Who doesn’t love a turnover…especially if it’s of the pizza dough variety. The sight of  melted cheese oozing out of a crispy pocket of freshly-baked dough is tantalizing to the eyes. The kids find calzones somewhat of a “mystery” meal…after all there’s something about not being able to see all of the gooey goodness packaged inside that crispy pocket of dough that invites them to ‘dig in’.

Thanks to vegan pepperoni and vegan ‘melts-just-like-cheese’ options available these calzones rival the traditional non-vegan variety. In the spirit of less is more, I pair a simple made-from-scratch tomato sauce with vegan pepperoni, vegan shredded cheese blend and our delicious parmesan cheese. This is probably one of my favourite recipes created in our Vegan Rhapsody test kitchen to date. Dig in indeed.

Enjoy~

Preparation

1/Lightly grease a large mixing bowl and set aside. Prepare pizza dough (recipe below)
2/Make parmesan cheese (recipe below) or use store-bought version 
3/Make tomato sauce (recipe below)
4/Preheat oven (with pizza stone) to 420F

 Pizza Dough-Ingredients

Water, room temperature (220g)
1 tsp cane sugar
2 tsp dried instant yeast (8g)

All-purpose flour (400g)
Olive oil (30g)
1 tsp salt

Pizza Dough-Instructions *makes 2 calzones*

1/Place water, sugar and yeast into your Thermomix mixing bowl. Mix 20 sec/Speed 2.
2/Add flour, olive oil and salt. Using the dough setting, knead for 2 minutes. 
3/Place dough into greased mixing bowl and form into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap (or similar) and let the dough proof for approx. 1 hour at room temperature.
Note: Expect the dough to double in size~

Parmesan Cheese-Ingredients

3/4 cup cashews, raw (110g)
1 tsp hemp seeds, raw and unshelled
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp lemon juice, fresh

Parmesan Cheese-Instructions

1/Place cashews and hemp seeds in the Thermomix mixing bowl. Grind 7 sec/Speed 7.
Note: Be careful not to overgrind.
2/Add salt and garlic powder to the TM bowl. Using the Turbo setting (1.0 sec) pulse twice.
3/Add lemon juice to the TM bowl. Using the Turbo setting( 0.5 sec) plus three times.
Transfer the prepared cheese to a small mixing bowl; set aside.

Tomato Sauce-Ingredients

1 onion, halved
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Olive oil (30g) 

250 g strained tomatoes/tomato sauce 
1.5 tsp vegetable bouillon powder 
Pinch of basil, dried 
Pinch of Himalayan pink salt 
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cane sugar
150 g water

2-3 Tbsp parmesan cheese (recipe above)

Tomato Sauce-Instructions

1/Put onion and garlic in the Thermomix mixing bowl. Chop for 5 sec/Speed 7.
Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2/Add olive oil. Sauté 3 mins/120C/Speed 1. Once again, scrape down the sides of the bowl using your spatula.
3/Add tomato sauce, vegetable bouillon, basil, salt, balsamic vinegar, sugar and water. Cook 15 mins/100C/Speed 2.
4/Add 2-3 Tbsp parmesan cheese (reserved from recipe above) to the TM bowl and fold in until the sauce is slightly thickened. 

Calzone Assembly-Ingredients *makes two calzones* 

Pizza dough (recipe above)
Tomato Sauce (recipe above)

Olive oil (to taste)
1 tsp dried basil 
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt 
Shredded cheese blend (see Product Recommendation below) 
Vegan pepperoni slices (see Product Recommendation below)
Parmesan cheese (recipe above)

Olive oil (to taste)
Pinch of Himalayan pink salt
Pinch of garlic powder 

Calzone Assembly-Instructions

1/Divide the pizza dough into two equal pieces. This will make two large calzones.
2/Press the each piece of dough into a flat disk, then use a rolling pin to roll it into a 9-inch circle (Hint: Roll from the middle of the dough outwards and keep the dough on the thin side otherwise you will end up with a very pillowy, chewy calzone). If the dough starts to shrink back on you simply let it rest for about five minutes and try again.
3/Gently brush some olive oil on each surface (approx. 9-inch circle) and then sprinkle with basil and salt. Spread a generous amount of the tomato sauce on the bottom third of each calzone making sure to leave a clear border (no sauce) around the edge.
4/Spread shredded cheese over top of the tomato sauce followed by pepperoni slices and a generous amount of parmesan cheese.
5/Seal each calzone by folding the the top of the dough over the filling to create a semi-circle. Using a fork, gently press the edges to seal. 
6/Brush each calzone with a scant amount of olive oil and top with a touch of salt and garlic powder. This gives the calzones a nice golden color, but is not necessary. Using a sharp knife, cut a few “vents” in the top of the calzones to allow the release of steam. 
7/Transfer the calzone to a pre-heated pizza stone or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the calzones are golden, browned on the edges, and the filling is bubbly. Expect some of the filling to ooze out 🙂

<<If Italian food is your thing I would suggest you try our Savoury Lemon Alfredo Sauce.>>

Product Recommendations

*HarvestSun® Vegetable Bouillon Powder
*Earth Island ®/Follow Your Heart ®Vegan Gourmet Shreds [Pizzeria Blend]
*Yves Veggie Cuisine® Veggie Pizza Pepperoni

Note: This recipe was made using a Thermomix appliance, however it can easily be adapted using similar food prep tools (e.g. mutli-function processor, immersion blender etc) or using a more traditional stovetop method.

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