The Stromboli

Growing up, there was a food item that my parents always wanted when they visited my grandparents in Monticello, Indiana. It was the stromboli. This thing was beautiful. It was an italian sub sandwich of sorts, which had that tiny italian ground sausage, cheese, and sauce, however was in a french bread of sorts. This was not like a french bread pizza though, it was uniquely different. I miss that stromboli, or maybe it was the laked that I fished on in the early mornings, or possibly my grandparents and the table we ate it at. I even remember the packaging and the smell of the stromboli. I want to say it was from Abe’s Pizza in Monticello. I could be wrong. It was a long time ago.
Enough said. Twenty-five years later, I decided to make the stromboli. I am not going with the french bread route, however I am beginning to explore baking my own breads and could possibly stuff a bread with a mixture. Moving on. I have made the stromboli six times or so, and every time, literally, every time, both my wife and I (and now our daughter) cannot stop eating it. This is a lovely combination of ingredients that place a warm sensation in our body, and you crave for more. Bring on the stromboli.

As stated, I will explore this with a homemade bread, however I used the pizza crust recipe and performed a double rise on the dough.

Dough:

1 package active yeast
1 cup warm water
1 TB Sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 TB olive oil
3 cups all purpose flour

Here’s the deal on the dough.

Add the water, yeast, sugar and stir to combine. You will notice after 5-8 minutes that it begins to grow and become frothy. Yum. Smell it. It’s yummy. Add the salt, oil, and begin adding the flour. I use a Kitchen-Aid mixer with a dough hook for this process. I know nothing else as my parents purchased this when I was eighteen years old. It was a graduation gift from high school, I think. 🙂 I love it to this day. Anyway, mix until the dough begins to form. You will know when the dough begins to come off the edges of the bowl.

I tend to have a small bowl of flour near me as it prevents the stickiness from removing the dough, as well as allows me to work with it quite nicely. Remove the dough from the hook/bowl and knead it slightly. Form it into a ball, and place it into a medium bowl so it can rise. I place a bit of olive oil on the bottom (1/2 tsp) and drizzle more on top. Olive oil rocks, so I have no problem with the drizzle or the tsp. I dampen a large cloth and cover the bowl, and forget about it until I get hungry.

Once the dough rises (this is an exciting process), I flour my hands, punch down the dough, fiddle with it a bit, and place it back in the bowl, cover it, and let it rise again. An hour later, if that, I do the same thing, however this is when I roll the dough out.
Stromboli ingredients (what I use):

Thinly sliced ham
Italian sausage out of the casing and cooked
Pepperoni
Cheese
Onion
Sauce

– Add what you would want in a pizza, this is what makes it fun.

Once the dough is rolled out, add sauce, cheese, meats, and other ingredients.
Remember, this is a stuffed pizza log! Make room. Roll over and crimp the edges with a fork. I use egg wash to make it golden.

Cook in over at 425 degrees for nearly 45 minutes. Remove, let cool and slice into portions.