Stromboli.........Not too off topic

[PizzaDanPizzaMan]

Here are some pictures of my new found item. I am making these with my Ischia sourdough starter and, yes.......they are as good as they look. I am going to make one tonight and par-bake and freeze it. Just want to see if I can make a really easy take and bake item that will easily finish off in any home oven. Will report back on the freezing of the product but the proof will be in the tasting some weeks down the road.

Dan

[Pete-zza]

Dan,

All I can say is WOW!!!

Peter

[Mahoney]

Nice - I gotta try that.

In the pic with the basil, is that roasted garlic?  Also, is that butter on top before putting the poppy seeds on, or some other oil?

Thanks,
Bob

[Bill/CDMX]

Very, very nice. How do you form the final thing. Is it simply rolled so there is a layer of dough inside?

Bill/SFNM

[PizzaDanPizzaMan]

Thanks for the comps,

Yes Bob that is roasted garlic (see below), the yellow mixture on top is simply egg wash to retain the poppy seeds. It also helps to crisp up the top and of course adds some additional color. On this particular one, I brushed a little more pizza sauce on the top after it was done and then put it under the broiler for just a few seconds to get that "just charred" top without quite burning it.

Bill,
This is simply rolled up just like a jelly roll. It is baked at a lower temperature and for a longer time so I have found, and especially with the thin, pre-fermented dough, since I do not get anywhere near the rise I would with a standard yeast type dough, that the roll is sufficiently cooked through. I am baking these at 475 F. for about 25-30 minutes. One thing I will consider for the next one is not to slit the top until maybe half way through the baking process since I am having to deal with quite a mess on my stone from the cheeses prematurely outgassing thru the slits. But, still, it's all good!

Oh, many of you probably already know this little trick but since we were on the subject, I had my brother over a few weeks ago for pizza and wanted to add some roasted garlic to one of our pies. I had always, previously used the technique that requires you to remove the top of the garlic head, brush on olive oil, wrap tightly in foil and put it in a 350 F. oven for an hour or so. (Usually just thrown in the oven during stone heat up.) Now I had forgotten to do this and the pie was ready to be baked so I couldn't wait an hour to roast garlic. So my brother proceeded to take the whole head of garlic, break off all the individual cloves, still wrapped in their individual skins and put them in a hot skillet on the range. Just give them a few shakes in the pan every couple of minutes and in just six or eight minutes you have very nice soft, roasted garlic cloves. The skins just fall off and the cloves are ready for slicing or whatever. Now they don't quite have the flavor you will achieve roasting them in olive oil for an hour but it is a very good alternative in a pinch.

[Bill/CDMX]

Dan,

I had never heard of stromboli until your post. What is it's origin?

On Sunday I baked pizzas and had some San Felice/Camaldoli dough balls and toppings left over. The brick oven was at about 450F yesterday morning so I was inspired to try making a stromboli. This one was filled with bufala mozzarella, cows milk mozzarella, dry-aged mozzarella, parm, tomatoes, olive oil, mushrooms, ham, and sweet sopprasata.

Since the dough was leftover, it had gone through a lot - 10 hr. room temp ferment, 28 hours in the fridge, 8 hours at room temp, overnight in the fridge. I wasn't sure if it had any life left, but it had a nice oven spring, both on the outside and the inside layers.

I'm sure I over-stuffed it. The cross-section doesn't look as pretty as Dan's,  I baked it on a piece of parchment to reduce the mess.

I have to say I enjoyed the stromboli as much as I enjoyed the pizzas. Definitely the thing to make with leftovers.


Bill/SFNM

[Pete-zza]

Bill/SFNM,

I think your stromboli looks exceptional.

One of our members, pizzabill, has featured a stromboli at his pizza making webpage for some time. It is at http://www.pizzamaniac.com/index.php/archives/2004/06/10/classic-stromboli/.

Peter

[Bill/CDMX]

Thanks, Pete-zza. But does anyone know the origin of this delicacy? It is not mentioned in any of my pizza or Italian cookbooks. Thanks.

Bill/SFNM

[Pete-zza]

Bill/SFNM,

It apparently isn't clear, but according to this, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromboli_%28food%29, the origins may be Philadelphia. How or why it was created seems to be a mystery.

