My Big Leap in Baking - A Stromboli

All this while I was taking those baby steps in baking; but this time I gathered up the courage to take a big leap and try out Stromboli. A stromboli is a turnover sandwhich / pizza which is filled with various cheeses - as described by Wikipedia. This for someone like me was a big experiment as that also happen to be husband's birthday. He was working since 7am till 11pm. I decided to make something different , something special for dinner and tried out stromboli.

I opted for whatever was available in the kitchen and hence the filling was vegetarian.

THE DOUGH:

Mix one tea spoon of sugar and one tea spoon of salt in warm water. The water must not be boiling hot.
Once sugar and salt are diluted, add one and half tea spoon of dry yeast and stir the water vigorously. Keep this aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the water will be foamy and a smell will start coming out of it. This is the sign that the yeast is active now.

Mix either refined flour / Maida or Whole wheat flour or equal mixture of both in the Yeast - water mixture and kneed to a smooth and soft dough. I used one cup of whole wheat flour and one cup of refined flour each. If the dough is too sticky, put some more flour till it comes to a smooth consistency. Pour 2 tea spoons of Olive oil on the dough and kneed for 2 - 3 minutes. Now cover the dough by a clean muslin cloth and let it rest for 1 and 1/2 hours in a warm and dry place in the kitchen.

THE FILLING:

Boil 2 - 3 medium sized potatoes and mash them. Cut yellow and green bell peppers into small cubes. Saute one thinly sliced onion in some oil and add the cut peppers in it. Once the vegetable cool down add the mashed potatoes, some salt, some black pepper powder and mix well.If you have paneer, that can be used too. Similarly chicken or mutton can also be used as filling.

THE STROMBOLI:

After 1 and 1/2 hours, the dough will rise to twice the size. Put your fist into the dough to let the air out. Do this atleast 3 - 4 times. Now separate the dough into 3 medium sized balls. 2 if you like the crust thick and 3 if you prefer a thinner crust. Use a rolling pin to roll out one ball into an oval shaped roti. Maintain even thickness in this step. Spread tomato pasta sauce or mayonnaise in the middle of the oval base. Keep the sides dry. Pour the filling in the oval shape and grate a cheese cube on it. Use a butter knife or a table knife to cut the sides of the oval base. Cut diagonally about 1 inch each stripe. Now gently fold the stripes over the filling in a criss cross manner. I used a beaten egg to glue one stripe on the other. One can use milk too. 

Ready to go to oven

Now brush the beaten egg over the stromboli and sprinkle some white sesame. I forgot the sesames in the first one. 

Pre heat the oven in 200 C for 20 minutes. Place the stromboli in the baking tray over a parchment / butter paper or a silver foil. Bake it for 20 minutes at 200 C. Take it from the oven and let it cool for 5 - 7 minutes before serving. 






With my dough I managed 2 full sized strombolis and one small one. The whole house was smelling of freshly baked pizza and i was extremely excited with the result. When husband got home and on dinner table he saw these, he gaped at me with surprise and sheer disbelieve that I managed to bake strombolis at home.That was for him on his special day. That look on his face made all the effort worth. I feel more confident with the OTG now. Do try this out and share your feedback / suggestions. 

The Final 3.