Calzone, a food sold in many pizza shops, is baked dough stuffed usually with cheese or spinach. Does calzone require the Beracha of "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon, like regular bread, or does it require the Beracha of "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya"?
The Shulchan Aruch (168:17) addresses the similar case of a "Pashtida," or casserole, which is prepared as baked dough filled on the inside with meat, fish or cheese. According to the Shulchan Aruch, one must recite "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon on a "Pashtida" just as we do on ordinary bread. The commentaries to the Shulchan Aruch note a seeming contradiction between this ruling and the Shulchan Aruch's earlier comment (168:7) concerning the category of "Pat Ha'ba'a Be'kisnin." The Shulchan Aruch includes under this category of food, which requires the recitation of "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya," breaded pastries with pockets filled with other ingredients. Seemingly, a "Pashtida," baked dough filled with meat or cheese, accurately fits this description. Why, then, does the Shulchan Aruch require that one recite "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon on a "Pashtida," which meets the criteria of "Pat Ha'ba'a Be'kisnin," upon which one recites "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya"?
The Magen Avraham (commentary to the Shulchan Aruch by Rabbi Avraham Gombiner, Poland, 1637-1683) explains that "Pat Ha'ba'a Be'kisnin" foods require "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya" only when they are eaten as a dessert or snack. However, foods in this group that one eats as a meal require "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon like ordinary bread. Therefore, since people generally eat a "Pashtida" as a meal, and not merely as a dessert or snack, the Shulchan Aruch ruled that it requires "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon just like ordinary bread.
Calzones are generally quite large and filling, and people thus usually eat calzone as a meal, and not as a light snack. It therefore has the same status as the "Pashtida" discussed by the Shulchan Aruch, and one who eats calzone must recite "Ha'motzi" before eating and Birkat Ha'mazon afterward. The exception to this rule would be a case of calzone prepared with dough that does not taste like bread, such as if it consists of large amounts of sugar or margarine. In such a case, one would recite "Mezonot" before eating and then "Al Ha'michya" afterward. The dough in standard calzone, however, tastes like ordinary bread, and it therefore requires "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon. This is indeed the conclusion of Rabbi Moshe Halevi, in his work Birkat Hashem (vol. 2, pp. 222, 226), where he cites this ruling in the name of Chacham Ovadia Yosef, as recorded in Yalkut Yosef (vol. 3).
Summary: One who eats calzone must recite "Ha'motzi" before eating and Birkat Ha'mazon after eating. In the rare instances where the calzone's exterior does not taste like bread, due to the addition of sugar, margarine and the like, then one recites "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya."
