Grilled Whole Wheat Calzones

Crumble sausage into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring and breaking up the sausage, until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside to drain. Add a little oil to the pan, if needed, then add grated zucchini and diced bell pepper. Cook until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add herbs and pizza sauce to skillet and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Add sausage back to the pan and simmer for another 4-5 minutes until much of the liquid has absorbed. The mixture should be fairly chunky (see photo in post). Let filling cool for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat grill to medium-high or oven to 425 degrees F.

Divide dough into 8 balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball out to a 7 or 8-inch circle. The dough should be pretty thin, about 1/8th of an inch. Place a couple of spoonfuls of mixture onto the bottom half of the dough, sprinkle with a bit of cheese, then fold the upper half over the bottom half. Seal the edges by folding the bottom edge over the top and pinching to seal. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

If grilling, carefully transfer calzones to the hot grill and grill, covered, for about 15 minutes, turning once, until both sides have nice grill marks and the crust is somewhat crisp.

If baking, brush the calzones with a little olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are as brown as you like them.

Makes 8 calzones.

Nat’s Notes:
1. These freeze wonderfully! After I realized how many this would make (I wasn’t sure in the beginning), I decided to freeze half of them for later. After assembling the calzones, place on a baking sheet and freeze them. Once they’re frozen solid, you can transfer them to a plastic zip-top bag and store in the freezer. To cook, simply place them on a baking sheet, brush with oil and bake at 425 for about 25-30 minutes. I wouldn’t recommend grilling them once they’ve been frozen.
2. You can use whatever filling you want for these. If you grill them, I’d recommend using pre-cooked filling and nothing that would release a lot of moisture (like raw vegetables) or they may get mushy.