Friday night Calzones Part 1

We invited our friends over for a 'calm' little evening of calzones and jenga (not kidding.) The calzones were delicious however this posts' pictures will get progressively worse as I consumed more and more red wine throughout the night, BUT this was a realllly good meal and will actually has a part 2 to follow using the same two calzone fillings  in a completely different way.  So don't judge by the final picture, because the picture sucks.

I made two fillings, a veggie filling, and a meat filling with a side of mushrooms and had everyone make their own calzones. Keep in mind these measurements are meant for two meals, so you would want to half this recipe if you truly plan on making the calzones.

1 tube Pillsbury pizza crust (this makes four large calzones)

2 cups mushrooms (optional)

Veggie filling
8 cups fresh spinach (turns into about 4 cups once its chopped)
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 cup thawed broccoli
salt and pepper to taste

Meat Filling/Sauce
10 Hot Italian sausages
5 Jars Pasta sauce (I used one jar of plain marinara then added crushed tomatoes and made my own sauce but you could just use all jars)
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic

Cook the water out of the mushrooms. To do this, add the mushrooms to the pan, and cook on medium high for about 7 mins, stirring occasionally.

In your pan add the garlic/onion and saute until tender, then add the sausages. (remove from the casing)

Mix and chop the sausage cooking the sausage about 1/2 through.

 Then add the sauce directly into the same pan with the meat. If making your own, add basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

I had stopped by my parents house after work so my mom sent me home with one of her last batches of her garden tomatoes so I added all of them to the sauce as well.

Cover and simmer on low for about 15-20 mins stirring occasionally.

While the meat sauce was cooking, I made the veggie filling.

To your mixing bowl add 8 cups of spinach (you may want to chop this up in batches.. if your bowl is too small)

Chop up your spinach, add in your feta, Greek yogurt, garlic and mix together thoroughly. Do not add your broccoli in yet. (its gets too smooshy if you add it in too soon)

Once the veggie filling is mixed well add your broccoli and gently fold it in. Mix Nicely.

Now this is where the pictures get terrible/non existent.

Unroll the pizza crust and cut into four rectangles. Pour filling on half of the calzone. If using the meat sauce be sure to use a slotted spoon to strain out the extra liquid.  You can mix and match. For my calzone I did veggie with a very little bit of meat sauce. For the boys it was heavy with meat sauce. Add in mushrooms if you want.

That was the last of the assembling pictures, so you'll have to use your imagination. Fold over the remaining dough and bake at 375 for about 20 mins or until golden brown, lets be serious I really don't remember how long.  This is the final product. Again really bad picture, but really good food.

See look how happy and full they look!