Stromboli is a stuffed Italian bread that originated in the USA. Romano’s restaurant in Philadelphia claims to be the first to provide Stromboli on their menu. The Stromboli is similar to the Calzone, which was invented in Italy in the 1700s in Naples. The basic difference between the two is how they are shaped and sealed. The Calzone dough is rolled into a round. The filling is placed in one half and the other half is folded over and sealed making a half moon shape. They are then baked. The Stromboli dough, classically, is rolled out into a rectangle. The filling is place on the dough and it is rolled over the filling creating a circular dough filling look when cut crossways. The edges are sealed and then the Stromboli is made into a ring, the two ends sealed to form a circle of delicious dough and filling. There are other Italian stuffed breads. Biolata is a stuffed sausage bread. Casatiello, from Campania in Italy, is served at Easter. It is a savory bread similar to the Stromboli, but with fewer ingredients in the stuffing. Piadina, crescia and Torta di testo are all filled flat breads from Italy. However, Stromboli is a wonderfully delicious filled bread that will put smiles on all your guests.
For a recent dinner, put on by my Priest and his wife, I put together the following recipe. Since we had been fasting and Pasca (Easter) had occurred, meat and cheese was the focus of the dinner. After reading about Stromboli, a US-Italian invention, there are all kinds of different recipes including all kinds of meat, cheese, spinach and other ingredients. I put together the following that turned out delicious. The bread was devoured very quickly.
Stromboli (per Peppin)
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 ½ tsp rapid active yeast
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 TBPS EVOO
- 2 cups King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
- 1 TBPS Herb de provence
Filling
- ½ cup Mortadella finely diced Italian if you can find it
- ½ cup Salami (Genoa Style) finely diced
- ½ cup Prosciutto finely diced
- 1 cup Roma Tomatoes (diced and drained)
- 1 cup Sliced Cremini mushrooms sauted Saute these in a bit of EVOO and set aside. Add to the filling mix when cool.
- 1 cup Parmesano Reggiano grated finely
- ¼ cup Carmelized Vidalia or sweet onions Carmelize in a saute pan, set aside until cool.
- ½ cup Green Manzanilla olives sliced thinly
Assembly
- 1 TBPS unsalted butter
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 Egg yolk + 1 TBPS water mixed well
- 1 TBPS toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Dough
- In a stand mixer bowl, mix the yeast, water and honey with a whisk. Let this stand until bubbly.
- In a seperate bowl, add flour, sea salt, black pepper and herb de provence.
- With the dough hook, add the flour mixtue to the yeast and water mixture.
- Mix until a dough ball forms.
- Remove the dough ball to a clean flat floured surface and knead until the ball is shinny.
- Place the dough ball into an oiled bowl and set in the refrigerator for at least 16 hours.*
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and roll our the dough into a large rectangle with "oval" ends.
Filling
- Place the mortadella, salami, prosciuto, tomatoes, mushrooms, Parmesano Reggiano, onions and green olives in a bowl and mix well. Set aside. If too wet, let it drain, but I did not find this to be a problem.
Assembly
- Melt the butter and add the garlic. Let it sit for a good 30 minutes.
- With the rectangular douhg rolled out to about 1/8 inch, paint the garlic butter over the dough.
- Add the filling and spread it evenly over the dough rectangle.
- Once the filling is evenly spread, roll up the dough rectangle into a mildly firm log. It doesn't need to be tight, but not loose. It should resemble a "jelly roll" type shape. Seal the long edges by using a brush with water and seal it well.
- With the dough roll, form a ring and seal the two ends well. Place the roll on a parchment covered cookie sheet. I use, as you can see in the pictures above, a round pizza pan covered with parchment.
- Double check to see that the entire dough log is well sealed. Place the dough circle with the sealed edges on the bottom of the parchment covered cookie sheet (or pizza pan).
- Set the oven at 375 degrees F.
- Brush the top of the filled dough circle with the egg yolk and water mixture. Sprinkle the top of the circle evenly with the sesame seeds.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Watch the bread carefully and when golden brown it is done.
- Serve sliced into individual rounds.
