The Bushwick pizza phenom has been slinging stellar pies since 2008, but it added this not-so-classic fold-over to the menu only last year. The love child of a calzone and a stromboli, this hefty, dough-swaddled specialty is built with the same provisions that make the pizzeria’s artisanal rounds destination-worthy. The wonderfully charred crust is folded up like a brick-oven burrito, with a cleft on top, bubbling the three cheeses (fluffy Narragansett Creamery ricotta, melty house-made mozzarella and nutty Parmigiano) and crisping the edges of the peppercorn-studded sopressata hidden underneath. Roasted red peppers and sweet tomatoes mellow the salami’s spice, finished with a subtle backbeat of homegrown basil and oregano. 261 Moore St between Bogart and White Sts, Bushwick, Brooklyn (718-417-1118, robertaspizza.com). $16.
In recent years, pizza has gotten plenty of au courant twists, with offbeat toppings, local ingredients and deep-fried modernizations dominating the scene, but calzones have largely been neglected in the pie case. Now, a few ballsy pizzerias—including Roberta’s, Motorino and Brooklyn Central—are defying the tired cheese-sauce-dough norm, slinging updated versions of the Italian fold-over into their wood-fired ovens. These ain’t your nonna’s calzones.
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