What is the Cookbook Challenge? I will be cooking and posting at least one recipe from an cookbook every month in 2011! My friend Cassie challenged some of her friends to cook at least one recipe a month from an actual cookbook. Since all of us usually cook recipes from various websites, our lovely cookbooks often are neglected! So...here's January's cookbook attempt #1:
(Here is the book's exact recipe. I made some modifications... read below to see!)
Stromboli
from Joy of Cooking
Yields two 12-inch stromboli
Ingredients:
-2 1lb packages of refrigerated pizza dough
-1/4 cup of Marinara sauce (see below)
-10 oz sliced provolone
-6 oz sliced salami
-4 oz sliced pepperoni
Preparation:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Place dough on baking sheets and let rise for 20 minutes.
-Use fingers to spread dough out to cover the baking sheets.
-Spread dough with divided marinara sauce
-Top with divided provolone, salami, and pepperoni
-Starting from a long side, tightly roll each rectangle up into a 12 in. log. Pinch ends closed and place logs seam side down on baking sheets.
-Bake stromboli until firm and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
-Cut into 1 inch slides and serve hot or at room temperature.
Marinara Sauce
from Joy of Cooking
Yields 2 1/4 cups
Ingredients:
-2 lbs ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped OR 28 oz canned whole tomatoes with their juice
-1/3 cup olive oil
-3 garlic cloves, halved
-6 sprigs basil
-6 sprigs parsley
-Salt & Pepper
Preparation:
-Combine ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
-Simmer, uncovered, crushing the tomatoes with the side of a spoon to break them up.
-Once the sauce is thickened (about 10 minutes), pass through the food mill and season with salt & pepper.
We served this meal to a group of friends that we get together with every Friday night for yummy food and good fellowship. Everyone LOVED these.. there wasn't a single crumb left.
However...I made a few changes that I think made the recipe taste better.
Modifications:
-I didn't know whether to use white or wheat dough. I made one of each, and we all agreed that the wheat dough was much better. It held everything together much better than the white dough.
-The recipe calls for more salami than pepperoni, but we really love sliced pepperoni! So, we used more pepperoni than salami.
-We added some sliced mozzarella to the provolone to give it a more "pizza-y" flavor.
-I used a LOT more marinara sauce in the dough. Like 1/2 a cup in each stromboli. Then, I put the extra marinara sauce in a gravy boat for people to pour over their stromboli. Also a big hit.
-I added diced green bell peppers to the marinara sauce. In my mind, the recipe was begging for more greens and that's how I got them in. It added some extra flavor to the sauce.
-I definitely used the canned tomatoes option... much easier for a weeknight meal.
-We don't have a food mill, so I just dumped the sauce into our blender and blended it.
Verdict: An easy and delicious meal to make!!! We will definitely make this meal many more times :)
The Experts
The Cast of Characters
As you can see, I used a fair amount more pepperoni than salami.
Also alternated provolone & mozzarella
Simmering Marinara Sauce
Yummy, gooey wheat stromboli
Delicious :)
Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!
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