Smoked Baby Back Rib Calzone
Individual calzones filled with smoked rib meat, peppers, onions, mozzarella and barbecue sauce.
Servings 8 servings
Ingredients
Calzones
- 2 cans classic pizza dough 13.8 oz each; source uses Pillsbury
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese grated
- 2 cups smoked rib meat deboned and chopped; other smoked meat may be used
- ⅓ cup onions chopped
- ⅓ cup sweet peppers chopped; red, green or yellow
- Jeff's original rub as needed
- Jeff's barbecue sauce for serving or glazing, as directed
Optional: smoke ribs for the filling
- 1–2 racks baby back ribs
- Jeff's original rub
- ¼ cup apple juice or water for the covered rib pan
Instructions
Optional: cook the rib filling
- Remove the membrane from baby back ribs and season with rub. Smoke at 225–240°F for 2 hours, then cook wrapped or in a covered foil pan with about 1/4 cup apple juice or water for 2 hours, then unwrapped for about 1 hour.
- Remove all bones and small bone fragments and chop the meat into bite-sized pieces. Use 2 cups for the calzones, or use already cooked leftover smoked meat.
Assemble and bake
- Precook the peppers and onions until softened. The article places them in an open foil bowl in the smoker at 225°F for about 1 hour while cooking the ribs.
- Roll or press each can of dough to about 15 x 8 inches on a greased sheet pan. Cut into individual calzone pieces.
- Mix chopped rib meat with rub and barbecue sauce to taste. Place filling on one half of each dough piece, leaving about 1/2 inch at the edges. Add cooked peppers, onions and mozzarella.
- Fold the empty dough half over the filling. Press the three open edges with a fork to seal, then poke steam holes in the top.
- Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 15–20 minutes, watching closely, until golden brown. Serve immediately.
Notes
The source yields 6–8 individual calzones. The 15–20 minute bake assumes cooked filling; cooking ribs from raw adds about 5 hours, with vegetables cooked alongside the ribs.
Estimated servings: Estimate follows the source yield of 6–8 individual calzones; assumes one calzone per person.