Last week I posted a recipe for flawless flatbread pizza using Krusteaz’s new onion and garlic flatbread mix, and promised I’d share my recipe for these awesome calzones. I used the Italian herb flatbread mix for these bad boys and they came out crazy good. It took me a few tries to make the calzones actually look decent, but once I got the hang of how to work the dough, it was easy as pie.

So the folks at Krusteaz sent me a great little package that included their new line of flatbread mixes (whole wheat, Italian herb, and garlic and onion) as well as a kitchen timer, apron, pizza cutter and coupon for another free box of mix. And guess what — Krusteaz will send one of my lucky readers the exact same package to enjoy. See the end of this post for how to enter this yummy giveaway!

I love spinach and cheese calzones and decided to go with that as my filling. However, since the kids love pepperoni, I added that to half of the calzones to make everyone happy. You can add whatever filling you like — Krusteaz has a great recipe for meatball calzones on its website that you may want to try.

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 package Krusteaz Italian Flatbread Mix
• 1 cup hot water (115 to 125 degrees F)
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Flour (for working with the dough)

Filling:

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (plus more for brushing calzones)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bag (6 oz.) baby spinach
• Sea salt to taste
• Fresh ground pepper to taste
• 16 oz. ricotta cheese
• 1 cup part-skim mozzarella
• ½ cup Fontina cheese
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• Pepperoni slices (I used turkey pepperoni)
• Marinara sauce (for dipping)

Preparation

Mix together the flatbread mix and enclosed yeast in a medium bowl, and add the water and olive oil.

Stir until the dough forms into a ball.

Cover the bowl and let dough rise for 20-30 minutes for best results.

While the dough is rising, go ahead and start preparing the filling. Heat the olive oil to medium heat in a large skillet and sauté the garlic for a couple of minutes, until lightly brown. Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and cook until it starts wilting. Drain the spinach to remove any excess liquid.

Place the cheeses (you may need to drain the ricotta), egg, thyme and spinach in a large bowl.

Stir until well-blended.

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly grease your baking sheets (you will need two large ones.) Once the dough has risen for about 30 minutes, place it on a cutting board and divide it into 8 portions.

With floured hands, pat out the dough on the prepared pan to form 1/8 to ¼ inch thick circles. On my first attempt I tried to form the calzone dough in the air. Major fail. Pat it out on the pan — it’s much easier that way.

Place about 6 or 7 slices of pepperoni on one-half of the calzone. As mentioned earlier, I made half of them with pepperoni and half without.

Top the pepperoni with an eighth of the spinach mixture.

Fold the dough over the filling to create the calzone, pressing down the edges to make a good seal. Repeat until all calzones are filled. Brush the top of each calzone with olive oil.

Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Doesn’t this look awesome? And it smells delightful.

Serve with some heated marinara, such as Kel’s spicy homemade version. Yum, yum, yum!

OK, so now for the giveaway rules. Like this post, like or follow www.facebook.com/kelscafe, or tweet it including @kelscafe and #flatbreadmix hashtag by 5:00 on 10/4/14 for a chance to win. One winner will be randomly selected. Krusteaz will directly mail the package to you, so you must provide a mailing address if you win. Good luck!

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Krusteaz Company in any way – I just love its products!

Bon appétit!

Eat, drink and be merry!

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