Stromboli 

Stromboli is a type of baked turnover filled with various Italian cheeses (typically mozzarella) and usually Italian cold cuts (typically Italian meats such as salami, capocollo and bresaola) or vegetables served hot. The dough used is either Italian bread dough or pizza dough. Stromboli was invented by Italian-Americans in the United States in the Philadelphia area.The name of the dish is taken from a volcanic island off the coast of Sicily. A stromboli is similar to a calzone or scaccia, and the dishes are sometimes confused. Unlike calzones, which are always stuffed and folded into a crescent shape, a stromboli is typically rolled or folded into a cylinder, and may sometimes contain a thin layer of tomato sauce on the inside.

Many American pizza shops serve a stromboli using pizza dough that is folded in half with fillings, similar to a half-moon-shaped calzone. At other establishments, a stromboli is made with a square-shaped pizza dough that can be topped with any pizza toppings and is then rolled into a cylindrical jelly roll shape and baked. Other variations include adding pizza sauce or deep-frying, in a similar manner as a panzerotti. 

There are several claims regarding the origin of the usage of the name stromboli for food in the United States. Romano's Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria claims to have first used the name in 1950 in Essington, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, courtesy of Nazzareno Romano, an Italian immigrant. The pizzeria owner had experimented with "pizza imbottita", or "stuffed pizza", and added ham, cotechino sausage, cheese and peppers into a pocket of bread dough. His future brother-in-law suggested he name it after the recently released movie Stromboli, notorious for an off-screen affair between married actress, Ingrid Bergman, and married director, Roberto Rossellini, resulting in a love child.

In 1954, Mike Aquino of Mike's Burger Royal in Spokane, Washington, says he also named a turnover after the same movie. However, Aquino's version appears to only share the same name as the commonly accepted version of the stromboli and is significantly different from the Philadelphia turnover version that is usually defined as a "stromboli". Aquino's "stromboli" consists of capicola ham and provolone cheese covered in an Italian chili sauce on a French bread roll. Variations also exist in Indiana.

Ingredients

 

1 lb pizza dough

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese , divided

1/3 lb ham slices , or prosciutto

12 slices fresh mozzarella cheese 

1/3 lb large deli pepperoni slices

12 slices Provolone cheese , (8 oz package)

▢1/3 lb large deli salami slices

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

egg wash (1 egg white mixed with 1 Tbsp water)

Tomato or pizza sauce , for dipping

Instructions

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, with a pizza stone or baking sheet inside. Roll out pizza dough into a large thin rectangle (about 18’’x12’’)

Season dough: Spread with a thin layer of olive oil over the top and sprinkle generously with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese. Layer deli meats and cheeses: Leaving a 1’’ border around the edge of the dough, layer ham slices, slightly overlapping (like roof shingles) across the top. Repeat with Mozzarella slices, then pepperoni, provolone, and salami. Sprinkle oregano over the top. Roll up: Fold the long edge of the dough closest to you over the fillings a few inches. Roll/fold the dough away from you to form a log. When you near the end edge of the dough, stop, and pull that dough up and over, towards you. Pinch together to the ends and fold them under, to seal the roll. Bake: Place Stromboli, seam side down, on a piece of parchment paper. Brush outside of dough with egg wash. Make 3-4 slits on top, for steam to escape. Sprinkle remaining parmesan on top. Bake for 25 minutes on pizza stone or parchment on prepared baking sheet. Remove from oven and use a paper towel to blot excess grease away, if needed. Rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature, with tomato or pizza sauce on the side, for dipping.