How to Make a Calzone with an Ooni Pizza Oven
Learn how to make a calzone with an Ooni Pizza Oven. This epic Ham and Fontina Cheese Calzone recipe is an easy and delicious recipe perfect for learning how to bake a calzone in an outdoor pizza oven. It’s full of flavor, but not full of excess moisture, one of the main issues with leaky, soggy, disappointing homemade calzone recipes. My easy no-knead dough recipe bakes up beautifully with a tall, glossy, golden brown domed exterior and a rich and cheesy interior. This calzone recipe is so good it just might make you forget about the perfection of pizza for a second. Make sure to watch the video to learn all the tips and tricks and you’ll be on your way to making epic calzones at home with an Ooni Pizza Oven.
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What Dough should I use to Make a Calzone in an Ooni Pizza Oven?
I’ve had great results making homemade calzones in my outdoor pizza oven using the same easy pizza dough recipe I use to make all my epic homemade pizzas. The only change I make is to the dough ball size, about 250 grams for one large calzone. A pizza dough ball of this size will make a large sized calzone, about 12-13 inches in length and able to hold generous amounts of hearty fillings.
Can I use Store Bought Pizza Dough to Make a Calzone?
I always recommend making your own pizza dough for homemade pizzas and calzones when using an Ooni Pizza Oven. Homemade pizza dough is easy to make and produces the best tasting homemade pizza in an outdoor pizza oven. If you don’t have time to make pizza dough from scratch you can use store bought pizza dough to make calzones at home. For best results cut the pizza dough into 250 gram portions, shape into dough balls, cover, and let rest for 2-4 hours before using.
What Outdoor Pizza Oven is Best for Making Calzones at Home?
Calzones can be made in just about any outdoor pizza oven provided they have enough clearance inside to allow for the higher rise. The roomy interior, flame control, and included door of the Ooni Karu 16 Pizza Oven make it the best choice to easily make delicious calzones at home. The Ooni Pizza Oven can produce a calzone at home that will rival your favorite pizzeria version. Watch the video to see how it’s done!
How do I heat an Ooni Pizza Oven for Calzones?
All outdoor pizza ovens regardless of make or model require a long, hot, initial heating to produce pizzeria quality pizza at home. The long pre-heat maxes out the thermal mass of the outdoor pizza oven leading to the best pizza at home. Making sure the oven is fully heated before baking helps solve the biggest complaint about Ooni Pizza Ovens. For calzones I use the same heating method for my Ooni Karu 16 Pizza Oven as I do for pizza; at least 30 minutes at full flame using the gas burner.
How to Stretch Pizza Dough for Calzones?
Stretching pizza dough can be frustrating for home pizza makers. Calzones I find can be a little more forgiving. Learning how to stretch dough for pizza or calzones is best done with some visual assistance, be sure to watch the video to learn my techniques and tips. With a few adjustments to your pizza dough stretching technique you’ll be sliding your amazing homemade pizza right off and no more sticky disasters. When stretching pizza dough for calzones make sure not to stretch the dough too thin in the center as this is where the heavier fillings will go. Don’t worry about keep the outer rim of the dough thicker as you would for a pizzas as it’s folded over, if anything a little thinner is better. I stretch my dough on a marble surface before transferring the dough to a wooden pizza peel dusted with a small amount of fine semolina and then proceed with the filling and sealing of the calzone.
What’s the Best Filling for a Calzone?
Sometimes simple is the best. In the world of pizza this is often true. The calzone is no exception. Simple fillings that are low in moisture work best in calzones. My rosemary ham and fontina cheese calzone recipe below comes together really easily and is jam packed full of flavor. For calzones I most often do not include a sauce inside as I find it can problems with baking that will lead to a soggy calzone. If you include sauce inside your go sparingly for best results.
How do you Seal a Calzone so it Doesn’t Leak?
Making sure the calzone is fully sealed before baking in your outdoor pizza oven is one of the most important steps when making a calzone at home. After stretching the dough over the filling and aligning the two edges of dough I use the back of a pizza cutter to press the dough firmly down and seal closed. Then I use the blade of the pizza cutter to trim the edge of the calzone for a clean seal before loading in my Ooni Pizza Oven. Watch the video to learn this simple technique to easily seal a calzone.
Do you Need to Cut Slits in a Calzone?
There is no need to cut any slits or holes in the top of the dough before baking. Not cutting into the dough keeps all the filling inside, preventing it from leaking out and makes for an attractive puffy domed finished calzone.
Should I Brush the Top of a Calzone with Olive Oil Before Baking?
I’ve found that brushing the exterior of the dough with olive oil before baking a calzone in an outdoor pizza oven will cause the outside to darken too quickly and burn. I do like the glossy look of the olive oil though so I brush the outside of the calzone after it’s done baking in my Ooni Pizza Oven. The calzone may be returned to the oven after being brushed with olive oil to re-crisp if needed.
What Temperature is Best for Baking a Calzone in an Ooni Pizza Oven?
I’ve found that baking a calzone at a slightly lower temperature than pizza in an outdoor pizza oven will produce the best results. A calzone bakes up taller so it is at more risk for being burned by the flame of the pizza oven, always keep an eye on the flame. I load the calzone as close to the door as I can with the sealed edge facing towards the flame before the first turn. A pizza stone reading of around 650F with an infrared temperature gun and an oven temperature of around 600F I find to work best in the Ooni Karu 16 Pizza Oven. Watch the video to learn my calzone baking techniques for Ooni Pizza Ovens.
How do I Know if my Calzone is Done?
A fully baked calzone should have a puffed, golden brown exterior with a few darker spots. The bottom should be browned and firm when picked up with a pizza turning peel. A properly baked calzone will have a molten hot interior, make sure to let rest for 2-3 minutes on a wire rack before slicing to let things settle.
Epic Ham and Cheese Calzone
Ingredients
- 3 ounces Rosemary Ham
- 4 ounces Fontina Cheese
- 1 250 gram dough ball Pizza Dough
Instructions
- Begin heating your Ooni Pizza Oven on high heat. A full pre-heat of any outdoor pizza oven will take at least 30 minutes on high heat for proper baking and crispy bottomed pizza.
- Slice the sliced rosemary ham into thin strips, about 1/4 inch wide, keep chilled till ready to fill the calzone. Thickly shred the Fontina cheese and keep chilled till ready to fill the calzone.
- When your Ooni Pizza Oven is fully heated stretch the pizza dough to about 12-13 inches. After your dough is stretched turn your pizza oven down to low to let the heat temper while you top the pizza.
- Add 1/3 of the shredded cheese to the center of the stretched dough in a line leaving about 1 inch of room between the edge of the dough and the cheese. Top with half of the strips of rosemary ham followed by an additional 1/3 of the shredded cheese a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper, the remaining ham, and the remaining 1/3 of shredded cheese.
- Turn the heat on your Ooni Pizza Oven to medium low and take the temperature of the stone aiming for for 650F in the center. When the stone has reached the proper temperature load the calzone keeping as close as possible to the oven opening. Look for the dough to puff into a high domed appearance with a golden brown crust with some spots of char on both the top and bottom of the calzone.
- When fully baked carefully remove the calzone from the oven and let rest on a wire rack. Brush the top of the calzone generously with extra-virgin olive oil. Let rest 2-3 minutes before slicing on parchment lined baking sheet or pizza peel.
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