Cheese & Spinach Calzones

We just made our own homemade cheese for the first time! And what should we do with this homemade cheese? Pair it with bread, of course. Bread filled with cheese...pretty much ideal Fat Friday food. Next time we'll have to try making our own mozzarella cheese to use in these, too. Obviously if you don't want to bother making your own cheese you can just use store-bought. But homemade ricotta is surprisingly easy! The recipe we used is linked below.

Cheese & Spinach Calzones

time: 2 hours (mostly dough rising time)
servings: 4 large calzones, plus dough for another pizza

Ingredients:
Pizza dough:

• 2 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1 1/3 cups warm water
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp garlic

Filling:

• 10 oz spinach, wilted and chopped
• 8 oz ricotta cheese (here's a link to our homemade ricotta)
• 4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp salt

Topping:

• 1 egg, stirred to make egg wash
• pinch of minced garlic
• pinch of shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine yeast and water. Let sit for 5 minutes to proof.
2. Add remaining dough ingredients and use dough hook to knead for 7 minutes on low-medium speed. If dough seems too wet add up to 1/4 cup more flour.
3. Shape dough into ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a moist towel, and set aside to rise for 1 hour.
4. Punch the dough down, divide in two, and place each dough ball in a lightly-oiled, covered bowl to rest for 15 minutes. You may, at this point, freeze one of the dough balls for later use. We used our extra one to make boring cheese pizza for our kids.
5. Meanwhile, while dough is rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix until incorporated.
7. Split one of your dough balls into four equal pieces. Flatten each piece to a 7" circle on the parchment paper-lined sheets.
8. Top each circle with 1/4 of the filling.
9. Fold over and seal edges with a fork and a bit of water, if needed.
10. Brush each calzone top with egg wash, then sprinkle with garlic and parmesan. Slice the tops to vent.
11. Bake for 22 minutes, until golden brown.
12. Let stand for 5-10 minutes to cool slightly.

Filling made with our homemade ricotta!

Ready to bake

Ready to eat!

Yum