The mini puff pastry calzones with tomato and cheese are an original, easy, and very quick idea to serve at the table as a tasty appetizer, or as delicious snacks within a buffet set up for a special occasion like a birthday or a dinner during the holidays.
Being stuffed with tomato and stringy cheese, if you use ready-made pizza dough instead of puff pastry, you will get mini pizza calzones in all respects 😉
For this recipe, I used a pastry cutter with a diameter of 4 inches, but you can make them any size you prefer (by increasing the cooking time proportionally with the size) and even fold a round puff pastry sheet in half and make a single large calzone!
Before leaving you with the ingredients and the RECIPE with step-by-step photos (and complete VIDEO), I also suggest these other puff pastry ideas:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: yields 6-8 calzones
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring, Christmas
Ingredients to prepare MINI PUFF PASTRY CALZONES WITH TOMATO AND CHEESE
- 1 sheet puff pastry (rectangular or even round)
- to taste tomato sauce (5-6 tablespoons)
- to taste stringy cheese (like Galbanino or pizza mozzarella, 5-6 slices)
- to taste dried oregano (optional)
- to taste salt
- 1 egg yolk (+ a splash of milk to brush the surface)
Tools to make MINI PUFF PASTRY CALZONES WITH TOMATO AND CHEESE
- 1 Pastry cutter 8-10 cm in diameter
- Baking tray
- Brush silicone
Steps to prepare MINI PUFF PASTRY CALZONES WITH TOMATO AND CHEESE
Unroll the puff pastry and with a pastry cutter (or a glass) of your desired size – the one you see in the photo is 4 inches – create puff pastry circles.
Remove the excess pastry: you can form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and store it in the fridge for future preparations or reuse it immediately by rolling it out with a rolling pin.Transfer everything onto a baking tray and start filling each circle with a bit of tomato sauce seasoned with a pinch of salt and a pinch of oregano (optional) leaving a bit of space at the edges.
Add a few chunks of fresh cheese like Galbanino or pizza mozzarella, then gently fold each pastry circle into a half-moon.
With a fork, seal the edges of the half-moons, then apply light pressure also with your fingers.
Brush with a beaten egg yolk mixed with a splash of milk, then make a hole on the surface of each mini calzone with a knife; this way, in the oven, some excess moisture can escape.
Bake in a preheated static oven at 350°F for about 15 minutes.
MINI PUFF PASTRY CALZONES WITH TOMATO AND CHEESE ready! 🙂
Storage and Variations
You can fill your mini calzones as you like, the only caution should be not to overfill them and to seal them as best as you can before baking; this way you will avoid the filling from leaking out when the puff pastry puffs up during baking.
Like all puff pastry preparations, these mini calzones should be consumed preferably on the same day. If any remain, you can store them for up to one day in the refrigerator in an airtight container and heat them slightly before serving.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
How to substitute puff pastry?
Instead of puff pastry, you can use shortcrust pastry or ready-made pizza dough.
