I've never made stromboli, does that make me weird? Well, after last night I can't say that anymore so who cares, right? I honestly ...
I've never made stromboli, does that make me weird? Well, after last night I can't say that anymore so who cares, right? I honestly have no idea why I never thought to attempt it, I make a mean pizza and I can roll burritos like its my job, so why not combine those two skill sets?
My husband is a huge fan of calzones and stromboli and last week while making the grocery list it just hit me out of the blue to throw one together. Now, the recipe below is for a veggie-based stromboli, but you can honestly throw anything you want in one of these things! I would recommend cooking any veggies you add (ie mushrooms, spinach) to make sure you get all the water out of them otherwise your stromboli will be a hot mushy mess.
You can pick up pre-made pizza dough just about anywhere these days but it is so insanely easy to make I always just whip up a batch from scratch, all you need is yeast, water, flour and salt...maybe some olive oil for potential damage control (if the dough is too dry). That's it! Oh and about an hour of your time...to watch it rise. The pizza dough recipe I share below can be used for any pizza/stromboli/calzone so definitely check it out. One of my favorite homemade pizzas is my Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza, another standby in our house is a basic pepperoni and shroom pie. We love pizza around here!
Veggie Stromboli
Ingredients for the Dough
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup warm water (at least 100 degrees)
1 packet instant dry yeast
1 tsp. granulated sugar or honey
Extra virgin olive oil (optional)
Ingredients for the Stromboli
1/2 cup pitted black olives (drained)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
2 tbsp. of the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar
12 slices of provolone cheese
10 oz box of frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed really well to remove the water)
8 oz roasted red peppers (if you use jarred ones, pat them dry before slicing into strips)
1 egg
Kosher salt
1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning (I love Penzey's version)
Marinara sauce (warmed for serving)
Instructions
Combine the warm water with the instant yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Sprinkle on the sugar (or use honey) and let sit for 5 minutes until foamy. This means your yeast is alive (hooray!), so then go ahead and add in the flour and salt. Mix well, using the dough hook, until the dough comes together in a ball around the hook. If you dough looks too dry add in a drizzle of olive oil. If it looks too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour until you get the consistency you like.
Spray a large glass/ceramic/metal bowl with nonstick cooking spray and add the dough to the bowl, misting the top with the spray before covering with plastic wrap. Set aside to rise for at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Flour a clean work surface and roll out the dough to about a 14x10 inch size, making sure it is uniformly thick. I had a few patches in my first batch that were a little thin, don't worry, the stromboli still tasted fantastic it just was a little less pretty.
Add the black olives, sun-dried tomatoes and oil into the bowl of a min-food processor and process until a paste comes together. Spread onto the dough, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Next, layer on the slices of cheese.
Top with the spinach and roasted red peppers. Now, you want to roll the stromboli burrito-style by folding in the shorter ends about an inch or so over the toppings before rolling it length-wise. Once you have it rolled (congrats!), place it on a foil-lined and greased baking sheet (or use a stone) seam-side down.
Lightly beat the egg and brush it over the stromboli. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt and the Italian seasoning before baking about 30 minutes at 400 degrees until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped.
Let the stromboli cool 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving with marinara sauce on the side.
Note: If you aren't crazy about black olives (my husband and I usually hate them), don't worry, you don't taste them at all. They just mix flavors with the sun-dried tomato mixture and produce this really flavorful spread. If you still aren't convinced, use pesto as a spread instead of the olive/tomato mixture.
Original recipe adapted from Pip & Ebby
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