Broccoli & Chicken Calzones (For 2)

If you know me then you know I have been whining like a baby about the heat for the last week.

I mean... it gets up to between 38 - 42 (that's around 100 + for our Fahrenheit friends) degrees in the day and only drops to about 25 (77 F) at night.

I think I have a legit reason to be whiny.

Anyway.... When it gets like this then there is just NO way I am using our oven. 

Break out the crock pot and toaster oven. 

I used our super easy, 2 ingredient pizza dough to make these calzones which cook up very nicely in the toaster oven. (Of course, feel free to use your regular oven if it's not a million degrees where you are!)

According to Myfitnesspal one of these bad boys is only - 350 calories, 38 carbs, 8 fat, and 33 protein. 

I checked out some other broccoli and cheese calzones online and they averaged between 550 to 780 calories, 75 - 90 carbs, 26 - 30 fat, and 40 - 49 protein. 

We win.

Just sayin'

Broccoli & Chicken Calzones (For 2)

Ingredients

Filling

1 small chicken breast, diced fine

1 cup broccoli, diced fine

1/4 cup onion, diced fine

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt & pepper

1/2 cup light Ricotta cheese

2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup pizza sauce

Dough

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp 0 fat, plain Greek yogurt

Directions

Preheat toaster oven (or regular oven) to 400. Line a small tray with parchment paper and set aside. 

Prepare filling - Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray and place over medium heat.

To the pan add: chicken, broccoli, onion, garlic, and salt & pepper.

Cook and stir until chicken is no longer pink and broccoli has softened a little.

Remove from heat and scrape mixture into a smaller bowl. Stir in the Ricotta and Parmesan.

Place mixture in fridge to chill while you make the dough.

Prepare dough - In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and Greek yogurt until dough comes together. 

Assemble calzones - Cut dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each half into an approx 8 inch circle. 

Spread 2 Tbsp of pizza sauce on half of each circle. 

Top each with half of the chicken & broccoli mixture.

Carefully fold the dough over the filling and pinch to seal the edges. 

Place on the prepared tray.

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Turn down heat to 375 and cook until calzones are a golden brown.

FYI - It's tricky to not get dark spots when you use the toaster oven because the calzone is so close to the element. If you cook them in the regular oven they brown much more evenly. 

Serve immediately - CAREFUL the filling is very hot!

One is bigger than the other in the photos because I rolled one thinner than the other. They both worked out great but the larger (read: thinner) one was a bit more fragile when I was handling the dough.

Just something to keep in mind.

So many possibilities! 

I went with what I had in the fridge, that's why my filling may seem a little odd, but it tasted very yummy.

I think next time I may try mozza cheese, more pizza sauce, and some ham and pineapple. 

Be sure to check out how you can use this very simple dough recipe to make pizzas (both savory AND sweet) HERE - 1 Dough, 2 Pizzas. 

OH, yeah, also - I had leftover filling because I didn't want to over fill the calzones. I calculated the nutritional count using the ENTIRE filling in the counts so, technically, they are even less calories and fat if you don't use all the filling.  

 

We're sharing at these fun linky parties -- The Chicken Chick, Ms. enPlace, Memories By The Mile