Chicken, Pesto & Broccoli Calzones

While I always love pizza dough topped with delicious ingredients, it is so fun to wrap the dough around the toppings and make a calzone! All you have to do is buy a pound of dough (check your local pizzeria, Whole Foods or other higher-end grocery store) roll it into circles, pile on the ingredients, seal and bake. Get out of the pizza box with calzones tonight!

Chicken, Pesto & Broccoli Calzones
Delicious ingredients wrapped up in fresh dough!
Makes 3 calzones

1 pound fresh pizza dough
Cooked cubed chicken from 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Pesto sauce
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
1/2 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 head of broccoli, florets removed and cut to bite-size pieces
6 slices fresh mozzarella cheese or 1.5 cups shredded
Parmesan
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Leave the pizza dough out at room temperature for a few hours. This will make it more easy to work with. Use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten it out on a large cutting board or countertop sprinkled with flour. Cut it into thirds and roll out each portion into an oval.

To prepare the filling heat a large skillet with a drizzle of EVOO. Add the onion and saute until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook an additional 5 minutes, then add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Add the cooked chicken, sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers and pesto sauce and stir to combine. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Turn off heat.

Put a big scoop of the mixture onto the bottom half of one of the dough rounds and top with cheese. Use a pastry brush or your fingers and spread a little water around the edges. Fold the top over the filling and press to seal. Use a fork to crease the edges and poke a few holes in the top so it can breathe while in the oven. Drizzle with EVOO. Repeat with other two calzones.

Bake for 30 minutes until lightly browned. Cut the calzone in half, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve with pizza sauce on the side.

Recipe by Sarah Lang