Stromboli!

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a long time (almost 2 months to be exact) and today I decided I would finally do it!  I needed to share this because it has changed our life.  We have Stromboli all the time now.  We make it for friends who come over for dinner, we make it for people who are sick and need a meal, and we make it for ourselves because we like it that much.

The first time I made this recipe I did it for Valentines day and thought I would get creative by shaping it into a heart.  I will admit, I was pretty pleased with the result.  It looked so beautiful!  Even with the cheese spilling out and the dough busting out at the bottom, it was still so goldeny delicious.  I got the recipe from this blog and I used her pizza dough recipe too.  The only change I really made from her recipe is that I didn't ...This is Eliza!

My post was highjacked.  As I was saying, the only real change I made was that I left the sauce off and we dipped our Stromboli! (you always have to say it with an exclamation point) in the sauce while we ate it.

The pizza dough recipe is this:

1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
3 cups bread flour {give or take 1/2 cup...depending on the heat & humidity}

for the cheesy garlic bread sticks-
1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough from above
2 tablespoons softened salted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese {use the real stuff!}
1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
{salt & pepper, if desired}

DIRECTIONS:

For the pizza dough--In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix. Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn't stick to your hands. Once you reach this stage, knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean! {*This is the point when you could freeze your dough!! Divide into portions, place into freezer bags, seal removing all air and freeze. To use, remove from freezer and let sit out to get to room temperature and double in size; 6-8 hours. Then use as you'd like.} Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn't dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That's it! Use as desired.

For the Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks- Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don't have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet...a tip I got from Natalie!}
Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}
Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. {That step is totally optional!}

I copied the recipe straight from Lauren's Latest.  I love her site too, in case you are in the mood to browse a food blog.

Once the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 500, split the dough in two and then roll out a rectangle shape.  spread the cheese on one-third of the dough and then spread your toppings on top of that.  My favorite toppings are red onion, diced bell pepper, and spinach.  

Once the toppings are on, grab an egg and beat it (just beat it! No one wants to be defeated!) in a bowl.  Fold the shorter edges in about an inch and baste the folded edges and the third of the dough left without toppings.  

Roll the dough, beginning at the end with the toppings and roll until shaped like this:

Only you can keep it shaped as a straight log if you don't love your family as much as I do...

Place the log on top of a pizza stone or upside down pizza pan.  I wasn't sure why it said an upside down pan but then I tried it without and the Stromboli! didn't brown quite as evenly.  Next, baste the log with the egg and sprinkle pizza flavored herbs on top (I use a spice I own called Pizza Spice but I'm sure a little basil, oregano and garlic would do just fine) and some parmesan cheese. Slit the top of the Stromboli! every inch and a half or so.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and beautiful.

Cut it up into slices and dip in whatever favorite pizza sauce you might own.  Or  if you're like me and never have pizza sauce on hand, whatever spaghetti sauce you have lying around.

And viola!  You are done and ready to eat your Stromboli!

Pizza Balls

I made these the other day, thinking that my kids would love to dip little pizza balls in sauce. I made two batches and the first I made into balls and the second I made into a regular pizza (because of time). Maren and Grant liked the pizza balls. Avery (surprise, surprise) and Ryan wouldn't touch them and ate the regular looking pizza. Hey, but on the upside, Avery usually hates homemade pizza. I guess it was better than the alternative. Anyway, I thought they were fun. I am throwing in my easy pizza dough recipe, in case you don't have a super easy one of your own.

Pizza Dough

1 Pkg. yeast

1 c. warm water

2 1/2 c. flour

2 Tbsp. oil

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining ingredients and beat vigorously 20 strokes. Let rest 5 minutes. Shape into pizza.

Marinara Sauce

2 cans tomato sauce

garlic powder

onion powder

italian seasoning

2 tsp. sugar

salt & pepper to taste

Stir all ingredients in a saucepan over medium low heat. I always make pizza sauce to taste the way I like, so I have no idea on the amounts of the seasonings, but I usually do at least that much sugar.

Pizza Balls

1 recipe pizza dough

1 recipe marinara sauce-for dipping

1 tsp. italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. garlic

2 Tbsp. butter

parmesan cheese

pizza toppings

Make your pizza dough and roll out into a rectangle shape (about 9X13). Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 24 squares. Place desired toppings on each square. I used pepperoni, sausage and mozzarella cheese. I put two pepperoni slices or 1-2 tsp. sausage and maybe 2 tsp. of cheese.

Pick up each square and fold dough around the ingredients. Pinch the bottom to seal the ball shut. Now, I had 3 little helpers rolling, cutting and adding ingredients (plus, I didn't get a nice shaped rectangle). Don't panic if yours don't look like nice little squares. I made sure the balls were mostly sealed and they all worked out just fine. Place them, seam side down, in a pie tin.

Melt butter and brush over the top of the balls. Mix garlic and italian seasoning and sprinkle over top of balls. Sprinkle Parmesan on top, as well.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm with marinara for dipping.

Adapted from http://www.ourbestbites.com/