Peter

[PizzaDanPizzaMan]

Bill,
That is one fantastic looking Stromboli. I don't know anything about the origin, but according to the link Peter posted, what they are calling a Stromboli sounds more to me to be a Calzone. They refer to it as a "stuffed pizza", and "turnover". That description would surely more define a Calzone than a jelly-roll type item. But regardless, it is a fun to make and wonderful to eat spin on one of our favorite foods.

[gottabedapan]

That is one fantastic looking Stromboli. I don't know anything about the origin, but according to the link Peter posted, what they are calling a Stromboli sounds more to me to be a Calzone. They refer to it as a "stuffed pizza", and "turnover". That description would surely more define a Calzone than a jelly-roll type item. But regardless, it is a fun to make and wonderful to eat spin on one of our favorite foods.

According to Evelyn Slomon, folded pizza are calzone and are a "thoroughly Neapolitan tradition" (The Pizza Book, p. 7); rolled pizza (bonata) are of Sicilian origin and are known as stromboli in the US (p. 9).

FWIW, growing up outside Philly, we called folded pizzas "stromboli," and rolled pizzas "pizza rolls." 

[IRHusker]

All I can say is HOLY FREAKIN CRAP!

Awesome work guys.  Those look amazing!   

[deb415611]

Dan -

Have you baked one that you par-baked & froze yet? 

Dan & Bill -  they both look awesome.  I just started a new grocery list....  This weekends project.

Deb

[AKSteve]

I agree with IRHusker, those look really amazing. I'm going to have to try and make one soon. After I try one with traditional fillings, I think I'm going to make one using everything that goes into a Greek gyro.


Steve

[Lydia]

Evelyn Slomon at Pizza Today
http://pizzatoday.com/production_articles.shtml?article=NDMwM3N1cGVyNDMwMHNlY3JldDQzMDc=
Most calzones are made in the traditional half-moon shape that is achieved by rolling or pressing out the dough ball into a circle. The filling is mounded into the bottom half of the circle and the top part is folded over and crimped by hand or with a fork. Large scale production of calzones calls for sheeting squares of dough that when folded over, tend to look like a turnover.

A traditional shape known as a Fiadone calls for stretching the dough out into a rough rectangle, filling the bottom half, folding the top half and slashing holes in the top. This lets the steam out, allowing the Fiadone to cook faster.

Here is the information I have and am getting confused
Calzone means "pant leg" and calzoni are pizza turnovers - little half-moons of dough that house savory fillings of meat, cheeses, and/or vegetables. When shaped, they are said to resemble the wide billowing trousers that the men of Naples wore in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.


The Etymology of the word apparently comes from the 1940s and the city of Naples, it translate to Pant's Leg, or Trouser Leg, according to the dictionaries. I thought that a rolled pizza open at both ends was the true calzone shape.

Stromboli – "the name" of this dish originated from an Italian volcanic island Stromboli near Sicily.

Fiodone: Italian cheese torte that was a special Easter-only treat  that is sometimes referred to as pizza rustica.
Fiadone (in regional dialect, shato,) is a traditional Abruzzese Easter cheese pie. The name means focaccia, and every family in Italy has its own special version.

Fiadone is the equivalent of a cheese torte. It is neither a cheesecake nor a cheese pie but somewhere in between the two. In the traditional Italian style it is only slightly sweet. It is, however, very rich, and should be served in thin slices. 

Can anyone help further on defining what is what.

[vitus]

Dan - your stromboli looked so great that I had to try it out!

The result was great, although it was very difficult to get the shape to look nice.
I am very impressed in the look of your stromboli and I wasn't able to make my loaf look half as good. But the taste was great.

I used pretty much the same ingredients as Dan - except I only used one type of salami (a Danish one) and I added a bit of onion-rings lightly fried in olive oil.
I made the dough yesterday and took it out of the fridge two hours before use. The tomato sauce was made from scratch with tomatoes I peeled myself. It had a nice sweet taste. I served a salad with the stromboli.

This is definately not the last time I'll make stromboli. Next time I think I'll put mushrooms in the loaf.

I've added a couple of pictures below so that you guys can see how it ended up. But the pictures aren't too good because I was really in quite a hurry to take them before everything was eaten (by my family and myself).

