Three Must-Try Maine Calzones

To kick off the Calzone Power Hour, here are three of the best calzones around:

1. The House Calzone at Bruno's (33 Allen Ave., Portland). Bruno's claims to be the home of Portland's original calzone. We couldn't find a local calzone historian to verify the claim, so we'll take Bruno's word on it. It goes back to 1982 when the restaurant was on India Street. The House Calzone is packed with ricotta, romano, provolone and mozzarella cheeses, sauce, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, onions and Greek olives.

2. The Casco Bay Calzone at Portland Pie Co. (locations in Portland, Scarborough and Westbrook). The contents: sauce, marinated chicken breast, prosciutto, ricotta and mozzarella. Chicken so often ends up a terrible topping decision on pizza because it gets dry, hard and tough. But in the womb-like structure of the calzone, the chicken can maintain its tender, juicy form, which it does in this one. The prosciutto adds a nice saltiness, with the cheese combo tying it all together.

3. The Spaghetti and Meatsauce Calzone at Amato's (locations all over the state). This would make them say "che cazzo" in the Old Country, but the combination actually works. The exterior is bathed in a garlic butter-parm cheese mixture. The nicely browned crust houses spaghetti in plenty of sauce, along with chopped tomatoes and mozzarella and provolone cheeses. It's like having a nice bowl of spaghetti neatly (well, sort of neatly) contained in a garlic bread shell.
Know of some other must-try calzones? Let us know in the comments.
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