45 minutes (Chef's Note: To shave 25 minutes off the cook time, use store bought pizza dough.)
Serves 5-6
Ingredients:
Garlic Herb Pizza Dough (Recipe Below)
1/2 pound Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage links
1 1/2 cups Marinara Sauce
1 pound smoked Mozzarella Cheese (Fontina cheese is also great)
Garlic Herb Pizza Dough
2 1/2 ounces active quick rise dry yeast
2 tsp. sugar
2 cups warm water
4 cups flour
3 tsp. garlic salt
3 tsp. dried oregano
3 tsp. dried basil
5 Tbsp. olive oil
Cooking spray
Make Dinner:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar for pizza dough in warm water. Let stand until milky and foamy, 8-10 minutes. Add flour, garlic salt, oregano, basil and olive oil. Use bare hands to blend dough quickly until combined. Create a soft ball. Cover bowl and allow dough to rise for 15 minutes.
While dough is rising, saute Italian sausage links in a frying pan over medium heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
On a lightly floured surface knead pizza dough for 2 minutes. Do not over knead. Divide dough into two equal balls. Roll each ball of dough 1/4" thick onto a 12" pizza stone or cookie sheet coated with cooking spray to create two separate calzones. Spread 3/4 cup marinara sauce evenly over each uncooked crust. Slice Italian sausage links into 1/4 inch slices. Place sausage slices over 1/2 of each crust. Top each half with 1/2 pound sliced mozzarella cheese. Fold toppingless side of each pizza crust over sausage/cheese side. Gently fold up edges of curved side of each calzone to seal shut. Using a sharp knife, cut four slits into the top of each calzone. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes until calzones are slightly golden brown and crust is cooked through. Allow calzones to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.