What's The Difference Between A Stromboli And A Calzone?

If you've ever checked your local Italian restaurant's menu, you might have noticed two cheesy, stuffed bread options: Strombolis and calzones. In a sense, they're very similar, with toppings and cheese wrapped in pizza dough and baked until golden brown — sort of like a pizza pocket. But when you get down to it, these two dishes have two different origins, folding styles, and ingredients lists. Plus, the marinara isn't served the same way in each style, and they contain different cheeses.

The key difference is one you can't see. Calzones were invented in Italy, but strombolis are one of several foods that aren't authentically Italian, hailing instead from the United States. The stromboli is sort of the younger sibling to the calzone, having come along in the 1950s, while the calzone was first developed in the early 1700s. Calzones were invented to feed working people who didn't have time for a meal, while strombolis were more like experimental stuffed sandwiches that just happened to take off.

More than 300 years ago, calzones were first created in Naples and designed for people who needed a meal on the go. The word calzone translates to "pants leg" in English, and one explanation for the name is that it reminded people of a stuffed pair of pants. They were much smaller than the ones you can now find in the U.S., as they were meant to be a handheld meal — but today, most calzones from Italian restaurants are large enough to share with someone else.

Calzones have grown tremendously in size since coming to the U.S., but they are still folded the way they once were. They're meant to look sort of like a pasty or empanada; the crust starts as a circle, like a traditional pizza pie, then the filling is added to one half. From there, the circular dough is folded in half, which gives calzones their empanada-like appearance. The dough is then sealed up, to ensure none of the contents leak out while it's baked in the oven.

It turns out the cheesesteak isn't the only bread-heavy dish to come out of Philadelphia; the stromboli was born in South Philly, too, meaning it's not a traditional Italian dish but rather an Italian-inspired American meal. It was created by a man named Nazzareno Romano, who first developed it as a stuffed sandwich loaded with all kinds of Italian meats and veggies. Today, the original restaurant, Romano's Pizzeria, is still in operation and regularly ships its strombolis to places all over the U.S.

Strombolis were invented as handheld sandwich pieces rather than pockets. The dough is shaped into a rectangle, and the filling is added to the dough's center. Then, the dough is either rolled up into a narrow rectangle, or each side can be folded over the ingredients to create that same narrow rectangular shape. Like with a calzone, the edges are sealed before the stromboli goes in the oven.

It might not seem like a big difference, but there is one major ingredient that sets these two doughy dishes apart: The marinara sauce. Traditional calzones do not contain marinara. They're made without any sauce, with marinara typically served on the side. Strombolis are different, taking on more of a pizza style in this sense. The dough is topped with a layer of sauce in addition to the meats, cheese, and vegetables.

Another big difference is ricotta. Calzones should always contain ricotta if they're made the traditional way, though other cheeses can be incorporated as well, such as Parmesan or mozzarella. Strombolis, on the other hand, usually don't have ricotta and almost always contain mozzarella. Both strombolis and calzones can often feed more than one person, but strombolis are usually sliced thinly so as to feed a number of people, whereas calzones usually are cut to feed only two.