the best calzones ever.

In an effort to save a little money on the food budget this year, I've been trying really hard to cook almost every night. The carryout got a little crazy when I was crazy sick in the first trimester, but now that I'm enjoying the end of the second trimester with all its energy and feeling-goodness, I made a list of some meals and a grocery list and got to it.

Last night, I made calzones. I found a recipe on Pioneer Woman, modified it a bit, and it was not only surprisingly easy, it was the most delicious calzone/pizza-style dinner I've ever made.

First, I heated up some EVOO in a pan on the stove and cooked up all the veggies—mushrooms (fresh, not canned or jarred), black olives, onions, bell peppers, and sliced fresh grape tomatoes. I added Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and let it cook until everything was soft and smelled ah-mazing.

Meanwhile, I made the dough just with two packets of the 68-cent just-add-water Kroger pizza crust mix. I divided the dough in half (for two really big calzones) and rolled out the first half on an olive-oiled up baking sheet.

In a bowl, I mixed an Italian 5-cheese blend (by Kraft … it has parmesan, romano, provolone, mozarella, and asiago) with one egg and salt and pepper. Spoon out half of this mixture onto your dough (pile it on one side of the dough) and top with turkey pepperoni. Then I topped that with the cooked veggies, folded the dough over, curled up the edges, and used a fork to help seal the edges. Do that again with the second calzone.

Then I scrambled an egg with a bit of garlic salt and more Italian seasoning and brushed it over the dough. Bake at 400 for 8–12 minutes.

The Pioneer Woman serves hers with marinara sauce. I had pizza sauce, but didn't use it. I think it would be good with a little pizza sauce on the inside too. When you make them, the crust gets way bigger so don't be afraid to stuff them full of toppings.

The end result was so good. The egg brushed on top makes the crust nice and crispy. Nate didn't even finish all of his. He said, "I'm full." I threw my arms up in the air and shouted, "I DID IT!" (Filling up Nate is a difficult task!)