Alina's Vegetable Raisin Calzones

This week was one of Adam and my favorite dishes I've made so far on the blog. Adam's always been big on calzones, but he usually won't come near a calzone unless it's heavily loaded with cheese and pepperoni. This version goes easy on the cheese and is stuffed with an abundance of vegetables instead of meat and yet he still loved it. Score!



Makes 8+ servings. Takes approximately 35 minutes of prep time and 50 minutes total.

• 1 bunch of spinach
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/4 cup raisins
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon EVOO
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 1 twelve oz can of peeled, diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp ketchup (optional)
• 1 cup cheese (mozzarella or a similar cheese)
• Two tubes of thin pizza dough (I used Pillsbury and each tube will make 4 calzones, but you could easily use a homemade dough of your choosing. The Pillsbury pizza dough is surprisingly simple and I know what all of the ingredients are, so I didn't feel bad taking the easy way out and using the pre-made dough. It's also vegan!)

1. Preheat the oven to the temperature listed on the pizza dough container.
2. Saute the spinach in 1 tbsp of oil for about 5 minutes until wilted, then saute with 2 tbsp garlic and raisins for approximately 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Transfer the spinach mixture to a small bowl and in the same pan saute the onion, 2 tbsp minced garlic, bell pepper, zucchini, chili powder, and oregano in two tablespoons of EVOO until tender (approximately 10 minutes).
4. Add the tomatoes and ketchup and stir until it's very tender, which should take another 10 minutes or so.
5. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool slightly. Mix the spinach mixture in with the other veggies for a veggie explosion like this:

6. Unroll the pizza dough and cut it into fourths. Spoon the veggie mixture into one of the squares, leaving plenty of a border.
7. Add a little cheese (1/8 cup or so). I made these several times this week. The first time I made them I brushed the edges with egg, and the second time I didn't. The egg added nothing of value, so even though you see it in these pictures, forgo it.

8. With lightly floured hands, fold the top over and seal the calzone by pinching the dough together.

I then sliced a few vents in the top of the calzone to allow it to breathe.

9. Bake until golden brown (about 15 minutes, or about 5 minutes longer than the pizza packaging suggests). It probably won't brown on top, so you may have to check the underside to see if it's done. Here's a finished calzone. See how the top isn't brown (on the right) but the bottom is brown(on the left)? Shoot for that.

When you're done, serve to all who are near because this recipe makes a ton of food.

Adam's taste rating: 4 ladles
Brad's taste rating: 3 ladles
Healthy rating: 4 ladles
Ease of prep rating: 4 ladles
Overall average: 3.75 ladles