil, spread flour on top, then take a section of dough and work it w/ your hands until it's a thin rectangle (try not to work it so much that it starts to get holes in it).

Once you have your rectangle, start placing toppings on one half. I like to spread a bit of sauce on both halves (don't overdo the sauce or it will make a mess).

Take a break to discuss with daughter why eating flour is not a good idea.

Take picture of crazy husband.

When you have your toppings on, spread a bit of water all around the edge of your dough, then fold one side over to meet edge of other side. Press down all around to seal edges. Then top with egg wash and spices. We make sure to be creative in topping ours so they are easily recognizable.