Recently I posted about the delicious chicken pesto pizza we had for dinner last week. After that dinner, I had leftover grilled chicken pieces, leftover pesto, mozzarella cheese and half a batch of my beloved pizza crust in the freezer. In other words, all I needed to make this dinner was artichokes. This was a wonderful quick and easy dinner with all of those ingredients ready to go. I used canned artichokes for the sake of simplicity. I probably added about half a can, but I think I would add even more next time. The chicken-artichoke combo is fantastic! I split the pizza dough into two portions to make two large calzones, but you could certainly make more small portions if desired. Can’t wait to make these again.
Chicken Artichoke Pesto Calzones
Ingredients:
1/2 batch perfect pizza crust dough, at room temperature
Pesto (recipe found here)
Grilled chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
Canned artichokes, drained and coarsely chopped
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Olive oil, for brushing
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Place a pizza stone in the oven and allow it to heat up, at least 30 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the pizza dough into two (or more) equal pieces. Stretch or roll out each piece into a circle, about 7-8 inches in diameter. On one half of each dough round, spread a layer of pesto, leaving a half-inch border around the edge. Top with grilled chicken pieces and artichokes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Fold the other half of the dough over to cover the toppings and form a semi-circle. Press the free edges of dough together to seal the filling inside. Carefully transfer the finished calzones to the preheated pizza stone. Brush the tops lightly with olive oil. Bake until golden brown, about 13-15 minutes.
Source: adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles
