Stromboli

 

1 tablespoon active yeast (or one package)

1 1/3 cup warm water

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

14-16 oz. mozzarella cheese

pizza toppings of your choice

 

 

Mix the yeast and warm water together in a large bowl.

Add the oil, salt, and half of the flour.

 

Stir with a wooden spoon until mixed. It will look like the picture below.

 

Attach the bowl to a stand mixer if you have one.

If you don't have a mixer, use a wooden spoon to mix the final 2 cups of flour. (You may have to use your hands if you don't have a stand mixer. Spray a little cooking spray on your hands so the dough doesn't stick to them.)

With the stand mixer, slowly add in 1 cup of flour at a time. Let the hook attachment do the kneading work for you. When all the flour is added, let it knead for about 8 minutes. It will look like this:

 

Remove the dough and grease the bowl with a little oil. Make sure the top of the dough gets brushed with a little oil as well. Cover the bowl with a towel.

Turn your oven on to 170 degrees for about 45 seconds. Place the dough in the slightly warm oven. (Doing this will create an environment that is just warm enough to speed up the rising of the dough, without overcooking it.) Make sure you turn the oven off after 45 seconds!
The dough will double in 30-45 minutes.

After doubled, punch the dough down and divide in half. With a rolling pin, roll out one half into as close to a rectangle as you can on a surface sprinkled with either flour or cornmeal.

Line half of the stromboli with pepperoni and cheese (or whatever other toppings you prefer). Browned hamburger is really good in this stromboli with the pepperoni, but the kids don't like it as much.

 

Fold the top half over the bottom half and pinch the dough together. Transfer to a pan that has been greased with cooking spray.

Spread a little olive oil over the top. I sprinkle mine with some pizza seasoning (oregano, garlic salt, parsley). Repeat with the second half of the dough.

Place in a 400 degree oven and bake for about 20 minutes.

Serve with pizza sauce or ranch dressing.