Stromboli

I've had stromboli on my top 100 list for a while but for some reason I haven't even thought about making it. I think that when I think about baking I usually think about sweets and sweet breads, because I suddenly realized that even though I am fasting from sugar (or was when I made this) I can still bake and I can still bake things on my top 100 list.

This was a fantastic dish! It took a bit more work that homemade pizza but not much more, and it tasted delicious. We had it for dinner that night, and then as leftovers for the next two days. I thought the leftovers tasted even better than the first meal (I reheated in the oven for about 12 minutes). Enjoy!

Making the pizza dough by hand was a bit sticky . . .

Sauteing the veggies and adding in the sausage . . .

Punching down the dough and getting it divided and rolled out . . .

 

Filling and rolling the dough . . .

The almost finished and finished product . . . 

(You can see that practice does make perfect! For the first stromboli, I put the somewhat warm sausage mixture right on the dough which proceeded to heat up the dough causing it to thin and stick to the counter. For the second stromboli, I put the ham, pepperoni, and olives first creating a barrier.)

 

Stromboli

Source: Adapted from Food Network

Basic Pizza Dough, recipe follows

1/2 pound Italian sausage

1 cup sliced yellow onions

1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell peppers

1/2 cup thinly sliced green bell peppers

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 pound sliced ham

1/4 pound thinly sliced pepperoni

1/2 cup sliced black olives

2 cups shredded provolone

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash

1 cup finely grated parmesan

Make the pizza dough first, as it has to rise for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat until browned and the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. (If fatty, remove sausage with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.) If there is no sausage fat, add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet. Add onions and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, until very soft, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet and set aside.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to a large rectangle, about 9x13 inches. Leaving a 1-inch border, layer half of the ham and half of the pepperoni, overlapping slightly. Add half of the olives, half of the sausage mixture, and half of the provolone and mozzarella cheeses over the top. Using a pastry brush, paint the border of 1 long edge with egg wash. Starting at the opposite long end without egg wash, roll up the dough into a cylinder, pinching the edges to seal. Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining ingredients. Let the dough rise, 20-30 minutes. 

Brush the top of each stromboli with egg wash. Bake until nearly completely golden brown and starting to crisp, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle each stromboli with parmesan cheese and return to the oven until the cheese is melted and the dough is golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes. Slice thickly and serve.

Basic Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water

1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, sugar, and 1 tablespoon oil and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes.

Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.