Stromboli

(This post brought to you by Jen)

Marc and I are big fans of making foods that our family members have taught us.  One of my favorite things to make is Pepperoni Bread (my grandma used to make this with my sisters and me when my parents were out of town and she was "watching us").  Within the past year or so, we have been creating stromboli that Marc grew up with.  I would say that this stromboli is a "cousin" to my grandma's pepperoni bread.  When he first made it, I remember him calling up his father asking how he did it.  My job was to roll out the dough, because Marc just can't compete with my dough-rolling skills.  I just have too much practice that I can probably out-roll anyone!  :)

Hardware needed:
Sheet pan
Rolling Pin

Ingredients: 
1 Wegmans premade Pizza Dough (makes 2 stromboli)
Flour, for dusting
1 lb Genoa salami
1 lb provolone cheese
1 red onion, diced
Roasted red peppers, diced
Pepperoncini rings, diced
Parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs plus 1 tbsp water, beaten

For this recipe, we chose to use a premade pizza dough from Wegmans.  On occasion, we will make our own dough and flavor it up with spices, but this one is a pantry meal - my specialty - so Wegmans dough is great! 

Let the dough rise at room temperature for several hours before preparing.  You'll be happy you did.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Divide the dough into 2 equal size parts, set aside one part for later.  Dust a surface with flour and dust the dough with flour to prevent sticking.  Roll the dough, turning occasionally, flipping over if needed, until you've created a 15 x 20 inch rectangle (rough estimate).  It will be thin - maybe 1/8 inch thick.  Layer on ingredients.  I start with provolone and pile on the rest of the ingredients in an even layer from there.

Looks yummy already!

Brush three of the edges lightly with your egg wash.  It will help seal the stromboli and prevent breaking.  (But let's be honest, it's not fool-proof!  Sometimes it busts anyway!)  Roll the stromboli, making sure to keep all the ingredients tucked in and the edges sealed.

Sealing up the final edge.

Once the stromboli has been rolled up, crimp the seams with a fork.  You've already brushed the egg wash on, but sometimes crimping helps prevent breakage as well.

A nicely crimped seam.

I always place the stromboli seam down on the sheet pan.  Brush with egg wash and poke a few holes in the top with a fork to help steam escape. 

Two stromboli fit nice on a sheet pan.

Let bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown and yummy.  (If you notice, the stromboli on the right in the picture above looks different - that's because it is!  We had some left over meatballs from a prior meal - I diced them up and made a different stromboli - meatball provolone!  Yummmmmm...)

Yep - One of my stromboli broke!!!

Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before slicing and enjoy! 

Grandma's pepperoni bread is very closely related to this, but I'll share that another time!