This could be one of my favorite meals. When it’s done right I’ll pick this over pizza every day of the week. If you tried my pizza dough recipe, you know that I worked in a Stromboli joint as a kid growing up. There aren’t a lot of places that specialize in Strombolis. Most of the time it’s an afterthought.
Last week the Island of Stromboli in Italy erupted. That’s where the Stromboli got its name after a volcanic island, so it got me thinking that I hadn’t made a boli in a while. The wonderful thing about them is that there are endless ways to make them. This recipe is my favorite. I think the key is using great cheese and adding a little sliced onion and green bell pepper. When you do that, it has a nice crunch and great flavor.
The first rule of being a great chef is to use great ingredients. I’m a huge fan of Boar’s Head meats. Their Hot Capi is incredible. I’m not a fan of ham in general, but this is perfectly flavored with Italian spices and makes for an incredible Italian flavor. There is better pepperoni, but they are not sold in the local store. I find their pepperoni works perfectly for a Stromboli.
When I worked in the Stromboli restaurant, they had an industrial dough roller, so I don’t feel the need to shape the dough by hand, I always use a rolling pin. What I do that is different is that I try to roll the dough into an oval shape instead of a round flat tortilla shape.
My dough recipe makes 8 dough balls which are slightly smaller than standard the reason is that I think this to be the perfect size boli. They cook better at this size in a home oven plus, for me, as a big eater, I find the serving size perfect. Most restaurants make them larger. I just want to note the size and recommend my dough recipe. Making the dough is easy, and I think it tastes better than store bought dough.
Another thing is that while I think my tomato sauce recipe is perfect, this recipe uses so little sauce that I think you could get away with just pureed tomatoes or most jar sauces. I have used traditional Ragu sauce from a jar, which comes out great. I would worry more about the cheese. You might notice that my cheese is not grated, that is because I used cheese curds from a local farmers market because I can’t locate quality mozzarella locally.
If you preheat your over to 500 degrees and use a pizza steel, they come out perfectly browned in 8 minutes.
The main difference is that a Stromboli has sauce inside, and with a calzone, the sauce comes on the side. For a Stromboli enthusiast like myself, I would tell you that the shape is the main difference. A Stromboli is a pizza shaped like a submarine sandwich.
The name is from a volcanic island off the coast of Italy. Ironically it wasn’t invented there, but they think it was created in America during the 1950s.
Italian Stromboli
A pizza that is shaped like a submarine sandwich and stuffed with meats or vegetables. The inside usually includes mozzarella cheese, onions, green peppers and tomato sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 8 Minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 ounce Pepperoni
- 1 ounce Capicola
- 2 ounces Mozzarella Cheese
- 1/4 cup Ricotta Cheese
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Sauce
- 1 ounce Sliced Onion
- 1 ounce Sliced Green Bell Pepper
Instructions
- Roll dough thin about 1/8 inch thick.
- Add meats and cheese top with sauce.
- Add onion and peppers last.
- Fold the corners and pull the bottom up over the top to the proper Stromboli shape.
- Be sure to pierce the top of the dough like you would a pie so it doesn’t explode in the oven.
- Bake 500 Degrees for 8 minutes on a pizza steel.
Notes
If you can find polly-o that is the best brand of cheese to use. Be sure to grate the mozzarella fresh and DO NOT buy pre-shredded. I only use Boar’s Head meats for this recipe. I have tried Boar’s Head mozzarella and it’s terrible
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