Happy National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day! (Bacon and Pepperoni Calzones)

Happy National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day!  (No lie.  It's a holiday.  A national one at that...)

Pigs-in-a-BlanketTrivia

*Pigs in ablanket are also known as devils on horsebacks, kilted sausages, and wienerwinks.

*The firstwritten record of pigs in a blanket occurs inBetty Crocker’s Cooking for Kids in 1957.

*In America,pigs in a blanket often refers to hot dogs, Vienna sausages, or breakfastsausages wrapped in biscuit dough, croissant dough or a pancake and thenbaked.  You can take that to the nextlevel by adding bacon, of course.

*In the UnitedKingdom, pigs in blankets are small sausages wrapped up inbacon.

In celebration of the holiday, I literally threw this together for dinner tonight.  No, honestly.  And it was ..... wait for it...deliciousness.  Easy and great weeknight meal!

Bacon and Pepperoni Calzones
1 package of supermarket pizza dough
6 slices of bacon
packaged sliced Pepperoni
shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Ricotta cheese
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
your favorite veggies (I used sliced mushrooms)
basil
garlic powder

Cook Bacon.  I did mine on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet in a cold oven set to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.  Pull out, drain on a paper towel and chop into pieces.

Set oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Take the pizza dough and split it to form 2 equally-sized dough balls (they should each be a little smaller than a softball). Spread each dough ball out on a lightly floured surface as if you were making a pizza (spread it out as much as you can without tearing it). 

I started with about 2 tsp of Ricotta cheese on the dough in the center towards one side.  Try to leave about a half an inch around the edge of the calzone, so you can get a nice seal on the dough.  Layer the Pepperoni, Bacon, Mozzarella cheese, then basil and garlic powder and veggies.  Carefully fold the dough over the toppings and pinch the edges together. Then fold over the bottom  layer of dough over the top, using a finger to crimp the edge.  Make a couple little slits in the top of the dough, and either spray the top lightly with cooking spray, or use an egg wash to gently glaze the top of the dough.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes (or until golden brown). 

Heat the spaghetti sauce in a small pot and simmer until calzones are done. You can serve the calzones with the sauce on the side then dip the calzone into it OR you can pour the sauce over the calzones and top with cheese.