Calzone

Well, it seems like I use the same combination of ingredients whenever I make anything Italian (tomatoes, mushrooms, onions), but I guess it's just because they are tried and true. I had really been wanting to make calzone, which is typically full of meat and cheese, but I couldn't figure what to put in it instead, so finally I just decided to try the combination Italiano and it turned out pretty good. Anyway, it's fun to eat the same old stuff in a different shape now and then.

All you need for four calzones (four servings-in our case two for dinner and two for lunch) is:

• Pizza dough (I made my own-a slight hassle, and you need eggs which I don't normally have laying around-so next time I will just buy Rhodes)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (3 or 4 medium)
• 8 oz can chopped tomatoes (or a cup of fresh-kinda spendy here)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 cup cooked wheat berries
• 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
• seasoning salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)
  
• spaghetti sauce
• butter
• parsley flakes

Optional:

• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped veggie sausage
• 2-3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (I consider this more of a flavoring than actual cheese)
  
• chopped green or red pepper
• 1/4 cup corn
• some type of canned white bean, as much as you can fit in
• whatever else you can think of
  

1. Make four 8-inch diameter circles out of the pizza dough (about 1/4 inch thickness) on a greased cookie sheet and spread spaghetti sauce up to 1/2 inch from the edges.
2. Mix all the chopped veggies, wheat and spices (except for parsley) and any optional ingredients and spoon them onto one half of each dough circle.
3. Fold the dough over the filling and press the edges together tightly, so you have a sealed half circle full of filling.
   
4. Butter the tops of each calzone and sprinkle with parsley flakes.
   
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crusts turn golden.
   

This meal should be relatively easy and quick to assemble (if you cooked and froze your wheat berries ahead of time or boiled them while the pizza dough was rising), even if you make your own pizza dough (but don't forget the time it will take for store-bought or home-made pizza dough to rise). It looks pretty, and the filling has a meat-like consistency. It tastes pretty good the second day too (better than pizza I think).