It totally reminds me of a trip to Italy we took a few months after my husband and I started dating. We were young and head over heals in love at the time, and it was the most romantic trip ever! But aside from all those happy, lovey dovey memories, I remember we had the BEST pizza there. Like party-in-your-mouth amazing with flavours I’ve never experienced before. I remember we went to this one little pizzeria on a small side street in Rome somewhere near the Spanish Steps, and I ordered a mushroom pizza. And oh my goodness, it was the best pizza I’ve ever had! But also one of the weirdest experiences.
We sat out front on this tiny patio, and then a car pulled up in the narrow alley we were in, and honked at us. The road was so narrow, that I never would have guessed that cars would even try to get through. We kind of looked at each other a little puzzled, because there was no way that car was going to get by the restaurant’s patio. But then the waiters came out, and ordered us to stand up and move out of the way. They picked up our table – with our pizza still on it – and moved it as close to the building as they could. Then the car squeezed through, the waitors put our table back in place, and invited us to sit down again. Weirdest experience ever, but I’ll never forget the restaurant or the crazy-good pizza! I’m not going to say that these caprese calzones can compete with that fresh Italian pizza, but the flavours really do make me remember that amazing pizza! (And the wonderful memories of young love… how sappy am I?) Yes, the crust comes out of a refrigerated tube, BUT they were easy. Like REALLY easy. I’ve always been too nervous to make calzones because I was afraid of the work, but these were simple. And they tasted awesome!
Easy Caprese Calzones
These caprese calzones taste so good and they only need five ingredients! They were inspired by the recipe over at Tablespoon. The full, printable recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here’s what you’ll need:
Refrigerated Pizza Crust Roma Tomatoes Fresh Basil Fresh Mozzarella Cheese Your favourite Pizza Sauce or Spaghetti Sauce
Cut the tomatoes into 1/4″ slices, cube the cheese, and chop the parsley into small strips.
Unroll the pizza crust and lay it out on a non-stick (or lightly floured) surface. I used parchment paper. Then roll it slightly with a rolling pin to flatten the edges and shape it into a rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut it into four equal, rectangular pieces.
Add the tomatoes, then the cheese, and finally the basil on top. I used regular pizza mozzerella, but if you want to be fancy, and a little more true to the caprese flavours, you can use classic Italian buffalo mozzarella. I would have loved to use Italian mozzarella, but I’m pretty sure the kids wouldn’t have gone near it! Mmmm…
Then all you have to do is fold them up! Start by folding in one of the long sides, then bring the other long side over to close it up. Press gently to seal the seam (don’t worry about pressing too hard, since you’ll be flipping them over.). Next, pinch tightly to close the ends.
Flip them over so the seam is on the bottom side.
Once you bake them, they come out a delicious golden brown colour. Mmmmm…
I can’t believe they were so easy to make! All these years I’ve been avoiding them, but this has opened up a new world of possibilities!
Mmmmm… melted cheese…
When I took a bite, the tomato and basil flavours were so good!
I meant to buy pizza sauce for dipping, but when I got back from the grocery store I had one of those “Doh!” moments, and completely forgot to pick it up at the store (even though I had a shopping list. Go figure). So I used a jar of my favourite spaghetti sauce instead and it was still perfect! Possibly even better than pizza sauce!
I would be so grateful if you would share this on Facebook! Seriously, every little bit of exposure helps us! All you have to do is click here and press share.
These easy caprese calzones are so easy to make and they taste SO GOOD! They take less than 10 minutes to prepare and the fresh basil and tomato flavours just make me go “Mmmm…” It’s like a little piece of Italy in my kitchen! Here are some other recipes you might like: Easiest One Pot Pasta | Cherry Tomato Rotini:
Mini Deep Dish Pizzas:
