You can make delicious sourdough calzones at home using leftover sourdough pizza dough. These calzones are stuffed with a flavorful ricotta/mozzarella cheese filling, and they’re spiked with grated parmesan cheese and some additional herbs and spices for ultimate flavor. It’s a delicious combination that will make you feel like you’re in a New York City pizzeria.
Why This Recipe Works
Calzones are typically made in restaurants by utilizing old or leftover pizza dough. So, to make a sourdough calzone, all you need is some sourdough pizza dough and ingredients to fill it with. For this New York-style sourdough calzone, we’re filling it mainly with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and keeping ham or pepperoni optional. This makes a wonderfully cheesy calzone that you can flavor with whatever herbs and spices you have on hand.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Sourdough Pizza Dough: For each medium-sized calzone, you’ll need one 250-300 gram dough ball. I used leftover dough balls from my Sourdough New York-Style Pizza recipe.
- Ricotta Cheese: Whole milk ricotta cheese will provide a creamy base for these cheese calzones. You can use part-skim ricotta if that’s what you have, but whole milk ricotta will have a richer flavor.
- Hard Grating Cheese: The ideal hard grating cheese to use for these sourdough calzones is either Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese. Either of these will provide a tangy, savory flavor that will pair well with the creaminess of the ricotta.
- Mozzarella Cheese: Shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese will provide stretchiness and creaminess to these calzones. You can use either whole milk low moisture mozzarella, or a blend of whole milk mozzarella and part skim mozzarella.
- Salt: I use Kosher salt for this recipe, but sea salt or plain table salt will work just as well. This will be the main “seasoning” in your calzone filling and it will enhance the natural flavors in the cheeses.
- Herbs and Spices: To add some extra flavor to your calzone, you can add dried oregano, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, etc. (anything that you would like to use).
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: You’ll need to brush your calzones with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil before baking. This will improve browning.
For the Toppings
Note: Check recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and quantities.
How to Make Sourdough Calzones (New York-Style)
Ingredient Amounts (for One Medium Calzone)
- Sourdough Pizza Dough – 1 Dough Ball (250-300 grams)
- Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese – 1/3 cup (85 grams)
- Parmigiano Reggiano, Grated – 2 Tbsp (12 grams)
- Salt – 1/4 tsp.
- Oregano, Dried (Optional) – 1/4 tsp.
- Red Pepper Flakes (Optional) – 1/4 tsp.
- Garlic Powder (Optional) – 1/4 tsp.
- Low-Moisture Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded – 3/4 cup (75 grams)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1/2 tsp.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Sourdough Calzones (New York-Style)
Shaping the Dough
Preheat your oven to 450°F (232°C) with a baking steel/pizza stone in the oven if you have one.
Take out a dough ball and lightly dust both sides of the dough with flour—either bread or all-purpose flour works fine. Press the dough out into a disc with your fingertips. Unlike pizza, you don’t need to preserve a thick crust around the edge, so feel free to press firmly.
Once flattened, pick up the disc of dough and stretch it evenly until it reaches about 11 to 12 inches in diameter.
Adding the Fillings
On the bottom half of your disc of dough, add the whole milk ricotta cheese, the grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, followed by the salt and any other herbs or spices that you are using (you can also add any ham or pepperoni if desired). Use a fork to mash the filling mixture together. Flatten the mixture with the fork to cover the bottom half of the circle of dough.
Next add the shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the filling mixture. Spread the mozzarella out in an even layer, but leave a small border of dough (about ½ inch) around the edge. This bare edge will help you seal the calzone properly when you fold the dough over.
Folding and Sealing
Fold the top half of the dough over the bottom half of the dough, covering all of the fillings, and letting the edges of dough line up perfectly. Press down firmly with your fingertips to seal the calzone closed. Make sure the calzone is tightly sealed so that cheese doesn’t explode out of the sides during baking.
Finishing the Calzones before Baking
Transfer the calzone onto a sheet of parchment paper that’s a little larger than the calzone itself. Before baking, use a knife or your fingers to make a small hole in the top of the dough—this hole will act as a vent and allow steam to escape while baking.
Brush the top of the calzone with about 1/2 tsp of olive oil using a pastry brush. This step will help the dough brown evenly and develop a crisp, golden crust while it bakes.
Baking the Sourdough Calzones
Place the calzone—parchment and all—onto a baking steel, pizza stone, or onto a metal sheet pan.
Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is deep golden brown and cheese is starting to bubble out of the top of the calzone.
Serving
Allow the baked calzones to cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before serving. Then, slices the calzones in half and enjoy with warm pizza sauce, marinara sauce, or vodka sauce.
Sourdough Calzone (New York-Style)
These golden brown sourdough calzones will make you feel like you're in a New York city pizzeria. They're stuffed with a flavorful ricotta/mozzarella cheese filling and spiked with grated parmesan cheese and some additional herbs and spices for ultimate flavor.
Ingredients
- Sourdough Pizza Dough – 1 Dough Ball (250-300 grams)
- Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese – 1/3 cup (85 grams)
- Parmigiano Reggiano, Grated – 2 Tbsp (12 grams)
- Salt – 1/4 tsp.
- Oregano, Dried (Optional) – 1/4 tsp.
- Red Pepper Flakes (Optional) – 1/4 tsp.
- Garlic Powder (Optional) – 1/4 tsp.
- Low-Moisture Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded – 3/4 cup (75 grams)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1/2 tsp.
Instructions
Shaping the Dough
Preheat your oven to 450°F (232°C) with a baking steel/pizza stone in the oven if you have one.
Take out a dough ball and lightly dust both sides of the dough with flour—either bread or all-purpose flour works fine. Press the dough out into a disc with your fingertips. Unlike pizza, you don’t need to preserve a thick crust around the edge, so feel free to press firmly.
Once flattened, pick up the disc of dough and stretch it evenly until it reaches about 11 to 12 inches in diameter.
Adding the Fillings
On the bottom half of your disc of dough, add the whole milk ricotta cheese, the grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, followed by the salt and any other herbs or spices that you are using (you can also add any ham or pepperoni if desired). Use a fork to mash the filling mixture together. Flatten the mixture with the fork to cover the bottom half of the circle of dough.
Next add the shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the filling mixture. Spread the mozzarella out in an even layer, but leave a small border of dough (about ½ inch) around the edge. This bare edge will help you seal the calzone properly when you fold the dough over.
Folding and Sealing
Fold the top half of the dough over the bottom half of the dough, covering all of the fillings, and letting the edges of dough line up perfectly. Press down firmly with your fingertips to seal the calzone closed. Make sure the calzone is tightly sealed so that cheese doesn’t explode out of the sides during baking.
Finishing the Calzones before Baking
Transfer the calzone onto a sheet of parchment paper that’s a little larger than the calzone itself. Before baking, use a knife or your fingers to make a small hole in the top of the dough—this hole will act as a vent and allow steam to escape while baking.
Brush the top of the calzone with about 1/2 tsp of olive oil using a pastry brush. This step will help the dough brown evenly and develop a crisp, golden crust while it bakes.
Baking the Sourdough Calzones
Place the calzone—parchment and all—onto a baking steel, pizza stone, or onto a metal sheet pan.
Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is deep golden brown and cheese is starting to bubble out of the top of the calzone.
Serving
Allow the baked calzones to cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before serving. Then, slices the calzones in half and enjoy with warm pizza sauce, marinara sauce, or vodka sauce.