I had a huge craving for homemade pizza one night and was thinking of ways to make a somewhat healthy-ish version. Then I came across a recipe for a healthy-ish calzone and completely forgot the whole pizza idea. It was on the Mayo Clinic website, which is super random and not normally a place I would go to find recipes. But they actually have some good, nutritious ideas that you can always change to better suit your tastes (i.e. make less nutritious and more delicious).
Chicken and Spinach Calzone:
- 2 t olive oil
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 package (10 oz) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 medium onion
- 8 oz. part skim mozzarella (or ricotta) cheese
- 2 T minced garlic
- 1 T chopped parsley
- 4 T parmesan cheese
- 2 egg whites, separated
- Whole wheat dough (you can find this either in the cheese section or bakery of your grocery store; it’s in a little bag)
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook the chicken first, in a frying pan with olive oil. Just place it in the olive oil over medium-high heat until it’s golden brown and cooked through. Once it cools a bit, cut it into cubes, or strips like I did.
If you want to add onion (the original recipe didn’t call for it, but I added it), chop it up and cook it in a frying pan in some olive oil until it’s soft and translucent.
The recipe called for ricotta cheese, but I’m not the biggest ricotta fan, so I used mozzarella instead (note: after taking Stir’s cooking class and learning how to make my own ricotta cheese, I am now a much bigger fan of ricotta cheese. Yum). I know a lot of people just use the Kraft parmesan cheese or whatever, but I’m telling you right now, buy a block of parm and grate it. It’s really not that hard and it’s SO SO SO much better. They don’t even taste comparable. I also threw in some low-fat feta cheese because um, I could live off cheese? I’m currently trying to convince my sister to have a cheese course at her wedding. Good idea, right?
Anyway, combine the cheeses, spinach, garlic, onion, parsley, and 1 of the egg whites in a big bowl and mix until blended.
Now you want to prepare your dough. Break it into 6 equal-sized pieces and form each into circles. It’s easiest if you place these circles on a floured surface so they don’t get all sticky-like. You’re supposed to use a rolling pin to form the dough into ovals 8 inches long and 6 inches wide. Mine were…not like this. They were in all sorts of odd circle-ish shapes and you know what? It worked.
Break your other egg white into a bowl and brush the edges of the dough with the egg white. You could also use olive oil, but the egg white makes it a bit healthier. Now, place some chicken in the middle of the dough, along with some of the spinach mixture.
Now fold the dough over, pressing the edges together. Crimp the edges with a fork and place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat for the rest of the dough circles. I had an insanely ridiculous amount of filling left over. Which then sat in my fridge for a week before I realized I had no reason to keep it and threw it out. 
Bake the calzone for about 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees, until they’re brown and crispy-looking.
OK, so maybe by the time I finished putting all the cheese in, it wasn’t the healthiest thing in the world. But I did use all pretty light cheeses that also added tons of flavor to the calzone. And they made a really filling and satisfying meal. The best thing is, you can totally add whatever you want to the calzone. I wanted onion so I added onion. But you could also throw in mushrooms, peppers, or anything your heart desires.
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Hooray for homemade!!
Happy New Year!!
Oh YUM – alas, I may have to give Pizza 21 a rest on the speed dial to give this a try…
And I’ll definitely try this with a Buffalo chicken spin – Anchor Bar sauce of course!
mmmmm. you had me at homemade. these look delicious. i just love calzones!
mmmm….
good call on the cheeses…the gooey and meltier a calzone, the better!
OMG that looks brilliant!! Can I just tell you, I found out the most amazing thing this week… you can go to your local pizza shop and buy hte dough. Here, we get it for like $2. It is a much healthier and easier way to eat pizza. Add your own toppings, and enjoy
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Mike,
kitchen aid part
I never think to make calzones. What a great idea and I do love that its healthy. The holidays were long and marshmallowy.
I LOVE YOUR SITE!
since i’m on a master cleansing diet now.. i can’t try any of your goodies!
but i can’t wait
thanks for making such deliciouso, fun, and easy stuff available!
KEEP IT GOING!~~
I just found your site today, through erincooks, and I love it! I’m very into cooking these days (it’s a new love that developed when we bought our first place that actually had adequate kitchen cabinet and counter space- woot!) and I love learning new recipes. I am also a very big fan of bacon, haha and me and cheese are extremely close friends as well. I look forward to following this blog!
I already sent my boyfriend this recipe so that we can make it tonight. This looks AMAZING. I can’t wait!
ok i am probably late to the parade (i lurk your site) but i had this wine last night, and loved it and thought of you guys.
its cupcake wine. it doesnt taste like cupcakes that is just the name. anyways. i love the site and made the goat cheese mushroom stuffed chicken. i over stuffed them a bit but they tasted great and i made a rosemary polenta and peas instead of the fingerling potato.
anyway. this is the wine i am talking about.
xo!
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090108/OPINION03/901080310
Love this blog! all the food looks so delish, I must try some of your recipes
I was just thinking of making calzones this week, those look great!
I love this…and secretly I want to add even more cheese – lol.
love your blog! this calzone looks amazing!
I love calzones!! and all the spinich it these looks so healthy!
I just made these this week and thought they turned out pretty well! I also made mine less healthy but much more tasty by adding mozzarella
I am making this tonight but I am using half ricotta and half mozzarella with a good hand full of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Spinach, fresh port-a-bella mushrooms, onions and chicken.