The antics in JBug's Kitchen are somewhat organized because I make our menus and grocery list up a week in advance and we do our grocery shopping Saturday mornings. Imagine my surprise when we were watching our taped episode of Pioneer Woman on Saturday afternoon and she's making calzones because darned if they weren't already on this week's menu. I didn't want you all to think I was a thief stealing her ideas, so last night I switched out the calzones for a giant stromboli instead.
There's not a lot of difference between the two other than size and shape; however, according to my research, it's all about the location of the sauce. Apparently a calzone has the sauce served on the side or on top but the sauce is inside a stromboli. Well, pardon my ignorance because I did both last night.
I filled our giant stromboli with cooked spicy hot Italian sausage, sauteed onions, ricotta cheese, little mini roasted red peppers and poured about a half cup of marinara sauce on top. Oh, we mustn't forget the cheese either - a combination of sharp cheddar, jalapeno jack and parmesan. I used what I had even though I thought I had provolone but didn't. Oh well. It's no big deal but darned if I didn't forget the sliced pepperoni I had planned too. That didn't matter either. We had our incredibly edible slices of Italian sandwich with extra marinara as a dipping sauce and a nice little green salad on the side. It was some good let me tell ya.
Incidentally to make your life a heck of a lot easier, be sure to roll the dough out on a floured sheet of parchment paper and use it to assist in constructing your "jelly roll". Parchment happened to be the other imaginary thing I had in my so called "orangized" kitchen and didn't. As a result I used a lot of flour and even corn meal to keep the dough from sticking to the board, but it really had a mind of its own. It's a little embarrassing when the dogs are running for cover because of the decibel level of the swear words. Ha, it's not like they haven't heard it all before.
Need a few more ideas? How about Deli Style with pepperoni, ham, salami, roasted red peppers and cheese ...lots of cheese; or a mexican version with chorizo sausage, poblano pepper rings, roasted red pepper, chopped onion, drained RO-TEL tomatoes and cheese.
Stromboli with Italian Sausage (a J’Bug’s Kitchen original)
Crust:
1 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
2-1/2 cups bread flour, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
In bowl of food processor with metal blade, combine 1-1/2 cups flour with warm water and yeast. Blitz to mix well. Add 1 more cup of flour, olive oil and salt. Mix until dough forms into one ball and rides on top of the metal blade – about 20 seconds. If dough is very sticky add more flour and mix again; however the dough should be very soft. Remove to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour). After dough has risen, remove to a floured piece of parchment paper, cover with cloth and let rest for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes has passed, roll dough out to approximately 14 x 17 inches. Spread the following filling in the middle, on the long side.
1/2 pound hot Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled and well drained
1 large onion, sliced and sauteed until softened
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup marinara sauce
2 roasted red peppers, sliced (I used 8 assorted mini peppers)
8 ounces assorted grated cheese (I used sharp cheddar, jalapeno jack and parmesan, but mozzarella's great too)
Sprinkle of freshly ground pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, dried basil
Coarse ground sea salt
Extra marinara sauce for dipping (optional)
Using parchment to assist, fold in ends of stromboli, then sides to have dough meat in the middle. Pinch well to close. Move parchment paper onto large sheet pan and sprinkle stromboli with course salt. Bake in preheated 375 oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Drain any excess liquid from pan and remove Stromboli to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with additional warmed marinara on the side.
A year ago - Salmon & Clam Chowder
Two year's ago - Shaker Lemon Bars
Beautiful - even with all that sticky, reluctant dough - it turned out beautiful! I just might have to do that soon! You made me laugh out loud again - and you make me jealous - I wish I were organized enough to plan a week in advance!
Posted by: Lea | 10/24/2012 at 08:23 AM
Ya - the dough was a real bear, but it worked eventually. I ended up putting a sheet pan on top and just flipping the board over. Where there's a will, there's a way. As for being organized ...I'm kinda' budget conscious and it's amazing how much money I can save by pre-planning menus, sticking to the grocery list, using up leftovers, and only shopping once a week.
Posted by: June | 10/24/2012 at 08:44 AM
Just wait until you try making dough products in Oregon...talk about lots of flour in the mix. Looks good and filling and you can never go wrong with cheese and sausage.
Posted by: Lorraine | 11/03/2012 at 09:53 AM
Lorraine - I remember that from when we lived in Salem, but honestly, I made the best bread there I'd ever made in my life!
Posted by: June | 11/03/2012 at 01:03 PM