Buffalo Chicken Calzone

Everything you love about hot wings, but with loads of cheese and a crispy crust – and of course no bones!  One of the beautiful things about this calzone (aside from being addictively delicious) is that it can be a very quick assembly, or an entirely made-from-scratch creation. I used store-bought dough (1/2 ball) , pre-breaded chicken tenders, jarred chunky blue cheese dressing, but opted to grate the white cheddar and mozzarella cheeses myself.  So easy, so very very good………..

 

 

Ingredients for Buffalo Chicken Calzone recipe:  (makes one large or two small)

• 1 one pound dough ball, divided in half if making two small calzones
• 10 crispy chicken fingers
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup buffalo wing  hot sauce (like Frank’s)
• 1/4 cup chunky blue cheese dressing
• cornmeal for dusting on baking sheet

Directions: (if making two small calzones, just divide the ingredients between the two)

Start by cooking your breaded chicken tenders – store bought will take about 20 minutes. When they are done, turn the oven up to 450 degrees.

Stretch out your room temperature pizza dough to a round shape and let rest for about ten minutes.

 When the dough has puffed up a bit, slather chunky blue cheese dressing on one half.  You may want to put the dough on a non-stick baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal BEFORE adding fillings when making a small one – you will definitely want to if making a large! 

Toss the crispy chicken tenders in hot sauce of choice (I love Frank’s).

Put your sauced chicken tenders on top off the blue cheese dressing. If you don’t want to use the chicken tenders whole, cut them in smaller pieces before tossing in the hot sauce.

On top of the saucy fingers, pile on the grated mozzarella and white cheddar cheese.  I use a very liberal amount – it really holds things together, and helps make this calzone amazing!

 

All you have to do then is flip over the empty side on top of the fillings and close. How To close and seal the calzone: make sure your top edge goes OVER and under the bottom edge – just pushing down on top will not do it.  Push down your folded over edge all along the side.

Make two or three small air holes on top of the calzone.

Put the calzone into the oven for 12-15 minutes – check at  12 minutes, and sprinkle some grated cheese on top. When you remove from the oven, let it cool down for at least 5 minutes – this will make cutting a whole lot easier!

I like to cut mine from front to back in thick slices, and even into smaller squares after that for an easy-to-pick-up appetizer. However you cut it, enjoy!

 They are great served with some more hot sauce and blue cheese dressing for dipping . Try THIS for your next game-day treat!