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straight on shot of a calzone sliced in half to show the barbecue chickpeas and tofu cheese fillings

Barbecue Chickpea Calzones (Vegan)

★★★★★

4.5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Allison
  • Total Time: 1 hour 42 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

These vegan barbecue chickpea calzones are filled with barbecue chickpeas and tofu cheese and served with guacamole for a fun southern twist on an Italian recipe.

Ingredients

Scale

Pizza Dough

  • 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
  • 1 tsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 2 1/2–3 cups light spelt flour plus more for kneading (if you don’t have light spelt flour, sub a combination of all purpose flour and whole wheat or whole spelt flour)

Barbecue Chickpeas

  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 14-oz cans, drained and rinsed)
  • 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
  • 1 tbsp tamari
  • 1 tbsp Frank’s original hot sauce, or other mild hot sauce

Soft Tofu Cheese

  • 1 block (450 grams) organic firm tofu
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp light/chickpea miso or tamari
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt

Guacamole

  • 2 ripe avocados, flesh scooped out
  • Juice of 1 lime (about 3 tbsp)
  • 1 medium garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • Pinch of chili flakes
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

  1. MAKE THE CRUST: Place the warm water in a large mixing bowl. Add the maple syrup and yeast; whisk to combine. Cover and wait for yeast to activate. You will know that the yeast has activated when it forms a layer of bubbles/froth at the top. Once the yeast is frothy, add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Stir to incorporate, adding more flour as you go to form a workable dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes, adding more flour as necessary, to form a smooth and elastic dough. The dough should not be too sticky, nor too stiff.
  2. Transfer dough to a clean, lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let it proof in a warm area of your kitchen until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
  3. Make the barbecue chickpeas: Warm the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and a tiny pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned, eight minutes. Add the salt, pepper, and smoked paprika and stir to incorporate. Next, add the chickpeas and cook for a couple of minutes to allow the chickpeas to brown. In a dish, whisk together the barbecue sauce, tamari, and hot sauce. Stir the sauce into the chickpeas and cook for a couple more minutes. Remove from the heat.
  4. Make the tofu cheese: Crumble the tofu into a food processor. Add the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, light miso, red wine vinegar, and sea salt. Process until smooth and transfer into a container until ready to use.
  5. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and knead it a few times. Divide into 6 equal balls. Lightly flour your countertop and grab a rolling pin.
  6. Take a ball of dough and roll it out into a circle approximately 7 inches in diameter. Add 1/2 cup of the chickpeas to one half of the circle, leaving a bit of space around the edge to allow for folding. Spoon 3 tbsp of the tofu cheese on top and fold the dough over. Use a fork to firmly pinch the edges of the semi circle that you’ve created and transfer the calzone to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining 5 dough balls.
  7. Bake the calzones for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.
  8. While the calzones bake, make the guacamole: Mash the avocados in a bowl. Stir in the lime juice, garlic, salt, pepper, chili flakes, and cilantro, if using.
  9. Serve the calzones fresh out of the oven with guacamole for dipping.

Notes

If you want a more traditional vegan cheese that melts, use your favourite store-bought vegan cheese. I just wanted to keep everything homemade when I created this recipe, which is why I included the soft tofu cheese recipe. 🙂

You will have leftover tofu cheese. Store it in the fridge for up to a week and use on sandwiches, wraps, pasta, and pita pizza.

You can make 12 small calzones if you prefer. Just use 1/4 cup of the chickpeas and 1 1/2 tbsp of tofu cheese in each calzone.

If you are allergic to avocado, you can make this green pea and asparagus guacamole.

  • Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Category: Supper
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: vegan barbecue chickpea calzones

Find it online: https://upbeetkitchen.com/2020/08/28/barbecue-chickpea-calzones-vegan/