Spinach Calzones With Blue Cheese

Refrigerated pizza dough is the shortcut that makes these calzones a Tuesday-night reality. Unroll one 10-ounce tube onto a sprayed sheet pan, cut into four equal quarters, and pat each into a rectangle. No rolling pin, no flour mess, no bowl to wash.

Build them fast. Minced garlic hits each rectangle first, acting as the sauce. Then a generous cup of fresh spinach, two thin slices of sweet Vidalia onion, a third of a cup of sliced button or cremini mushrooms, and three tablespoons of crumbled blue cheese. The blue cheese is the hero here. It melts into the hot vegetables and coats everything in a funky, creamy sauce without needing anything else.

The fold is origami-simple: bring opposite corners to the center and pinch all four points in the middle to seal. Twelve minutes at 425°F (220°C) and you have golden, puffy, stuffed pockets that slice open to reveal wilted greens and bubbling cheese.

Kitchen Tips

• Pinch the seams hard. Weak seals pop open in the oven and leak cheese all over the pan.
• Pile the spinach even though it looks like too much. A full cup wilts down to a few tablespoons inside the calzone.
• Slice the onion paper-thin. Thick onion stays too sharp during a quick 12-minute bake.
• Cut a small vent slit in the top after pinching. It lets steam escape so the bottom of the dough doesn’t go soggy.

Variations

• Swap blue cheese for crumbled feta or fresh ricotta for a milder finish.
• Add sliced sun-dried tomatoes or a few olives for punch.
• Brush the tops with beaten egg before baking for a glossy, golden-brown finish.