Difficulty: Medium
Combine all ingredients except water into a stand mixer. Start mixing at low speed with a dough hook.
Add water gradually, about 10-20% at a time and give it 30-60 seconds to mix each time. This does not need to be very precise.
Once the dough forms into a shaggy ball, mix at medium-high speed for about 4 minutes. The dough should be slapping the sides of the mixer bowl.
Divide the dough into the number of calzones you want. This recipe can comfortably make anywhere between 4-8 calzones, 8 regular calzones up to 4 extra large calzones.
Place the dough balls onto an oiled sheet tray and loosely cover in plastic wrap.
Let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 550F (288C). Most home ovens take awhile to reach this temperature so it's important to begin preheating before the dough is done rising.
If you have a pizza steel or stone, put that in the oven.
Saute the mushrooms to reduce moisture. If you're adding other moist toppings, saute those too.
Combine all sauce ingredients, mix thoroughly, and set aside.
Typically, sliced pepperoni will come in circles. Chop them into quarter circles.
This helps avoid the pepperonis getting yanked around as you cut into the finished calzone and provides a better eating experience. Don't skip this!
If you're using a block of cheese, slice the cheese and shred some of it.
I make slices roughly 1x3-4" (2.5x7.5-10cm) and 0.25" (0.6cm) thick, it doesn't need to be exact. You will need about 16 slices, big calzones use 4 slices each and regular calzones use 2 slices each.
I shred the cheese on my box grater's largest holes.
Lightly oil your working surface and rolling pin. If the dough sticks to your rolling pin you need more oil.
Roll or stretch out the dough into a circle similar to pizza. This does not need to be perfect.
For eight calzones they should be ~10.5" (26.6cm) diameter and for four calzones they should be ~13-14" (33-35.5cm) diameter.
Put about 2-4 medium spoons of sauce on one half of the calzone. But don't get too close to the edges.
Any leftover sauce can be used for dipping.
Lay 2-4 slices of cheese on top of the sauce. Just enough to cover most of it, don't use more than one layer.
Add pepperoni and mushrooms over the cheese.
Sprinkle on the shredded cheese.
Fold over the calzone. Grab the edges of the half you didn't put toppings on and pull it over your toppings. Try to have the edges of both sides meet evenly.
Press the edges down into each other then fold them up and press down again. You can do this however you want, a fancy swirly pleat or a straight functional fold will both bake and taste great.
Get a sheet tray with parchment paper on it and place the calzone on the tray. Be careful to not rip the calzone when transferring it to the tray.
Brush the egg wash over the calzone. Don't go overboard with this, just a light coating.
Cut a few small holes in the top of the calzone to allow steam to escape.
They won't explode if you skip this step but this helps avoid potential structural issues.
Skip back to step 1 and make another calzone until you've filled up your tray with calzones. I usually bake two at a time.
Bake at 550F (288C) for ~10 minutes.
I highly recommend you slice and shred your own cheese. Packaged pre-shredded or pre-sliced cheeses often have a cellulose powder coating or similar to prevent sticking and clumping. This isn't ideal for the flavor of the cheese.
Feel free to use any toppings you enjoy in a calzone. This recipe is very flexible. You can even leave out the sauce or make a pure cheese calzone if you prefer (I recommend still making the sauce for dipping if you choose to try this).
Inspirations: Calzones are SO much more than folded pizza, 1 HOUR PIZZA?!, and DELIVERY STYLE PIZZA