Stromboli

Mike and I usually have pizza once a week; I typically make a batch of dough and divide it in half, using one half for that night's pizza and refrigerating the other half for the next week.  We have actually found that we like the taste of the week-old dough even better than freshly made dough.

Since we had the dough already made, I decided to mix things up slightly and make Stromboli instead of pizzas.  At lunch on Saturday with the women of Mike's family, we were talking about easy meals his Grandma could make and freeze.  His Aunt brought up the idea of making a bunch of small Strombolis and freezing them.  Then Grandma could just take them out of the freezer and reheat them before eating.  This sparked a major craving for Stromboli and so on pizza night, we had Stromboli instead.

You will need:

2-1/4 teaspoons yeast

1-3/8 cups water, 110 degrees

3 Tablespoons olive oil (or vegetable oil)

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

Your choice of pizza toppings:
pizza sauce
cheese
pepperoni
ham
pineapple
mushrooms etc.


(You can put the dough ingredients in your bread machine, or you can make the dough by hand)

1. Mix water and yeast together until yeast dissolves. Let it stand about 5 minutes until yeast bubbles up.

2. Stir in salt, flour, and vegetable oil until dough forms.

3. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes by hand. You can also use a stand mixer to 

mix and knead the dough.

4. Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled, about 1.5 to 2 hours.

5. Deflate dough by punching down and knead for about 5 minutes. Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes 

before dividing into 4 equal pieces.

6. Flatten each piece of dough into a circle, about 9 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.

7. Spread pizza sauce over half the dough.  Top with your choice of toppings.

8.  Fold dough over fillings and press tightly with your fingers to seal.  If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  

9.  Bake at 400 for 17-19 minutes, until stromboli are golden brown.  Serve warm.

These also freeze well, just cool and then freeze in freezer bags.  To serve, just microwave for about 2 minutes, until filling is warm.