Wood Fired Venison Calzone Recipe
Cooking a venison calzone on your Traeger Grill pizza stone gives it a nice wood-fired flavor.
You can’t go wrong with a venison calzone. Meat sauce, your favorite pizza toppings, and plenty of cheese, all wrapped up in a golden crust. Cook it on the Traeger Grill using your Traeger pizza stone, and you get a classic wood-fired flavor.
Filled with melted cheese and lots of toppings, these calzones will be a hit with everyone.
We add our homemade venison pepperoni, pickled banana peppers from the jar, and both shredded and whole milk mozzarella for a classic pizza combo.
Use your favorite pizza toppings like venison pepperoni and home-canned banana peppers.
You can make your own pizza crust, or, if you are in a hurry, pick up canned pizza dough in the refrigerated case at your local grocery store. It will be next to the canned biscuits.
I like to sprinkle corn meal on my pizza stone before sliding on the calzone. The meal helps prevent sticking and adds a pleasant crunch to the finished dough.
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds ground venison
15 ounces tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Italian herb seasoning blend
1 teaspoon salt
2 pizza crusts, canned or homemade
1 egg whisked with 2 tablespoons water
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
16 ounces whole milk mozzarella cheese, sliced
Your favorite pizza toppings, we used:
Venison pepperoni
Banana peppers
Mushrooms
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Start the sauce by browning the ground venison. Once the meat has browned all the way through, add the garlic and continue cooking for another 3 to 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, Italian herb blend, and salt. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes.
Spoon the meat sauce onto the center of the dough, then pile on the toppings.
While the meat sauce cooks, stretch a pizza dough over a corn-meal-dusted surface. Spoon meat sauce down the center. Add your favorite toppings, a few slices of whole-milk mozzarella, and a handful of shredded mozzarella.
Fold the crust over and crimp the edges with your fingers to form the calzone. Brush the tops of the calzones with the beaten egg wash.
Brush the sealed calzone with egg wash before baking.
Slide the calzones onto a corn-meal-dusted pizza stone on your preheated Traeger Grill or into the oven at 365 degrees.
Bake the calzones on a pizza stone in the Traeger for wood-fired flavor.
Grill or bake for 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the toppings are cooked through.