This homemade calzone is an Italian-Mexican fusion filled with roasted poblano peppers, onions, corn, and gooey cheese.
So many recipes are a mix of chance and what we have in our fridge. Alex and I ended up with extra pizza dough and poblano peppers from our farmer’s market in our fridge. Alex suggested the idea of a homemade calzone that looked like a nice change from the standard pizza. After a long debate about whether the filling should be Mediterranean or Mexican, the Mexican prevailed. Life is good when your biggest disagreement is about which spices to use in your calzone, right? Read on for our Homemade Calzone with Roasted Poblano Peppers and Corn!
Related: Would you like a homemade calzone with a different taste? Easy Italian Calzone Recipe
What is a calzone?
Originating in Naples, Italy, calzones are basically a giant pizza pocket. While they can hold whatever you want, they’re traditionally stuffed with cold cuts, cheese, and whatever veggies you have on hand. The calzones are folded over and crimped on the edges to seal any fillings and baked until the outside is golden brown and the cheese filling is bubbly.
How to make a calzone
A homemade calzone is surprisingly easy to make! They require a little more energy than pizza since they’re folded and curled, but you really don’t need a lot of expertise to make one of these bad boys.
We used our best plain pizza dough for this homemade calzone. You’ll need to knead the dough for about 1 hour before hoping to make the calzone as 45 minutes of resting time is required. You can also prepare the dough a few days in advance and store it in the fridge until ready to serve: the dough needs to rest for 30 to 45 minutes to come to room temperature before stretching.
While the dough is resting, prepare the homemade calzone filling. You will roast the poblano peppers with red onions until tender and charred, about 20 minutes total. Then you will mix them with fresh corn and spices. This step is also something you can do ahead of time and then reheat to reduce prep time.
The hardest part of making a homemade calzone is stretching and filling the dough! Once the dough is ready to stretch, gently stretch it in a circle. Work the dough 2 balls at a time, place the dough on a floured surface and gently press each into a circle about 5-6 inches. Then place the cheese and filling on top, making sure to leave 1/2 inch space around the edge of the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over so the calzone forms a crescent. Press the edges together with a fork. After placing the calzones on a baking sheet, brush them with egg wash, which will help brown the pastries. Then bake in a 500F oven for 10 minutes and that’s it!
How to serve calzones
Homemade calzones are best on a lazy afternoon or evening when you have a few hours to spare but can easily get together. They’re original enough for dinner at home or dinner with friends. This calzone pairs perfectly with a salad, like our black bean salad, green salad, or kale salad. You can even make them ahead of time (cook them fully and store in the fridge or freezer, then reheat to about 350F for a few minutes before serving), but they’re best straight from the oven. . Enjoy!
Looking for more pizza recipes?
Aside from that homemade calzone, here are some of our favorite pizza recipes that you can also make with this delicious dough!
This Homemade Calzone Recipe is…
Vegetarian.
The description
This homemade calzone is an Italian-Mexican fusion filled with roasted poblano peppers, onions, corn, and gooey cheese.
- Follow the best homemade pizza dough recipe or food processor pizza dough recipe to prepare the dough. (It takes about 15 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to rest.) After kneading, divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Brush the bottom of a container with olive oil, then brush the dough balls with olive oil on all sides and place in the container. Cover the container and let the dough rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Cut the red onion into thick slices. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Place the whole peppers and sliced onions on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil; Rub the oil over the peppers and toss with the onions. Grill the peppers and onions over high heat for 10 minutes; Turn the peppers, stir the onions and grill for another 10 minutes.
- Take the vegetables out of the oven. If desired, place the peppers in a bowl and cover to steam off the skin, then remove the skin. Once cool, cut the peppers into strips.
- Slice the corn on the cob (use a grill pan if possible: place the corn on the cob in the center ring and slice the corn on the pan). Place all the vegetables in a bowl, then stir in ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp oregano, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp chili powder, and 1 tsp kosher salt.
- Preheat oven to 500°F.
- Work the dough into 2 balls at a time, place the dough on a floured surface and gently press each into a circle of about 5-6 inches (measuring will help to make sure it doesn’t get too big). On one half of each circle of dough, place the shredded cheese, vegetables, and then more shredded cheese, making sure to leave 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) around the edge of the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over so the calzone forms a crescent. Press the edges together with a fork (we used a large serving fork). Using a spatula, place the calzone on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat to prepare the 8 calzones spread over two baking sheets.
- Whisk the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the calzone with the egg milk.
- Bake the calzones until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly, then serve.
- Category: main course
- Method: Cooked
- Kitchen: Italian-Mexican fusion
Keywords: Homemade calzones, how to make a calzone, what is a calzone
