I will start this post by saying that I am aware of my pesto addiction. I find myself putting pesto on everything. The original recipe I found for these turnovers did not include pesto or cheese, but I felt that they would keep them from being too bland. My mom recently posted a recipe for Homemade Italian Sausage that had me intrigued. I was surprised how easy it was to make! I think if you are planning on dicing up your sausage, you might as well just make your own.
These turnovers are a perfect lunch or easy-to-eat dinner. They have lots of healthy veggies and delicious flavor all packed into one little turnover (or one large if you are me!). You want to be sure to strain out the excess liquid after cooking the filling, otherwise you will end up with a soggy turnover.
Also, you will notice that my recipe is in a new format. I finally got my new plugin, Easy Recipe, to work (HUGE thanks to my IT friend Cooper here in Cape Town!). If you are a food blogger you should definitely get this plugin, it helps your recipes get noticed on big search engines like Google by formatting them properly for the recipe search.
- 2 small red potatoes (peeled & diced)
- 1 red bell pepper (diced)
- 1 small yellow onion (diced)
- 7 oz Italian sausage (minced)
- 3 cups spinach
- ¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cayenne red pepper
- 4 tbsp basil pesto
- ½ (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 large egg white (lightly beaten)
- 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Heat a small amount of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add the potatoes and cook until slightly soft (about 5 minutes).
- Add the red peppers and onions to the skillet and sauté until the onion begins to brown (about 5 minutes).
- Add the sausage to the skillet and cook until browned (about 5 minutes). Then stir in the spinach and mozzarella cheese.
- Once the spinach begins to wilt, add the salt, cayenne pepper and pesto and mix well.
- Transfer the filling to a strainer and press out the excess liquid.
- Cut the dough into four equal portions and roll each out into a 5-inch circle.
- Spoon about ½ cup of filling onto one half of each turnover, leaving a small border.
- Fold the dough over the mixture and roll the bottom edges over the top to seal the turnover.
- Place the turnovers onto a greased baking sheet. Combine the water and egg white and brush over each turnover, then sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
- Bake at 400F until golden brown (about 18 minutes). Let cool before serving (about 5 minutes).
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Mmmm. Those look divine! Like you lately I’ve had a love of the pesto. It’s just so fresh tasting plus I get to use the ‘harvest’ from my basil plant! These turnovers look great and are so versatile! Consider yourself buzzed.
Can’t wait to read your post about homemade sausage. And, these look delicious. I wish the rabbits had not eaten all of my spinach in the garden!!
that looks super tasty! Thanks for the heads up about the easy recipe plug in. I wonder if there is a comparable version for blogspot?
These look great…and what a bonus that you can make them with refrigerated pie dough
I, too, am a pesto addict. LOVE it, and I add it to everything. These turnovers are making me hungry!!
Lovely flavors and so good with homemade Italian Sausage. Thanks!
Wow those certainly do look amazing! I love all the ingredients that you have in this…they just look stunning and delicious!
These look awesome!! Looks like a calzone, and I bet I could use a pizza dough instead of pie crust! I’m addicted to pesto, too– it’s not a crime
Delicious. You can never have enough pesto…such a great flavor popper.
Oh this sounds like its right up my ally. I have been on a pesto kick lately and I love spinach!
looks amazing! i will have to try out the recipe once my garden gets growing again this season.
This looks so good. I love pesto and would put it on everything if family would let me.
I love the photos on your blog posts!