Salami Stromboli...

With today being a remodel work-free zone in the kitchen, I was able to get a new pizza together for our weekly Friday Pizza Night! Instead of the usual flat pizzas we've been making lately, we rolled individual portions to create the Salami Stromboli we had for our meal this evening!

With the pound of our homemade dough quartered, we stretched each piece out into a round and seasoned the flat, smooth tops by adding fresh grated Parmesan and a smattering of black pepper. For the salami, we went with a robust sopressata, sliced thinly, but there are many varieties out there... use what you enjoy eating! You could even go with pepperoni if you like, or even a milder cold cut like Capicola.

To fill out each Stromboli, on top of the sopressata we arranged thin slices of sharp provolone cheese and cubes of diced roasted red bell pepper. Mozzarella would be a good choice here too - either in addition to the provolone, or as a swap out. There is no special way to form these - just roll them up (not too tightly), then tuck the ends under and pinch any open seams to seal. Be sure they are put onto the pan with the seam side down.

It is good to slice a slit or three on top to let steam escape while baking, but don't go too deep. I went a little too far down (mainly because I forgot to do it and remembered a minute after I put them in the oven!) and we ended up having a fair amount of cheese escapage - nothing too major at least. I was thankful for that sheet of parchment we put down on the pan first though! The suggested cook time was 30 to 35 minutes, but that was far too long for our rolls - we pulled them around 22 minutes. We thought these were certainly fine enough to eat by themselves, but Jeff or I wouldn't have turned down a bowl of warmed (spicy!) marinara sauce for dipping!

Be forewarned, with the salami, it will seem and look fairly greasy at first take out of the oven. This is just the nature of the beast - try to just accept it and move on (surprisingly, it didn't come across as being that greasy on the tongue after it sat a few minutes!). If that scares you off (don't let it!), as I said earlier, you could use a different type of meat for the filling.

Recipes
Salami Stromboli