>>Make Ahead Series: Butternut Squash Calzones

I was looking for recipes that I could prepare ahead of time and either store in the fridge, or freeze, until ready to cook.  This is great during the week when you don't want to spend an hour preparing food after a long day at work.  

I loved this recipe for this time of year because it used seasonal vegetables in a non-traditional way.  They were delicious! I made 6 total, 3 for the freezer and 3 to eat.

>>Ingredients

~ 3 packages of Pillsbury pizza dough (or fresh pizza dough of choice)

~ 2 Italian sausages, casing removed

~ 1 cup butternut squash, peeled and cubed

~ 1 cup white mushrooms, sliced

~ 1 clove garlic, minced

~ 2 handfuls baby spinach

~ 16 oz jar of pizza sauce

~ salt and pepper to taste

~ flour

~ cooking spray

>>Directions

Preheat oven to 450F.  Allow dough to rest 20 minutes at room temperature.  Put squash in a ziplock bag and, leaving a small opening in the corner of the bag, microwave for 4 minutes to soften.  Brown sausage in a frying pan, stirring to separate the meat.  Remove from pan, and brown garlic in the drippings, being careful not to burn.  Add mushrooms and brown, adding salt to taste.  Add the browned sausage, butternut squash, pizza sauce, and spinach.  Cook on low for about 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper.  

Remove dough from the package.  If using the Pillsbury dough, you just need to unroll the dough onto a floured surface, cutting each piece in half for 6 total pieces.  If using dough from a package, grab a small handful with lightly floured hands.  Squeeze the ball, starting from the centre, creating a large, circular, thin piece of dough.  Once you have all 6 pieces, take 3-4 spoonfuls of filling and place on one half of the dough, leaving about half an inch of dough for the crust.  Fold over the other half and press the edges together to seal the dough.  (With the pillsbury, I just trimmed off the excess to make it circular, since the dough is a rectangular shape) Poke 2 holes in the centre for steam.  

Place calzones on a large cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray, and then sprinkle lightly with flour. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden.  Enjoy!

If freezing, wrap raw calzones tightly with two layers of plastic wrap individually, and then place in freezer bags. Bake frozen, at 450F, for 40 minutes.  

>> Recipe from www.thelodown.com