Reuben Calzones – calzones with a Reuben twist! Pastrami, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut fill these calzones – a great change up!
Photo Updated December 2013
Rachael Ray – you either love her or you hate her. I have admitted before that I am a lover, and despite all of the opinions people have about her, I will always be a lover. In fact, there are only 2 cooking shows that I have on my DVR and that I religiously watch. 30 Minute Meals is one, and the other is America’s Test Kitchen. I know many people find her over the top and extremely annoying, but she really makes my kind of food. Food that can be made on a weeknight by someone who doesn’t have a ton of time to spend in the kitchen. Food that tastes good, is usually well balanced, and isn’t boring.
My husband doesn’t love her. I can’t watch if he is in the house because he finds her so annoying. But even he will admit that when I make recipes from her show or her magazine, they are winners. That is why I have decided to do this 7 day series – a week of Rachael Ray. I think everyone should give her recipes a chance, and this way you don’t have to watch her show to see the recipe – you can skip the annoying and go straight to the recipe.
In her magazine – Everyday with Rachael Ray – she always features a 7 day menu planner. Every month, I say I am going to make the whole menu, but I have never followed through with that. When I picked up March’s edition, after looking at those 7 dinners, I knew I would be making all 7 of them, and I thought it would be fun to bring them all to you. I admit that it took me longer than 7 days to get through all of these. In all honesty, I don’t cook 7 dinners a week. I’m lucky if I cook 5 nights a week. With just 2 of us, we will almost always have leftovers that need to be eaten, and sometimes life just gets in the way. So while I wanted to bring these to you in March, while the magazine was still out, I just didn’t make it. But every issue has one of these meal planners (which also includes a shopping list – which I love!) so you really should check it out!
Day One brings us this Reuben Pizza. I was both excited and apprehensive about this recipe. I love pastrami, but I’ve never been a big sauerkraut fan. But it had been quite some time since I had tried sauerkraut, so I took this opportunity to try it again to see if I would like it this time around. I was actually surprised – I didn’t hate it! I can’t say that I am a full on sauerkraut lover now and that I want to make everything with it, but I don’t hate it on any level!
This original recipe feeds 4. It is a circle shape, with dough on the top and on the bottom, then when the “pizza” is finished, it is cut into fourths. Since there are only 2 of us, I did this more of a calzone style – just doing one round of pizza dough and folding it in half. We then each got one half of the calzone. It was the perfect serving size for 2 people.
I only made 2 changes to this recipe. The original just calls for refrigerated pizza dough, but I made my own – using the pizza recipe in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. This was excellent pizza dough!! I still like the Cook’s Illustrated recipe that I made before better, but this was much faster and easier, and was really good. The only other substitution I made was using regular dill pickles in the sauce instead of bread and butter pickles.
We loved these! Filling, and a great twist on a typical Reuben sandwich. And this was definitely easy enough for a weeknight!
**December 2013 Update – My family prefers these as individual calzones so I have updated the recipe to reflect this.**
Reuben Calzones
Ingredients
- 1- pound pizza dough homemade or storebought
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
- 1 pound deli-sliced pastrami or corned beef
- 1 cup sauerkraut rinsed
- 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 1/2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped bread-and-butter pickles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450F. If using a pizza stone, preheat the oven for 20-30 minutes.
- Divide the pizza dough into 4 even balls. Starting with one ball, roll it on a lightly floured surface into a 9-inch circle. Sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese on half of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Layer on 1/4 of the pastrami, followed by 1/4 of the sauerkraut.
- Fold the dough over the filling, then pinch the edges together to seal. Genlty fold the edges over to completely seal the filling. Brush the top with olive oil and cut 3 vents in the center. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
- Bake until browned, 18-22 minutes. Let cool briefly.
- To make the sauce, combine the mayonnaise and ketchup. Stir in the pickles. Serve the sauce along side the calzone for dipping.
Emiline says
What a nice looking calzone. I bet that was really tasty.
I kind of think Rachael Ray is annoying, but sometimes I’ll watch her. I admire her drive and success.
eatme_delicious says
I didn’t know you were hosting Daring Bakers this month!! 🙂 Exciting. Fun choice for the recipe too.
Kevin says
Reuben calazone pizzas are a great idea! They look and sound really tasty.
The Baker & The Curry Maker says
Yum, that looks great. Can’t weigh in on the debate as I don’t know her here. We call these clazones in Australia.
The Baker & The Curry Maker says
Yum, that looks great. Can’t weigh in on the debate as I don’t know her here. We call these clazones in Australia.
Vicarious Foodie says
This looks really good, and I love that you made your own pizza dough (I can’t stand the canned stuff).
I’ll stand by you as a fellow RR lover. I love her recipes, and I’ll definitely stop by to see the next 6 dishes.
Katie B. says
What a great idea! I’m in your husband’s camp – I can’t stand watching her, but I love her recipes! I can’t wait to see what you bring us this week!
noble pig says
Geez that looks good. I love her magazine..it’s the best…but ever since she changed her kitchen to orange to match the handles on her pots….well that was way too over the top marketing and it looks like crap!!! Anyway the pizzas look to die for!
Sharona May says
Love the Reuben. Such a great combination of flavors.
Sharona May
RecipeGirl says
I don’t fall into either category- she’s ok. I don’t really like to watch her show but I do respect her and have enjoyed some of her recipes! I look forward to seeing what you discover! We love reubens, so my guess is that we’d love this one!!
Melanie says
I am really excited for this Rachael Ray series. I am neither a lover or a hater of RR so I’m looking forward to more exposure of her recipes. This one looks great!
glamah16 says
Interersting. I love ruebans and pizza. So why not together!
Sarah says
What a cute idea. I can’t wait to see the other 6 recipes. I have to admit that I can’t watch her shows for too long. She started to tire me out. But she does have some tasty food. I would have never thought of reuben pizzas, but they look good, especially as a calzone!
onelinestar says
This looks fantastic, I love reubens and this looks like a great twist on them.
I can’t wait to try them.
Jenny says
These pizza’s look terrific, and yes there is a ton of opinions out there on RR. I happen to really like her recipes and don’t even mind 30 minute meals. However, the talk show, is a bit much for me! I’ll make her food any day though!
Great pics!
Catherine Wilkinson says
Boy, you picked a hot topic! LOL. But I agree that it’s hard to diss her recipes. They work, they’re doable, and obviously, she’s found a great niche for her style. And these reuben pizzas are a great idea. This is something the spousal unit would definitely appreciate.