A delicious alternative to pizza, this recipe makes four generous portions. Made with sun dried tomatoes and stuffed with a selection of vegetables and cheese, this will surely be a winner in your house! It's a close cousin to calzone, but is rolled rather than folded. The tomatoes give the dough a lovely orange colour and a great flavour. You can make the dough in advance and leave it overnight before using. If you can, buy sun dried tomatoes in a jar, you'll use the oil they are stored in. If you'd like to create a meaty version, leave out the beans and use chopped cooked chorizo or sausage. If you'd like to make your own pesto, the recipe follows this one.
250gramsbread flouror type OO flour plus a little extra for rolling out and flouring tray
40gramssundried tomatoes roughly chopped
25millilitresoiluse the oil from the jar of sun dried tomatoes or olive oil
150millilitreswater22°C/77°F
15gramsfresh yeastor 10 gr instant yeast
5gramssalt
Filling
1jar pestoapprox 190 gr
200gramssweet potato
150gramspepper (bell pepper)
100gramssoft goats cheeseor mozarella
2cloves garlic
40gramssun dried tomato
1teaspoonchlli sauce or harissa or similaroptional
200gramscooked beans: eg cannellini chickpeas, borlotti or cannellini1/2 tin
ExtraOlive oil for roasting and for brushing on the Stromboli
Makes: 20cm20 x 10cm rectangle
Instructions
Make the Dough
Place the flour, salt and yeast in either the bowl of your mixer, or in a large bowl. Keep the salt and yeast apart.
Add the water at 22°C/71°F and the oil to the dry ingredients. Mix well.
Either mix on low speed for 5 minutes, then medium speed for 5 minutes or knead by hand.
You are looking for the dough to be soft, pliable and measuring between 24 and 26°C (78°F). You can also check that the dough has some elasticity when stretched (the window pane).
Add the chopped sun dried tomatoes to the dough and mix until combined. If doing this by hand, flatten the dough, sprinkle the sundried tomatoes over the dough and roll up. Knead to combine.
Cover the dough and leave at room temperature for 1 hour. Alternatively, place the dough in the fridge for up to 12 hours.
Prepare Filling Ingredients
Get all the filling ingredients ready.
Bake your sweet potato and peppers in advance advance. Cut into equal size pieces. Separate the garlic cloves - there is no need to peel them. Place all the vegetables in an oven proof dish, drizzle with oil, cover and roast until soft. Cool before use. Remove the skin from the garlic.
Cut your soft goats cheese in roughly 1 cm pieces, don't worry if they are misshapen.
Drain your can of beans. You will use about half a standard tin.
Cut the sun dried tomato into 1 cm pieces
Roll out the Dough
Flour your baking tray.
Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface and roll out your dough thinly to close so the size of your baking tray.
Place the dough on the tray and refrigerate for 15 minutes. This is an important step for success with the dough.
Assemble the Stromboli
Take the tray out of the fridge. Using your palette knife or spatula, spread the pesto evenly over the dough.
Evenly space beans and sun dried tomatoes over the mixture (or your chopped chorizo)
Sprinkle the roasted vegetables evenly over the surface.
Dot the cheese over the dough
Add small amounts of the softened garlic evenly over the surface with a little chili sauce if using.
You are now going to roll up the dough. Pull about 10 centimetres (4 inches) of the dough evenly up from one end and keep rolling. Once you have reached the end, tuck the seam underneath. Then fold under each end to stop the filling coming out.
If you wish at this point you can lift it into a a baking dish with sides to avoid the filling spilling all over the oven. Brush with olive oil. Allow to prove at room temperature for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 210°C. You do not want the oven as hot as for pizza.
Just before baking, slash the Stromboli 4 times diagonally with a very sharp knife or bakers' lame.
Bake for approximately 25 minutes, checking after 15 and 20 minutes. The dough should be a good even colour. You can also check the internal temperature to be sure it is cooked through.
Serve sliced.
Notes
All pesto in jars is not equal. Many varieties contain cashew nuts rather than pine nuts and sunflower oil rather than olive oil. Many thanks to Sean McVey of The BreadWinner Bakery in Edinburgh for sharing his recipes which I have adapted.