I adapted this dish from a recipe in my new BHG cookbook. They say to include ham and shredded mozzarella in the stromboli, but we prefer prosciutto and provolone, so that's what we used. Here's the link to the recipe if you are interested: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/sandwiches/simple-stromboli/. As an aside, I really am loving my BHG cookbook because it has a whole section on "Convenience Cooking," which to me says, "Fast and Easy." At this point in my life, that's pretty much what I'm looking for in a meal. I want good stuff that doesn't take hours to make, and the lovely people at BHG get that. Yay, them.
Anyway, the results this time were fantastic. The stromboli could not have been easier to assemble, and we all loved the combination of ingredients in the filling. And--wonder of wonders--the stromboli actually took as much time as I thought it would! Just 30 minutes in the oven was enough to bake the little delight to golden-brown perfection. There's that golden-brown stuff again! I think I just like saying it...
Oh, and you're going to love this next part, too. This is yet another dish that we might like to call...wait for it...flexible! I know, I know. That's like my buzzword. But I honestly think it's so important to have meals like this that you can customize to fit your schedule, your guests, your cravings, etc. It makes life so much easier knowing you have a whole repertoire of recipes to suit anyone in your life. Because that's what food--and this blog--is all about: feeding yourself and the people you love with good, nutritious food that everyone enjoys and that doesn't break the bank (because we all have pretty intact pants pockets these days). A bit of advice from Mom is that you probably want to keep the filling Italian. Like, don't try Southwest or Asian or anything like that. But within Italian, you could do capicola/coppa or Genoa salami, prosciutto, pepperoni, and spicy Sicilian olives; or you could do fresh mozzarella with thinly sliced tomatoes and basil for a caprese taste; or...you get the idea. I don't mean to be restrictive here, but we just think that messing too much with a good thing leads to unsatisfactory results. By all means, though, if you invent a version outside of the Italian genre, please let me know how it goes. I'd be curious to see how that works.
And, now, the moment you've all been waiting for...the actual recipe (yeah, we were wondering when she was going to stop blathering on and get to the good stuff already).
Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp cornmeal/polenta (same thing)
1 package of Pillsbury pizza dough
1 package of prosciutto
Six slices of provolone cheese (each cut in half)
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1/3 cup roasted red peppers (from a jar)
1/3 cup artichoke hearts (from a jar)
10 leaves of basil, chiffoned
8-10 button mushrooms, cooked (I sauteed them beforehand with a little olive oil, seasoning them with garlic powder, ground black pepper, and onion salt)
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush a baking sheet with the olive oil, and sprinkle it with the cornmeal. Roll the pizza dough to roughly 13 x 10 inches on a floured surface.
2. Spread the sauce on the dough. Top the sauce with the prosciutto, then top the prosciutto with three of the provolone slices (six halves, which allows you to arrange them to cover as much of the surface as possible). Layer the spinach on top of the cheese. Top the spinach with the remaining provolone, arranging as before. Then add the mushrooms, artichokes, peppers, green olives, and basil.
3. Roll up the dough from one of the long sides, and pinch it at the ends and along the seam so it forms a closed packet. Flip the dough over so the seam side is down, and brush it with the egg. Cut about three or four slits in the top of the dough to allow steam to escape during cooking.
4. Bake the roll for about 30 minutes or until golden-brown. Let it stand for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes: We chose to sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top of the roll during the last five minutes or so of baking, which is completely optional but totally delicious. So try it! Also, I filled the stromboli just a little full, so try not to go too crazy with the filling. It's very tempting because it's easy to get carried away with all the delectable combinations you can dream up, but it will be better in the end. That said, I didn't have terrible results; it's just that the filling-to-dough ratio was a little high, and I think a true stromboli is supposed to be slightly more "bread-y" than this version was. But I sort of don't care too much about that. The point was that this was absolutely perfect as far as taste goes, and I'd probably do it all the same way again next time. So, you can follow my advice if you want a more traditional stromboli, or you can live dangerously and fill the sucker to bursting. I'm such an adrenaline junky, I know...
Another note is that it might be helpful to let the refrigerated dough sit for about 30-60 minutes at room temperature on a floured surface before you roll it out. That way, it is much easier to work with. I made that mistake with the Florentine rolls, and they were really hard to get out to the desired length and width. Pillsbury makes it pretty easy because the dough is already rolled (you essentially just unroll it when the canister is open), but I do like to work with it a bit to tailor it to my preferences and such.
Also, it is my experience that this dish does not require any extra salt or pepper. The prosciutto is plenty salty enough, and the mushrooms have been seasoned with enough pepper to provide that taste. Of course, my palate is not the same as everyone else's, so do what you think is best for you. Remember! I'm not the boss of you. I'm just a simple Fratalian chica (that's Spanish for "girl") who likes her food as much as the next person.
We ate the stromboli with some steamed broccoli, which is always a good go-to option. But, again, sides are up to you, and I just include what we ate for some ideas and background, in case you were wondering.
An interesting anecdote that goes along with this week's recipe is that the finished dish was surprisingly hard to photograph. The lighting was just really bad for it, and I couldn't get a good angle on the dish to show all the yummy stuff inside. Eventually, I did get just the right combination of lighting and angle, but it took long enough. Oh, well. You can't have everything. Life goes on!
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| Not the most attractive picture, but at least you can see the stromboli is literally oozing goodness. And Mom always says, "Looks bad, tastes good, eat it!" So that's what we did. Gotta love her (and I do). Photo enhanced with Instagram filtering. |
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