Back to School can be old-school with new tricks as classic sloppy joes tucked inside Rhodes dough for a tasty calzone with cheddar cheese dipping sauce.
Sloppy Joe Calzones
Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
Today’s post is sponsored by Barlean’s, Hamilton Beach, and Rhodes Bread as well as Crispy Green, and The Spice House. However, all opinions are my own. #ad #Back2School
Welcome to the last day of #Back2School week (and your last chance to get in on the fabulous giveaway!)
All this week I (and other bloggers) have been sharing recipes with the busy parent in mind, getting the kids off to school in the morning, packing nutritious lunches, having wholesome after-school snacks, and simple but enjoyable dinners for the busy family on the run.
#Back2School Week has Been So Much Fun!
Monday I started things off with breakfast, and a Western Omelet Breakfast Sandwich, because you know. First things first! Got to feed our monkeys (if we can manage to get them out of the bed on time!) Because a good breakfast is the start of any successful day.
Wednesday I moved on to lunchtime, or possibly even an after-school snack (for the really hungry) sharing a totally portable 7-Layer dip cup.
Bread Dough Has Never Been Easier
But today I want to focus on dinner with the sponsor for this post, Rhodes Bread, who have provided the dough which I used in this recipe as well as generously donated some prizes for the drawing.
As you can see, Rhodes dough comes preportioned and ready to almost literally, roll. We just need to warm it up first.
#Back2School Recipe Inspiration
It’s hard to believe school is back in session and that fall is just ahead. And as well, it is hard to believe the #Back2School week has flown by so fast! There were so many great recipes shared this week, and lots of ideas to help you with those busy school days!
For more amazing #Back2School recipes, please follow our #Back2School Pinterest board. Be sure to also check out my fellow bloggers participating all week long for more delicious dishes!
Blogghetti, Bowl Me Over, Cindy’s Recipes and Writings, Cheese Curd In Paradise, Cooking With Carlee, Doodlecraft, Everyday Eileen, Family Around the Table, Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks, Juggling Act Mama, Karen’s Kitchen Stories, Mandatory Mooch, Palatable Pasttime, The Schmidty Wife, and Wendy Polisi.
Other Recipes You Might Like:
Pressure Cooker Tavern Sandwiches (Iowa Loosemeat)
Bell Beefer (The Taco Bell Sloppy Joe)
Pizza Joes
Delicious Sloppy Joes
BBQ Beef Sandwiches
But Let’s Talk About Calzone!
Calzones are basically Italian turnovers made with pizza dough, and most likely filled with a trinity of ricotta, ham, and mozzarella cheese, also served with a marinara dipping sauce.’
A Different Kind of Calzone
But things don’t stop there, as most pizza places allow you to fill them with any myriad combinations of their pizza toppings. Because they can.
And I like that can-do attitude and want to take it a step further. You can see I have already made pizza joes- a sloppy joe made pizza style. And if I can put the pizza into a joe on a bun, surely it is not hard to put the joe into the pizza dough as a calzone.
Dough for Calzone is So Easy
And most pizza dough is pretty much bread dough in a basic sense, so in this case I have used the Rhodes Texas Rolls, because I want to make it easy for you. The rolls being all preportioned and cut to size, the perfect calzone will take only three pieces of dough.
And after letting the dough get warm and cozy for a few hours in a nice warm place, it is not much effort from there to get these patted out, filled, pinched closed and baked. And you can use whatever cheese sauce you have, simply warmed up, as a dip.
As you can see, I used my breville oven as a proofer, which is easy to pop in and keep at temp. 85F is a great temp to proof at, and undisturbed, a few hours later the dough is nicely risen. If you don’t have a proofer, a warm spot covered on a tray will do, especially if you put the dough on a cookie sheet and heating pad under that. It will be nice and cozy. Just keep it out of drafts and covered with something like an inverted oblong cake pan.
This is Definitely a meal!
These calzones are of typical Italian size, so they will feed your average hungry bear. If you family den has little bear cubs hanging around, you might like to cut these in half, or simple cut the normal dough portion in half to make a mini-calzone.
Making the sauce is a cinch with the browning of the meat and using a ready-made sauce. You can of course, use your favorite recipe of 2 cups sauce. The important thing is to get the final consistency right for the calzone.
You don’t want it as saucy and sloppy as you would put on a bun as it will make the calzone soggy. Thicken it until when you drag a spoon, sauce doesn’t race to fill up the void. See below:
Nice and Thick
Then when the dough is ready, take three of the dough pieces and pat out into a circle, fill with cooled down sloppy joe mix, fold over, roll up the rim and pinch closed.
Just be careful if you have longer nails that you don’t poke holes. If you do, it’s better to patch with a small piece from the end rather than try to pinch it closed on the same spot. I tried that and it just made the hole bigger. But the patch worked out ok.
Sloppy Joe Calzones
Ingredients
- Ingredients:
- 15 Texas Sized Rhodes Dinner Roll dough portions
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 (16 ounce) can sloppy joe seasoning sauce
- 1-1/2 cups prepared cheddar cheese sauce or dip warmed
Instructions
- Method:
- Place the frozen dough pieces on a parchment lined sheet and place in a warm place (85F) out of drafts to thaw and rise, about three hours.
- While dough is getting ready, brown the beef in a skillet and drain excess fat.
- Stir in the 2 cups of sauce mix and simmer until thickened, or when you can drag a spoon across the skillet and it doesn't try to fill up with runny sauce; refrigerate until rolls are ready.
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Take three dough portions and pat or roll into a circle.
- Top the dough with a half cup of cold sloppy joe meat.
- Fold dough over and press dough then roll the edge towards the center a bit and press again, essentially getting a double pinched seal.
- Place the turnover onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and cut two vent slits into the top with a small knife.
- Repeat with remaining calzone dough and filling.
- Bake calzones for 25 minutes at 400F or until golden.
- Serve with a warm cheese sauce dip (instead of marinara).
Notes
School and office supplies and apple on classroom table in front of blackboard. View with copy space
#Back2School Giveaway
The giveaway includes the following prizes:
- Omega Pal’s Prize Pack from Barleans
- 1 item (winner’s choice from featured products) from Hamilton Beach
- Cookbook and coupons from Rhodes Bread
- 4 six-pack bags of Crispy Fruit snacks (mixed flavors) from Crispy Green
- Best Sellers Collection Gift Box from The Spice House
- Freezable Lunch Bag + Mod Lunch Bento from PackIt
Official Rules and Conditions: One (1) winner will be chosen. Prize must be claimed within 48 hours of announcement or a new winner will be drawn. Open to US residents 18+ only. All entries will be verified. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Rafflecopter, or any other entity unless otherwise specified. Giveaway ends 08/21/2019. Enter using the widget below.
