I know Fridays are pizza nights, but sometimes I want something a little different on a Friday.  In our house, that doesn’t always go over well (unless Kelly’s not home). Fortunately, Meatless Monday can be changed to Meatless Tuesday or Meatless Wednesday even, and then I can slide this in as the dinner choice.  Eric can be easily swayed because that means I’ll be doing the cooking and not him!  Both the dough and the filling can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until needed to save time.  And you have the extra added bonus of the wonderful scent of baking bread in the house!

The hand-held cheese grater is a must around here.

Spinach Artichoke Calzone (adapted from food.com) Makes 4 calzones and serves 4-8

•  2 cups skim milk ricotta cheese
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 (15 ounce) can artichoke hearts, chopped
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 regular pizza dough recipe for a breadmaker or 1/2 of a large dough recipe for a breadmaker (see “Fridays are Martini & Pizza Nights” for large dough recipe) or 20 ounces of refrigerated or frozen pizza dough
• 2 cups tomato or pizza sauce  (see “Too Much Turkey!” for Nona’s Quick Sauce recipe)
• olive oil

The best way to eat spinach & artichokes!

Preheat the oven to 425°.  Combine the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll each dough part out into a rectangular shape.  Spread 1/4 of the spinach-artichoke-cheese filling in the center of each rectangle.

Fold the long ends over each other first, then the short ends.

Fold the sides of the dough over the top of the filling, overlapping the dough in the center and pinch the edges of the dough firmly together to seal. Fold both ends of the dough in and seal.  Seal any tears to the dough.

Ready for the oven!

Put the filled, sealed calzones on a cookie sheet, seam sides down and brush with olive oil.  Bake the calzones for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown all over.

Serve the calzones with warm tomato or pizza sauce for dunking.

Is your mouth watering yet?!

It’s a complete meal in itself!  And really good!    ~Linda

Spinach Artichoke Calzone (adapted from food.com) Makes 4 calzones and serves 4-8

•  2 cups skim milk ricotta cheese
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 (15 ounce) can artichoke hearts, chopped
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 regular pizza dough recipe for a breadmaker or 1/2 of a large dough recipe for a breadmaker (see “Fridays are Martini & Pizza Nights” for large dough recipe) or 20 ounces of refrigerated or frozen pizza dough
• 2 cups tomato or pizza sauce  (see “Too Much Turkey!” for Nona’s Quick Sauce recipe)
• olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425°.  Combine the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll each dough part out into a rectangular shape.  Spread 1/4 of the spinach-artichoke-cheese filling in the center of each rectangle.

Fold the sides of the dough over the top of the filling, overlapping the dough in the center and pinch the edges of the dough firmly together to seal. Fold both ends of the dough in and seal.  Seal any tears to the dough.

Put the filled, sealed calzones on a cookie sheet, seam sides down and brush with olive oil.  Bake the calzones for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown all over. Serve the calzones with warm tomato or pizza sauce for dunking.