Calzone Pizza

This unique type of pizza is characterized by its half-round shape, made by folding a full-sized pizza in half. Hailing from 18th century Naples, calzone literally means pant leg, referring to the fact that calzone's original purpose was to be a pizza which can be consumed while walking or standing.

Typically, calzones are filled with meats such as salami or ham and cheeses such as mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, and pecorino whereas fried calzones with mozzarella and tomatoes are a specialty from the Italian region of Apulia, and are known as panzerotti.

In the United States and the rest of the world, calzones gained in popularity after being the central theme of an episode of the hit TV show Seinfeld in 1996.