Yumm... Stromboli

First of all, do you like my new look? Its amazing what you can get up to when your snowed in on the weekend. I'm rather proud of it myself.

This weekend I craved the zest of tomato sauce , but didn't want pasta. So I thought of pizza and decide to take it a step further. Stromboli.I'm talking the food item, not the place.From what I gather Stromboli is an American invention through and through. Don't we love our pockets, burritos, and such.Pure comfort and bliss.I started off with Peter Reinhardt's pizza dough. However I skipped the long ferment and mixed the ingredients of :

4 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp instant yeast

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3/4 cups ice cold water

1 tbsp sugar
all to let rise at room temp for approx 3 hours until double. This recipe which you can find in its entirety here, yields 6 dough balls. The excess dough makes for great freezing at a later time.

Now here what you do to make Stromboli. Roll out a small dough ball( enough for an individual size pizza) into a rectangle approx 10-11 inches long and 5 inches across.



Pre heat oven to 450 degrees.
Brush your dough lightly with tomato sauce( optional) or oil if you prefer. Sprinkle some herbs, crushed pepper. Fill sparingly with topping s of your choice. I used sliced onions, ham , pepperoni, mozzarella,olives. The choice is yours.Roll carefully lengthwise, lifting carefully as you roll to encompass the ingredients. Brush with a beaten egg and very lightly sprinkle with more cheese( Parmesan works great too).
Sprinkle your cast iron pan or pizza stone with cornmeal. I confess, I was out and used flour. Lay your Stromboli down and bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Take out and let rest a few minutes.

Slice and serve. I like to dip mine in tomato sauce. These would be a great idea with different variations to serve for a Super Bowl party.

I have made a commitment this year to bake my my own breads with several other bakers. We call this BYOB. We do this for nutrition concerns, to know what we eat, and to save money on overpriced baked goods. Nothing is more satisfying than Baking you own bread.