Vegan Cheese Calzone

Over Christmas I made my pesto lasagna with my dad and it got him thinking about other things I could make with the Garden Ricotta. I went through a stage when I was younger where every time we would order pizza I would get a cheese calzone instead. I decided I really wanted to try it and I figured it would be simple and easy to make. Well, it was and let me tell you it was delicious. I know I say this a lot but as we were eating it (on our table) last night Jimmy looks at me and goes "yep, this is my new favorite". I just laughed because he says it all the time but is good to know that I keep making things he really seems to enjoy. They got so big that we were only able to eat half but I will be enjoying the other half today for lunch while he is out snowboarding. Most of the parts of this recipe are already on my blog but I will write them down for you again so it is all together. I hope you get a chance to try this.

***This recipe makes 2 big calzones. If you only want one cut recipe in half***

Dough
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package rapid rise yeast
1 -1 1/2 cups warm water
garlic salt (to taste)
dry parsley (to taste)

Mix yeast with a little warm water and let sit for about 10 minutes or until it starts to bubble. In large mixing bowl combine all ingredients and kneed for about 5 minutes. Form into a ball shape and add a little extra oil on top. Place a wet cloth on top of bowl and let rise for about 45 minutes. 

Garden Ricotta
1 package extra firm tofu (drained)
1 package fresh basil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small onion (diced)
2 gloves garlic (diced)
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt/pepper (to taste)

In small skillet cook diced onion and diced garlic with 2 tablespoons olive oil until onion is soft. Remove from heat and let cool. In food processor combine tofu, lemon juice, cooked onion and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add basil and salt and pepper and mix until it reaches a smooth texture. You may have to do this in two batches to help with the texture but it depends on the size of your food processor. 

Cheese Calzone
dough
garden ricotta
daiya mozzarella
olive oil
garlic salt
dry parsley
3-4 mushrooms
1/2 red onion
(any other vegetables you may want to add such as peppers, spinach etc.)

Vegan Cheese Calzone
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

I used a pizza stone so I put that in the oven for about 10 minutes first but if you are using just a regular cooking tray make sure you spray it with non stick spray first. 

Directions
1. Cook vegetables with a little olive oil in a small skillet. Let cool and place in a paper towel to help remove oil. This will help avoid juices leaking when calzone is cooking. 
2. Break dough into 2 even pieces. Roll out dough into circle type shapes. You may need to place some flour on the counter so dough doesn't stick.
3. Spread some olive oil on one side of dough (the side that is facing up)
4. Place some daiya mozzarella on one half of dough, add half of the garden ricotta on top of that, then add whatever vegetables you have decided to use on top of that and finally add a little more daiya mozzarella 
5. Fold the top over so it meets the bottom and pinchclose. Fold the sides up as well so that there are no openings. 
6. Put some more olive oil on top and sprinkle with garlic salt and dry parsley.
7. Repeat this steps 2-6 to make another calzone
8. Place on pizza stone and place in oven for 20-30 minutes or until bread is a golden brown.

Make sure you let cool before you eat it :)