Sausage and Pepper Calzone and Julia

Hello and welcome to Pizza and a Movie! This week, we have a calzone that ended up more like a taco and a TV show we can’t stop talking about – Julia. Our calzone is chicken jalapeño sausages sautéd with fresh jalapeño slices, orange and red bell peppers; layered with rich, thick red sauce and pepper jack cheese, folded inside pizza dough and baked to golden brown. Sounds amazing, right? But, what the heck happened with the calzone? Let’s get right to it – Sausage and Pepper Calzone.

Sausage and Peppers

First of all, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Then turn your attention to the sausage and peppers. I found chicken jalapeño sausage at Trader Joe’s and to round that out, I have one large fresh jalapeño and several mini bell peppers. Stem the peppers and slice them into 1/8-inch rounds. Slice the sausages into about 1/8-inch rounds.

Heat a little oil in a skillet and sauté the sausages over medium heat until they begin to develop some browning. Add the sliced peppers to the skillet and continue sautéing until the peppers are slightly softened.

Cut the heat and let the sausage and peppers sit until we are ready to use them.

Building the Sausage and Pepper Calzone

I have a dough that is about 12-inches round. This is a pre-rolled dough from the bakery section at my local Publix. The dough is super smooth and this was my first indication that it was going to open up mid-bake. Lay the dough in a lightly oiled sheet pan with half, or part of it hanging over the side if it doesn’t totally fit. It’s ok since we are folding over half of the dough.

I have about 1.5 cups of grated pepper jack cheese and some tomato sauce leftover from the Burrata Pizza we had last week. You can use your favorite jarred sauce.

Cover half of the dough with about half of the grated cheese, be sure to leave about a 1-inch border to fold and seal up the calzone. Spoon on the tomato sauce, I have about 1 cup of very thick sauce. If you’re using thin sauce, use about 1/2 to 3/4 cup. Spread the sauce over the cheese.

Top the sauce with the sausage and peppers. I had about 1 cup of the sausage and pepper mixture leftover to use for something else. (It’s a great mix-in for scrambled eggs!) Use enough of the pepper and sausage mix to get good coverage and is substantial, but not so much that it prevents the dough from folding over.

Then top the sausage and peppers with the rest of the cheese. Now, fold the dough over the filling. Pinch the crescent edges together. If your dough is not sticking together, do what I didn’t do, and moisten the edge with a little water and see if that helps it to stick together. Then, like a pie, fold and crimp the edge over itself.

At this point, for me, everything seemed to be going well enough…

Brush the top with olive oil. Slice two to three slits in the center top, to allow steam to escape. Slide the sheet pan in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and there is sauce and cheese bubbling around the steam slits. Just before pulling it out of the oven, sprinkle grated Parmesan over the top, if you like, and bake for another minute.

See what happened? During baking my folded edge unfolded. Everything stayed inside, thank goodness, but it’s more of a pizza taco than a calzone. Lol! When it came out of the oven I drizzled olive oil over the top.

Let it cool for 5-10 minutes and then slice it up into wedges. Use a serrated knife so all the filling won’t squish out from the downward pressure of the knife.

Even though I didn’t get exactly what I set out to do, it all worked out – the crust is baked, crunchy and chewy; the filling is hot and the cheese is melted and gooey. The flavors are amazing and the peppers retained some of their crunch for a nice texture. Overall, I will call it a success!

Movie Night: Julia

We have have our calzone ready, so let’s get to the show! I have another series this week. Julia is the new HBO Max show about Julia Child. There will be 8 episodes, and episode 5 premiered yesterday. So if you haven’t seen it yet, you have time to catch up. This series is like a continuation of the Julia Child storyline from the movie Julie and Julia. That movie ended when Julia’s book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published; this series begins after the book comes out and she starts her TV series on public television.

There’s a lot to love about this show. The writing is really great; the set design, costumes and overall look and feel of the show is such a pleasure to see. The acting is really wonderful. When you make a show about a larger than life, super recognizable character like Julia Child, you’ve got to get it right, and Sarah Lancashire, who plays Julia, is phenomenal. The show is funny, witty and heartfelt. If you haven’t seen it yet, I most definitely recommend you give it a watch! Julia is available to watch with a subscription to HBO Max, new episodes premiere on Thursdays.

Thank you for stopping by today for Pizza and a Movie! I hope you give this Sausage and Pepper Calzone a try – let me know if yours stays closed during baking! Have a wonderful Holiday Weekend, take care and be well. xo Kelly

Featured Kitchen Equipment

Click on the image to be directed to the recommended product.

Print Recipe

Sausage and Pepper Calzone

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Dinner, Main Course – American/Italian

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 20 Minutes – Cooking Time: 20 Minutes – Total Time: ~40 Minutes

This sausage and pepper calzone features Trader Joe's Chicken Jalapeño sausages and colorful mini bell peppers, pepper jack cheese and tomato sauce.

Ingredients

• 4-5 Chicken Sausages, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds
• 5-8 Mini Bell Peppers, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds
• 1 Jalapeño (optional), sliced into 1/8-inch rounds
• Olive Oil
• 1 Prepared Pizza Dough, rolled out to a 12-inch round
• 1.5 cups Grated Pepper Jack Cheese
• 1 cup Tomato Sauce
• Grated or Powdered Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2

Heat a little oil in a skillet and sauté the sausages over medium heat until they begin to develop some browning. Add the sliced peppers to the skillet and continue sautéing until the peppers are slightly softened.

3

Cut the heat and let the sausage and peppers sit until we are ready to use them.

4

Roll your dough out to a 12-inch round.

5

Lay the dough in a lightly oiled sheet pan. It's ok if it doesn't fit, let half of it hangs over the edge since we are folding it over.

6

Cover half of the dough with about half of the grated cheese, be sure to leave about a 1-inch border to fold and seal up the calzone. Spoon on the tomato sauce. If you're using thin sauce, use about 1/2 to 3/4 cup. Spread the sauce over the cheese.

7

Top the sauce with the sausage and peppers. I had about 1 cup of the sausage and pepper mixture leftover to use for something else. (It's a great mix-in for scrambled eggs!) Use enough of the pepper and sausage mix to get good coverage and is substantial, but not so much that it prevents the dough from folding over.

8

Then top the sausage and peppers with the rest of the cheese.

9

Now, fold the dough over the filling. Pinch the crescent edges together. If your dough is not sticking together, moisten the edge of the bottom strip of dough with a little water and see if that helps it to stick together.

10

Then, like a pie, fold and crimp the edge over itself.

11

Brush the top with olive oil. Slice two to three slits in the center top, to allow steam to escape. Slide the sheet pan in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and there is sauce and cheese bubbling around the steam slits. Just before pulling it out of the oven, sprinkle grated Parmesan over the top, if you like, and bake for another minute.

12

Drizzle oil over the top when it comes out, if desired.

13

Let it cool for 5-10 minutes and then slice it up into wedges. Use a serrated knife so all the filling won't squish out from the downward pressure of the knife.

Notes

If using 5 Sausages, you will likely have leftover sausage and pepper filling to use for another recipe, like scrambled eggs or an omelet.

This post may contain affiliate links; when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission on qualifying items.