Turkey Sausage and Kale Calzones are a crowd-pleasing, healthy dinner recipe idea that is ready in under an hour. Mezzetta® Marinara Sauce is simple, rich & real and complements this dish with perfection! #TheStoryofSauce #MarinaraSauce #ad

Yum

Have y’all ever been to Italy? I haven’t, but it is somewhere that I would love to visit someday! Italian food is probably my favorite and I think I could just eat my way through a trip there (and probably gain 10 pounds in the process…LOL). About the closest that I have been is to Switzerland (my one and only trip to Europe), which was breathtakingly beautiful and quite an adventure! I met my sister there, who was on a business trip, so I traveled to/from alone. She had to work during the days, so I explored that gorgeous country on my own!! I had a blast and pretty much ate chocolate, bread and cheese my entire trip! I loved it!!

I love travel adventures, like my trip to Switzerland, but I also love the weekends because I have more time to be adventurous in the kitchen. During the week, I work until 6 pm and by the time I get home I need to get something on the table pretty quickly or the natives will be getting restless 😉 This past weekend, I decided to try my hand at making calzones for my parents and the hubs!!

While I might like to be adventurous in the kitchen, I still don’t want to spend my entire day there so I decided to take a little help on a couple of fronts. First, I bought store bought, fresh pizza dough from my local grocery store. In my store the have it in the bakery and it is already pre-rolled for you! Woot woot! I also picked up a new marinara sauce that I found, Mezzetta® Marinara Sauce. 

I couldn’t wait to use Mezzetta’s Italian Plum Tomato Marinara in my Turkey Sausage and Kale Calzones!!  I love that this sauce is simple. It is made from only the newest, freshest, finest ingredients like tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, onions, oregano, and basil.  And the tomatoes, they use only the world’s best tomatoes –  San Marzanos – straight from Italy!! This is the real stuff, folks, all natural, no sugar, no paste and absolutely no shortcuts….and you CAN DEFINITELY taste the difference!!

And the verdict on my first attempt at making calzones??? THEY WERE A HIT!! They didn’t turn out quite as pretty as I had hoped but they received rave reviews!! It made my heart smile to hear how much everyone enjoyed these Turkey Sausage and Kale Calzones!! Nobody even mentioned the healthy stuff that was inside!! All they could talk about was the amazing taste! I know the Mezzetta’s Italian Plum Tomato Marinara was really the icing on the cake to give them that real authentic Italian taste!  In fact, I had leftover calzone filling which I am turning into a quick pasta dish for dinner tonight! I am just adding the leftover filling to cooked, whole grain pasta and topping with more Mezzetta Marinara 🙂

CLICK  >> HERE << OR THE PICTURE ABOVE TO ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A TRIP TO ITALY!!

But before I get to the recipe for my Turkey Sausage and Kale Calzones with Marinara Sauce, I have to tell you about the amazing giveaway that our friends from Mezzetta have for you!! It is Mezzetta’s great Italian trip sweepstakes!

Prize:
One (1) Grand Prize Winning Entry will be selected. The Grand Prize consists of a trip for Winner and one (1) Guest to attend culinary experiences (including cooking class and farm tour) in the San Marzano region of Italy and explore other cities of Italy. The Grand Prize trip consists of the round trip coach air transportation between the major commercial airport nearest winner’s residence and Rome, Italy, the culinary experience and tour of Italy.

Here is your recipe for Turkey Sausage and Kale Calzones with Marinara Sauce

5.0 from 2 reviews

Turkey Sausage and Kale Calzones with Marinara Sauce

 

Save Print

Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Author: Becky's Best Bites

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb. store-bought, fresh pizza dough (found in bakery department, pre-rolled if possible)
• 1 lb. ground turkey sausage
• 1 large, yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 hot mini peppers, ribs and seeds removed & chopped (optional)
• 1 package (8 oz.) fresh, sliced mushrooms (any variety that you like)
• ½ bag (8 oz.) chopped kale
• 1 jar Mezzetta Italian Plum Tomato Marinara sauce, divided
• 1 small container (16 oz.) part-skim ricotta cheese
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1 bag (8 oz.) mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 lg. egg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and set aside.
3. Add turkey sausage to a large skillet, over medium high heat, and cook until the sausage is cooked through and no pink remains.
4. Add onion, garlic, mini peppers (if using) and mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes, or until the onions have begun to soften and the mushrooms brown.
5. Add kale and cook down for 1-2 minutes. They should turn a bright green.
6. Add about ⅓ of the jar of marinara sauce and stir to combine.
7. Turn off heat.
8. Add ricotta to the pan and stir to combine.
9. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Set aside.
10. Portion dough into 6 equally sized round pieces.
11. Working one portion at a time, add about ¾ cup of filling to the center of the dough and top with about 1 oz. of mozzarella cheese and about 1 tbsp. of grated parmesan cheese.
12. Fold dough over to enclose the filling, rolling any excess dough up and over to form an edge.
13. Place on baking sheet and use the edges of a fork to press and seal edges.
14. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough to form 6 calzones.
15. Whisk egg with 1 tsp. of water.
16. Brush the top of each calzone with the egg wash.
17. Use a fork to punch vent holes in each calzone.
18. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.
19. Serve with remaining marinara sauce.

Notes

If you have extra filling (like I did) use it as leftovers another night. Just add it to cooked, whole grain pasta and stir in additional marinara sauce if needed. It is a two-for-one special 🙂

3.5.3208