Pesto and Tofu Ricotta Veggie Calzone

Calzone BEFORE baking

A week or so ago, I made some Oil-Free Basil-Walnut Pesto with basil from my garden and froze it in small containers. Also, I batch cooked some homemade marinara sauce in the pressure cooker and froze portions of that as well. TA-DA! I was able to put together these AH-MAY-ZING plant-based calzones in minutes because I had batch cooked on a different day!

Tonight, I made a filling with mushrooms, zucchini, and red bell pepper (all diced small), which I steam-fried in a skillet. I added the pesto to the mixture and stirred it in well. Then, I quickly made up a small amount of spinach-basil tofu ricotta. It is SUPER easy to make! I just used 1/2 a block of extra firm tofu, which I pressed (you can also just drain it well) and crumbled into tiny pieces in a small bowl. I added 1 cup of spinach and 5 basil leaves which I finely chopped. Then, I added 1 T. nutritional yeast flakes, a few grinds of black pepper, and a pinch of salt.

We simply rolled out and stuffed Trader Joe's (refrigerated) whole wheat pizza dough (which I bought a while back, froze, and defrosted for tonight's dinner) with the veggie/pesto and tofu ricotta mixtures. Then, I pressed the edges well and brushed the tops with some aquafaba (just because I had some leftover in the fridge!) and baked them at 350 degrees (on a parchment-lined baking sheet) until lightly browned (about 20 minutes). Then, we served them with the warmed marinara and sprinkled the tops with Homemade Vegan Parmesan. DELISH!

Pesto and Tofu Ricotta Veggie Calzone