Best Calzones EVER

These are delicious, fairly cheap, and, best of all, so fast! Honestly, as long as you do the dough early (I usually make a double batch and freeze some so I have extra. Then, just throw it in the fridge to thaw the night before, and you're ready!), these really throw together quickly.

They're some of our favorites--in Marc's opinion, even better than pizza. !
The calzones are pretty big though--1 1/2 usually fills up all three of us, so plan on leftovers if you make the whole batch.

Italian Supreme Calzones

Ingredients:
½ batch pizza dough (see below for BEST pizza dough recipe)
2 links Italian sausage, removed from casings
½ medium yellow onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 oz. sliced mushrooms, chopped
Sliced black olives
Red pepper flakes
10 slices pepperoni, chopped
Shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp. water for egg wash
Pizza sauce, for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 500° F. Place a pizza stone in the oven and let it heat for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, divide pizza dough in half on a lightly floured work surface and roll out into two rounds approximately 7-8 inches in diameter. Transfer to a piece of parchment paper about the size of your pizza stone.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, crumble the sausage and cook until browned. Transfer to a medium bowl. Return the skillet to the heat and add the chopped onion and green pepper. Sauté briefly, about 3 minutes. Mix in the slices mushrooms and sauté a few minutes more. Transfer the veggie mixture to the bowl with the sausage. Toss in sliced black olives and red pepper flakes to taste. Mix in the chopped pepperoni.

Sprinkle one half of each dough round with a small amount of shredded mozzarella, leaving a thin border around the edge. Divide the meat and veggie mixture between the two dough rounds, on top of the mozzarella. Top with more mozzarella cheese, to taste. Fold over the remaining dough on top of the cheese and filling, pinching the free edges of dough together to seal. Transfer to the heated pizza stone and bake until browned, about 12-15 minutes. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.

Basic Pizza Dough

Yield: enough dough for 2 medium pizzas or 4 calzones

Ingredients:
½ cup warm water
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1½ tsp. salt
1¼ cup water, at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast over the top. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour and salt, mixing briefly to blend. Measure the room temperature water into the measuring cup with the yeast-water mixture. With the mixer on low speed, pour in the yeast-water mixture as well as the olive oil. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.

Press down the dough to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball. (If freezing the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze at this point.) Cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes.

From Annie's Eats website - check out her other recipes, she's amazing!