[candyman]

Actually, growing up in an Italian family, i can tell you there is a big difference between Stromboli and Calzoni.  The biggest difference is that a Stromboli has red sauce (pizza sauce) and a Calzoni does not.  Calzoni has Ricotta cheese or feta cheese and generally Italian Sausage, onions, peppers, and sometimes ham (can put any typical pizza topping in it)... seldom does it have Mozzarella cheese.  Calzoni is rolled like a jelly roll.  Stromboli usually has mozzarella cheese, sicilian sauce, and about any pizza topping.  Stromboli are made just like a pizza with all the toppings on one half of the pie (heaped up) and then the empty side of the pizza is folded over the toppings forming a half pie (or half moon shape).  Then, usually with a fork or ravioli cutter the sides are sealed together.  That is the difference and both come from Sicily.

Also, wanted to let you all know that these stromboli's look delish.

~Candyman~

[David]

Actually, growing up in an Italian family, i can tell you there is a big difference between Stromboli and Calzoni.  The biggest difference is that a Stromboli has red sauce (pizza sauce) and a Calzoni does not.  Calzoni has Ricotta cheese or feta cheese and generally Italian Sausage, onions, peppers, and sometimes ham (can put any typical pizza topping in it)... seldom does it have Mozzarella cheese.  Calzoni is rolled like a jelly roll.  Stromboli usually has mozzarella cheese, sicilian sauce, and about any pizza topping.  Stromboli are made just like a pizza with all the toppings on one half of the pie (heaped up) and then the empty side of the pizza is folded over the toppings forming a half pie (or half moon shape).  Then, usually with a fork or ravioli cutter the sides are sealed together.  That is the difference and both come from Sicily.

Also, wanted to let you all know that these stromboli's look delish.

~Candyman~

Sorry Candyman but I believe you are wrong in your statement and you may well be leading people who don't know better down the wrong path here.

[SLICEofSLOMON]

Thought I'd chime in on the subject...

In Italy calzone is a Neapolitan treat. It is always made of folded over dough. It can be baked or deep-fried. It usually has a ricotta based cheese filling with other accent cheeses such as mozzarella etc. It can include ham or salami--or other fillings. The sauce however, is served on the side. Some calzone don't have ricotta--it is the folded over shape that defines calzone. In Sicily, which is famous for a number of "bread pies" one of the names of a rolled and stuffed type of "pizza" is "Bonata" which translates to "generous loaf". In Sicily, these creations are breadier, with less filling than their American counterparts. Another difference is that the rolled pies are left to rise for at least an hour before baking which will give more of a developed bread interior with filling. Strombolis and or pizza rolls, are American inventions based on the original generous loaf. As usual, the American versions are much more abundant in filling--more like a sandwich than a "loaf".

Both versions are excellent--especially for entertaining because they are even better reheated or at room temperature. They've always been my secret weapon to bring along to pot luck dinners. When I would serve the beautiful--and tasty spiral slices, they would be the first to dissappear. Individual strombolis or pizza rolls make great take out lunches or picnic fare. If I put sauce in the strombolis, I always do so sparingly to prevent soggy interiors. You can also divide the dough recipe into 2 portions and make 2 smaller versions that can be cut into small finger food portions that are great for entertaining. Larger versions make a lasting impression when served sliced on a banquet table. I do a grand one for Superbowl Sunday that includes Jalapeno/cilantro pesto, a blend of mozzarella, provolone and cheddar cheeses, pepperoni, sausage and mushrooms. A couple of years ago, I did a Superbowl one that had spicy BBQ sauce, shredded BBQ chicken, mozzarella, provolone, chopped fresh parsley, garlic and cilantro (like a gremolata) and Gorgonzola crumbles. My Superbowl pizza rolls ain't Italian--but they are all GOOD. I think they are the reason I'm always asked to the Superbowl party--even when I could care less who's playing...unless it is the NY Giants!

[Fio]

Both versions are excellent--especially for entertaining because they are even better reheated or at room temperature.  My Superbowl pizza rolls ain't Italian--but they are all GOOD. I think they are the reason I'm always asked to the Superbowl party--even when I could care less who's playing...unless it is the NY Giants!

Please come to my superbowl party! 
"Secret Weapon" for potluck dinners.  It's not your "secret" anymore.

Thanks for the great info!

- Fio