Calzone evokes so many memories for me. Meeting my husband years ago he look me to a beautiful quaint Italian restaurant called ‘The Italian Job’, up on the boarder of Manchester. They always made us  feel incredibly welcome as well as making the most delicious and authentic calzone I have every tasted, the sauce was incredibly fresh and moreish too.

If you don’t like pizza, think they are boring or simply cheese on toast, then please try a calzone. There is nothing better than homemade pizza, well a calzone blows that one straight out of the med!! Any flavour combinations work, from peppers and mushrooms to meatballs and chicken with fresh basil pesto. It is a little bit of Italy rolled, filled and dished up with a big hunk of love. When I cook, I cook for enjoyment absolutely, but also because I have a family that seem to ALWAYS be hungry.

This was a pleasure to make.

Ooozing with sweet peppers

To make one calzone
Half a red pepper sliced
Half a yellow pepper sliced
3 mushrooms, sliced and fried off
50g fresh mozzarella chopped
6 leaves of basil torn
Salt and pepper to season
One ladle of tomato sugo (ragu)

1. Fry off the mushrooms and slice and bake the peppers for around 20 minutes. Mix all of the above ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
2. Take a ball of your pizza dough and roll out, to a thin round, the size or a large dinner plate.
3. Fill the centre with the delicious filling and fold over the dough.
4. Crimple the edges over, (similar to a pastie).
5. Pop two slits in the top of the calzone (so it doesn’t go pop in the oven) and bake at 190C for about 20-25 minutes, until lightly golden and when the bottom is tapped it sounds hollow.

Carmela x