Stromboli

I have a weakness for pizza.  Really, I do.  I'm not sure where it came from; perhaps it developed when I was young and my parents always made homemade pizza for us.  It was an event when we made pizza.  We would spend our Friday evening making the dough, chopping veggies, shredding the cheese, cooking the meat, and finally enjoying the finished product.  My dad was a pizza master, and his love for making it rubbed off on me.

Stromboli, though, recently entered my life via my mom's friend.  She brought it to a party, and it was such a fun party food that was simple to make, but looked great.  Aren't those the best party foods?

Stromboli has lots of delicious crust (let's admit it, we all love bread a lot) wrapped around all the yummy traditional pizza toppings.  Here's a step-by-step of making stromboli.

First, we'll begin with making the dough.  This recipe is from a cookbook my parents have had for years.  The pages are worn and stained from all the years of use.

It's a wonderful recipe that can be made by hand or mixed up in the mixer.  I prefer to use modern conveniences and use the mixer to mix the dough up.  The first step is to mix the brown sugar into warm water and dissolve the yeast into the water and let it activate.

Here it is right after mixing the yeast into the water.  It'll get frothy over the next five minutes.

Meanwhile, we'll measure the flour into the mixing bowl and add the olive oil and salt.

Here's the yeast... see, I told you it would get nice and frothy.  Now, dump that into the mixing bowl with the flour.  The yeast will give it that wonderful flavor that has a hint of sweetness from the brown sugar.

Mix the ingredients with the dough hook for a few minutes until it is well combined and starts to come together.

After the dough comes together, place the dough into a clean bowl.  Rub olive oil in the bowl before placing the dough in it to help it not stick.

Drizzle a little olive oil on top.  Cover with a clean towel and set in a warm place to rise for a while.  I'm not sure how long exactly.  Maybe 30 minutes if your in a hurry like I was.  Or you can go and clean your house and let it get maybe triple in size.  Well, it may not triple, but it should double.  I didn't get a picture of the dough after it had risen, because we were all very hungry and ready to eat!

I doubled the dough recipe, so I used about a third of the dough for one stromboli.  However, I would use about half of the dough if you don't double the recipe.

Roll the dough into a rectangle on a cookie sheet so that's it's about a quarter or half an inch thick. 

Next, sprinkle onion and garlic powder on the bottom.  Here, I used an Italian blend without salt.  Then, spread your sauce down the middle of your dough.  As you can see, I used Prego.  Add some fennel seed.  It adds a special flavor that most restaurants add, but is often left out at home.  Place your meat and veggies on top of your sauce.  Next, your cheese.

The great thing about homemade pizza is you can use whatever toppings you want.  Don't like mushrooms?  No problem; just leave them off.  Love them?  Saute them, and it's even more delicious.  Have you ever tried roasting your bell peppers before placing them on your pizza?  Try it.  It will knock your socks off.  Just leave out the anchovies, please.

This is where it gets a bit complicated.  We are going to braid the dough over the top.  Never good at braiding your doll's hair?  That's ok, because we're only going to work with one piece of dough at a time.  Cut the dough into strips on either side of your toppings.  You just need to be sure to make the same number of cuts on either side.

Then, cut out the corners of dough and fold the ends up.  I've got one side folded up and the other is ready to go.  

I snuck in some veggies.  Actually, this is a different stromboli that had orange bell peppers and red onion.  Yum! But, here is the detail of how the "fingers" of dough will be braided.  Just pull one over, then one from the other side.  Go back and forth, alternating sides.

The finished product will look like this before going into the oven. You can brush egg on top to give it a nice glossy finish before adding parmesan cheese or you can just add the cheese by itself.

Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until golden brown on top (and the extra flour on the cookie sheet is brown).

Cut into strips and serve with warm pizza sauce (or Prego, if you're me).  Take this to your Super Bowl party and enjoy!

Pizza Dough

4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 packages (2 tablespoons) dry yeast
1 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons brown sugar

Measure 1/2 cup warm water in a measuring cup and stir in the brown sugar.  Dissolve the yeast into the water and sugar.  Be sure the water is only warm; if it is too warm, it will kill the yeast and it won't activate.  Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes until it is frothy.

Meanwhile add 4 cups of flour to the mixing bowl with the salt, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 cup warm water.  When the yeast mixture is ready, add it to the bowl.  Mix the dough until it is well combined.

Rub a clean bowl with the remaining olive oil and place the dough in the bowl.  Drizzle olive oil on top, cover with a dish towel, and let it rise in a warm place until it is double in size.


Stromboli

Pizza dough
Garlic and/or onion powder
Fennel seed
Your favorite pizza toppings

When the dough is ready, roll out into a rectangle on a cookie sheet.  If the dough is sticky, add extra flour to help the dough not stick to the cookie sheet.

Season the crust with garlic and onion powder and fennel seed.  Place your favorate pizza toppings in the middle.

Cut the dough into strips on either side of the toppings.  Cut out the corners, and fold the dough up on both ends.  Next, braid the strips of dough across the top.  Top with parmesan cheese and additional seasoning, if desired.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until top is golden brown.  Cut into strips and serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping.