Homemade Stromboli with Italian Meats, Cheeses, and Homegrown Rapini

Garden Rapini • Molten Cheese • Gabagool • Rustic Italian comfort

Ingredients

• 2/3 Cup warm water (between 100-115°F)
• Packet of yeast
• 1 or 2 Teaspoons of pure cane sugar, raw honey, or pure maple syrup
• 2 Tablespoons (30ml) extra-virgin olive oil (one tablespoon for the dough and one for the rapini)
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 Cups 00 flour or all-purpose flour
• Eggwash (1 egg beaten with some milk)
• Pizza sauce
• Italian meats (you can try different combinations)
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Sliced Provolone Cheese
• Big bunch rapini (broccoli rabe)

1
Add the sugar to the water, stir it, and then heat to between 100 and 115 degrees fahrenheit.
2
Add the yeast. Stir again and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
3
While the yeast is growing, add the flour and the salt to a mixing bowl. Stir the flour and salt to evenly combine them.
4
Mix the yeast water and a tablespoon of olive oil with the flour in the mixing bowl until it forms a dough.
5
Knead the dough on a cutting board.
6
Form into a dough ball by pulling the sides underneath it and sealing it up.
7
Rub the dough ball with a little olive oil.
8
Put the dough ball into a mixing bowl and let it rise for two to four hours in a warm area, preferably 80 degrees.
9
Saute the rapini (broccoli rabe) in extra virgin olive oil with garlic and red chili pepper flakes (or fresh chili).
10
When the dough has finished rising, roll it out in a rectangular baking tray.
11
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
12
Spoon a pizza sauce (tomato sauce or crushed tomtoes) and distribute evenly.
13
Sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese.
14
Assemble the Italian deli meats.
15
Add a layer of provolone cheese.
16
Add the broccoli rabe.
17
Brush eggwash around the perimeter of the stromboli to help make everything stick.
18
Roll it up kind of like rolling a joint and seal the edges together.
19
Put a few slits in the top for steam to escape.
20
Brush it with eggwash (egg beaten with milk).
21
Bake in the oven until golden brown, usually 15 to 20 minutes.

• My recipe is for a single stromboli, but the dough comes out better if you double it and make 2 strombolis.
• If doubling the recipe, you still only need 1 yeast packet. Everything else should be doubled.