Weeknight calzones

cheesy goodness!!!!

Remember last weekend when we made pizza? It was great, but the dough recipe ended up making enough for 2 pizzas.  I could have made another pizza with that dough, but that would have been boring.  So what did I do instead?  Braid it all pretty, and call it a calzone.  Very different from pizza indeed.  The task of making a calzone normally seems pretty daunting to me, but having the dough already made for me turned this into a quick weeknight meal.  If you don't have pre made dough this will take a little longer, but it's definitely still doable.  Also, this technique could be used with one of those store-bought pizza doughs as well (though home made is so much better).

Ingredients

• 1/2 batch of pizza dough
• 1 cup low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 t minced garlic, or garlic powder
• 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
• toppings of your choice (we used sliced tomatoes, broccoli and pepperoni
• marinara sauce to dip 

Directions
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees
-Roll out pizza dough into 8" by 14" (approximately) rectangle on greased baking sheet (or silpat)
-Use a sharp knife to cut 3-4" slits into each side, about 1" apart, make sure you have the same number strips on both sides

-spread garlic/garlic powder all over dough, sprinkle with parmesan cheese
-add cheese to the middle of the dough, put toppings on top of cheese

-Start braiding the strips on one end, fold one side over to the other, then the opposite side, tuck the ends in on both sides

All braided up

-Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until top is golden brown 

-Cut into slices and serve with marinara sauce to dip

-Enjoy!

This whole meal took me less than 10 minutes to prepare, and I was able to study for a half hour while it was baking.  Fantastic!!!!!!

Question of the day: (leave a comment below)

What's your favorite combination of pizza toppings?