Chicken Fajita Calzones

As often as we make pizza, we almost never make calzones. I don't really have a reason for this. We just don't. I've been curious to see if the dough that we always use for our pizza crust would work for calzones, so I decided to adapt this pizza recipe into a calzone recipe. I guess it isn't a huge change - more just a change in appearance.

The original recipe for this pizza called for it to be grilled. We have grilled pizza before with great success, and I think that it would be good that way as well. Other than that, the only change I made to the recipe was to swap pizza sauce for the Ragu pasta sauce because that's what I had in the house (and I questioned pasta sauce on a pizza?).

Assembling the calzones actually worked quite well. I cleared off a big space on the counter, floured it, and went to work rolling, filling, and forming. I divided the dough recipe into 4 calzones. If I were to do it again, I'd try to do at least 6. They were a little big for me to finish a whole one.  My only snag was a "duh moment." I had completely finished pressing the dough together on the first calzone when I realize that I had forgotten the cheese... Oh well, there was no taking it apart at this point. That one would just be mine =-)

I baked them at 400 degrees F, but I can't remember how long they were in the oven. When I'm making pizza, I always start the timer at 15 minutes and go from there depending on how the dough is looking.  We're definately going to have to make our pizza into calzones again! Maybe next time I'll make a double recipe and freeze a few for those nights when we need a quick dinner - I guess as long as I remember the cheese =-)

(Printable Version)

Chicken Fajita Calzones - adapted from allrecipes.com

fresh whole-wheat pizza dough (thawed if frozen)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tsp. cumin

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 large red onion, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1-1/2 c. pizza sauce

3 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat chicken with cumin. Heat oil in a large saucepan and cook chicken until almost cooked through. Add the onion and green bell pepper, and cook until chicken is no longer pink and until vegetables are tender.

Divide dough into desired number of calzones. Roll 1 piece out on a floured surface. Spread with sauce. Fill half of the circle with chicken and vegetable mixture, cilantro, and cheese. Fold dough in half and pinch edges to seal. Cut a couple of vents in the top of the dough and place on a 13x2x2-inch pan. Repeat for emaining portions of dough.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve with extra portions of pizza sauce for dipping.