Ahhh…it’s good to be back to blogging. I’ve been running around like crazy the last couple weeks with my new job and all the traveling we have been doing. I feel like I haven’t been in the kitchen in months!
Today was a cloudy, rainy, cold day here in northeast Iowa. A sure sign that fall is on the way. I was craving something warm and comforting for dinner. Since Eric is really busy with school and work, and he was really a trooper going all the way to Indianapolis with my family this weekend even though he’s completely swamped, I thought he deserved a meal I knew he’d love. I have a tendency to put my own tastes before his because…well, I guess I’m a selfish, terrible wife. Heh….
This was way yummy and totally hit the spot on a cold day. The original recipe calls for grilling the calzones, which would be delicious I’m sure. I baked mine…because there was no way I was going to stand out there in this weather!! The perfect meal for hard working, meat loving man!
BACON CHEESEBURGER CALZONES WITH SPICY CAJUN KETCHUP (Recipe Adapted from: Everyday with Rachael Ray)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound refrigerated pizza dough
- 1 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
- 3/4 pound ground beef
- 4 slices of bacon
- 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used closer to a cup, I like lots of cheese
- Salt
- 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400*, divide the pizza dough and form into two balls. Place in a large bowl greased with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temp for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the beef over medium heat, breaking up the meat, until browned, about 5 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
- In the same skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Reserve the drippings in the skillet (I soaked up a bit of the drippings with a paper towel and reserved about 1/2 tbs.). Add the onion and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes; add to beef. Crumble the bacon into the beef mixture and stir in the cheese; season with salt.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1ball of dough into a 12-inch round and transfer to a large oiled baking sheet. Place half the beef mixture on one side of the round. Top with half the tomatoes. Fold over the dough to form a half moon; crimp the edge to seal. Repeat with the remaining dough. Brush the calzones with olive oil. Pierce a vent in the top of each calzone. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
**Note:** I ended up with about a quarter of the filling left, probably because I didn’t roll my dough enough and I got nervous about filling them too much because I thought they’d burst. You could probably get away with only 1/2 pound of meet and two slices of bacon for two people.
SPICY CAJUN KETCHUP (for dipping!)
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 3-4 drops hot pepper sauce
- 1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
Combine and enjoy! 
3 Comments
September 9, 2008 at 2:23 am
Ooh, that looks great! Homemade calzones are way better than any Hot Pocket and that spicy ketchup sounds awesome too!
November 21, 2008 at 8:55 pm
[...] in my A&P book or my parasitology book…You see, the reason why I ask is that when I read THIS recipe by The Milkman’s Wife and wrote down what ingredients I needed, I read “pizza [...]
September 11, 2009 at 2:51 am
[...] One year ago: A MANLY meal – Bacon Cheeseburger Calzones with Spicy Cajun Ketchup [...]