Ship-to-Shore Stromboli

I arrived back in town just in time to add my post to The Secret Recipe Club linkup for September. Luckily I had already bookmarked and tried a handful of recipes from my assigned blog, A Spoonful of Thyme. What a fun blog to browse! It's obvious that blog author Kate enjoys good food, family and travel, totally loves cooking and has a varied palate. Minted Watermelon Granita hit the right note on a warm summer day. Just thinking about Chicken and Grilled Peaches with Chipotle Peach Dressing makes my taste buds sing. Crab, Avocado and Mango Towers stack three of my favorite foods for an impressive presentation. Stromboli elbowed its way to the top of the must-share list, a comfort-food kind of recipe to prepare for family and friends. As Kate notes:  

Cooking is a wonderful way to bring family and friends together to enjoy food and each other. With a good recipe and "a spoonful of thyme" wonderful things can happen! 

I made a few changes to Kate's recipe, working with ingredients already on board in the boat fridge and pantry, but versatility is one of the great features of stromboli. Think rolled pizza and the possibilities seem endless. My version used homemade pizza dough rather than the recommended Pillsbury pizza dough in a tube,  and I added a handful of fresh basil and a bit of olive tapenade to the filling. We skipped the optional marinara dip and didn't miss it. The stromboli was terrific, impressively flavorful without additional saucing.  

Make your favorite herb-flavored pizza dough, or work with a tube of prepared dough.

While the dough is resting, caramelize a sweet onion.

Chop up some fresh herbs; basil, parsley and thyme are my favorites.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle and scatter olives and onions on top, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. 

Add salami and capicola, provolone or other soft  cheeses.

Toss on a handful of fresh herbs and roll into a cylinder, sealing all edges firmly.

Brush lightly with flavored olive oil and sprinkle with fresh shredded Parmesan cheese.

Bake until the crust is golden, then remove to a baking rack to cool before slicing.

Struggling to let the stromboli rest long enough for the cheese to tighten up and the crust to firm enough to slice, I just had to sneak the first piece... and blistered my mouth. Beware of hot, melted cheese! The two of us enjoyed half of the still-warm loaf at dinner, with a side of Greek Salad. Slices from the remaining half provided a ferryboat lunch the following day. This sandwich roll will be a popular snack for game day this Fall, a delicious, filling and easy-to-handle tailgate item. (Go Hawks!) (Go Dawgs!) Check out Kate's recipe for "Queen B. Stromboli" (the original recipe), use the recipe below, or get creative with a selection of different fillings. Whichever you choose, enjoy! Mangia! Mangia!

Ship-to-Shore Stromboli

For the stromboli:
pizza dough, recipe below

2 Tablespoons tapenade (olive spread)
1 onion, sliced & cooked till golden

Provolone, deli sliced

Genoa salami

Capicola

Fresh basil, shredded 

2 Tablespoons herb and garlic flavored olive oil

2 Tablespoons grated fresh Parmigiano

marinara sauce for dipping, optional

Roll the dough into a rectangle 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. Leaving a one inch border, spread the tapenade and cooked onion over the dough. Layer the cheese, salami, capicola and basil evenly over the tapenade.

Starting at the long end, roll up the dough into a cylinder, pinching the ends and edges to seal; place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Brush the top lightly with herb and garlic flavored olive oil. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree F oven until fragrant and evenly golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a baking rack to rest until the cheese sets up a bit. Slice and serve with warm marinara sauce for dipping if desired.


For the pizza dough:

2 Tablespoons active dry yeast

1 ½ cups warm water (abut 110-115 F)

1 Tablespoon honey

2 cups AP white flour (more as required)

1 cups semolina flour

1 tsp salt

2 Tablespoons mixed Italian herbs 

2 TB extra virgin olive oil

Additional all-purpose flour as needed

In a mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the honey and the AP flour. Beat vigorously for 1 minute. Dough should be the consistency of a thick cake batter. 

Place a cup of water in the microwave and heat it for 3-4 minutes. Place the bowl of dough in the warm oven, close the door quickly, and let rise. (OR just let the dough bubble and rise, covered lightly, in a warm spot in your kitchen.)

At the end of 30 minutes, stir down the dough and add the semolina flour, salt, olive oil and herbs. Mix well. Place dough on a floured surface and knead well for about 8 minutes, adding additional AP flour only as needed to keep dough from sticking. Form dough into two balls. At this point, freeze the dough for later use or make it into pizzas or stromboli immediately.

Each ball should make one long, thin-crust stromboli, about the size of a baguette, or 2-4 smaller, individual loaves. Knead each ball into a ½-inch-thick disk. (if you are making smaller stromboli, cut each ball in half before kneading). 

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