Stromboli Roll

For some reason this Stromboli reminds me of the creatures from Tremors...Anyways...I love a good stromboli and this meets the criteria. They are really simple and you can fill them with practically anything your heart desires or have in the fridge. There are two forms  of strombolis. Typically the way I do is I roll out the pizza crust into the standard circle , layer all the goods on half of it, fold the other half over and crimp the edges. I felt like changing it up this time and I rolled the pizza dough out into a rectangle and rolled it up. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough, recipe here (or you can use store bough)
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder
• Mozzarella cubes
• Assorted Meats (I used pepperoni and sausage)
• Assorted Veggies (I used red pepper and mushrooms)
• Marinara Sauce
• 1 egg, for egg wash

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 400℉. Using a baking sheet, roll the dough out flat in the shape of a large rectangle. Brush with a thin layer of olive oil and lightly sprinkle the garlic powder. You want to keep the ingredients separate and layer them in columns, from left to right, starting with the mozzarella; this helps prevent the cheese from spewing out in the middle of baking (the mozzarella will be the center of the roll).Then order the rest of your ingredients however you like, I ended with pepperoni since that made for a nice top. Gently roll the dough up and tuck in each side underneath itself. Brush the Stromboli roll with egg wash, season with some salt & pepper, then cut a few slits in the top to help the roll breath through the baking process. 

If you are using sausage & peppers, sauté them up together in a sauté pan to cook the sausage and soften the peppers. Let them cool slightly before adding them to the roll. 

CAN YOU FLY SUCKER?!

Basic Pizza

So I have a beef...I have a beef with the companies that make and sell pizza stones. They advertise them like the best thing in the world and make it sound like they will make your pizza turn into delicious brick oven pizza. Well people, let me save you from this, they suck...plan and simple. You may love them, but I hate them and I will tell you why. The thing that makes brick oven pizza special is a crap load of heat, a lot more heat then our little home ovens can produce. The problem with these pizza stones is that they are impossible to get hot enough to make a really good pizza. So here is the solution...metal. Metal is way more conductive, it heats faster and it heats more evenly. I've read that some people get sheets of aluminum cut to the dimensions of their oven, then they heat that as hot as their oven can go and then get it even hotter with the broiler. This is the ideal solution and you will be spittin' pizza's out of your oven faster than you can say....I don't know, some big word...But, since I didn't have a big sheet of aluminum laying around, here's the way I did it. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups Mozzarella
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• Pizza topping(s) of choice

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F

In a small bowl mix the yeast, sugar and warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes until yeast is activated and foaming. In a large bowl, combine the flour, olive oil, salt and yeast mixture. Mix until dough forms. If dough is to sticky, add in 1 Tbsp of flour at a time until elastic, vice versa with 1 Tbsp of water if it is to dry. Cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm area until double in sized, about 30 min. Once dough has formed, knead on a floured service until smooth and elastic. 

Roll out pizza dough on a metal pizza pan or, in my case, a metal baking sheet. Don't put on any toppings yet, put dough in the oven and bake for 7-10 min until dough is starting to brown. Remove the crust from the baking sheet onto a pizza peel (You don't need a pizza peel, just put the crust on something so you can transfer it back into the oven). Add sauce, cheese and toppings of your choice. Slide the pizza into the oven, directly on the oven rack. Bake for another 7-10 min until cheese is melted, I hit it with the broiler for about 30 second to brown the cheese. 

Song of the Recipe

Deep Dish Pizza

Probably about a year ago, I made my first trip to Chicago with my girlfriend to see Flogging Molly perform (it was an awesome concert). Being the pizza connoisseur I am, one of the first things I had to do was try the famous deep dish pizza. I still don't remember what place we got it from, just that the hotel we were staying a recommended them. It was definitely in the top 3, maybe even the best, pizza I have ever had. The crust had such an amazing texture, both crunchy and soft. The sauce...don't make me think about the sauce....it was spectacular. It was everything pizza sauce should be. Full flavor with tomato and herbs with a kick of sweetness at the end. Ever since then, I've been wanting to make my own deep dish pizza. Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 1 ½ cups of warm water
• 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup semolina flour
• ½ cup vegetable oil, plus 2 tsp to grease bowl
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
•  ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, coarsely crushed
• 1 Tablespoon dry red wine
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

For Pizza:

• 1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
•  4 ounces pepperoni
•  2 cups diced green pepper
• 1 cup sliced black olives
• ½ pound crumbled hot Italian sausage
• 1 cup grated parmesan

**Note: You can add whatever toppings you want.**

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the semolina, 1/2 cup of the oil, and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes. Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil.

Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

While the dough is rising, make the tomato sauce. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the herbs, seeds, salt, and black and red peppers, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, wine and sugar, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely before using.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Oil deep-dish pizza pan with the extra-virgin olive oil. Press dough into pan, pressing to the edge and stretching about 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Dough Pressed in Pan

Filled with Cheese, Meats & Toppings

Topped with Sauce & Parmesan

Layer the mozzarella cheese all over the bottom of the pies. Top with the pepperoni, green pepper, black olives and sausage. Ladle the sauce evenly over the pizza and top with Parmesan.

Bake until the top is golden and the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven onto a cooling rack and let rest for about 10 min, slice and serve hot.

Additional Equipment

This equipment is not necessary but this is a nice little deep dish pizza kit that UNO Chicago Grill makes. It is only $20 through amazon and you get a quality deep dish pan, spatula and recipe book. If you don't want to spend the money I've seen other deep dish pizza recipes where people use spring form pans or cast iron skillets. Do your research and make an informed decision before starting the recipe...remember from my buffalo nuggets recipe....MISE EN PLACE!!!!

Prices Subject to Change

**Note: I am only including items on the grocery list that I deem an expense. I'm assuming most people will already have things like salt & pepper**

 Kitchen Word of the Day

Proofing (also called proving), as the term is used by professional bakers, is the final dough-rise step before baking, and refers to a specific rest period within the more generalized process known as fermentation. Fermentation is a step in creating yeast breads and baked goods where the yeast is allowed to leaven the dough.

Fermentation rest periods are not often explicitly named, and normally appear in recipes as "Allow dough to rise."

In a less-specific sense with usage reminiscent to fermentation, proofing refers to yeasts' feeding on some type of sugar. As the term is used in some cookbooks intended for home use, it refers to testing the viability of one's yeast by mixing it with a small amount of warm water and sugar, and waiting until the mixture becomes foamy by the action of the yeast. Typically, using US customary units, ¼ cup water at 105–115 °F and ½ teaspoon of sugar are used. While this sugar may be sucrose, instead it may be glucose, typically enzyme-derived from starch.