In the late 80s, when I was in high school in Knoxville, a favorite tradition was going to parties at my friend Stephanie’s house.  She had a great house with a basement and delicious party food.  She and her sister would make this Stromboli for their New Year’s Eve parties.  It was anticipated and beloved.  I remember thinking it was so cool that she was the one who made it, not her parents.

I asked for the recipe and evidently this is all I wrote down, because this is all I have in my recipe box.Not much detail was in this recipe and that sufficed for a few years… until I hadn’t made it for several years and then I couldn’t remember the verbal details that had filled in the blanks.

This is one of the reasons I wanted to post it here- to write up some more detailed instructions and have it accessible!

This Stromboli is a great party food- a crowd pleaser.  However, it’s also good for a main dish for dinner. I made it for dinner a few weeks ago and it was an easy prep and even easier clean up and we had left overs, which is a bonus, since my kids enjoy taking dinner-leftovers for their lunch to school. The recipe is really flexible, obviously – since it’s like rolled pizza and we all know that pizza toppings are limitless.  So you can ramp up the ingredients beyond this classic combination to make it more sophisticated with veggies or goat cheese or fresh herbs or fillings.

Stromboli

(one Stromboli feeds about 4 hungry eaters)

Frozen Bread Dough (Rich’s brand or the store brand)

Pepperoni

Provolone Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Italian Seasoning (a key ingredient)

1 egg

Pasta/Pizza Sauce

Follow the instructions on the package of Frozen Bread Dough for thawing.                   (The package I buy contains 5 loaves of bread.  One loaf makes one stromboli.  I think 1 feeds 4 people for a meal.  I made 3 whole strombolis for our family, knowing that we would want leftovers and have big eaters at our house! I could have made 2 and had plenty. The bonus was that I was able to share one with my neighbor and still have leftovers for lunch.)

Set the loaves in the refrigerator the day before you are planning to make them (covered in plastic wrap).

Then a few hours before preparing to serve them, take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it thaw and reach room temperature on the kitchen counter.  During that time the dough rises.  When you are ready to make the Stromboli, flour a surface and handling them one at a time, gently stretch out the dough into long rectangles.

Then fill the center with cheese, then pepperoni and then another type of cheese and a good sprinkle of Italian Seasoning. (Of course, you can fill it with any other pizza toppings that you would like- we are thinking about deli sliced ham next time.)  Then stretch one side over the toppings and then the other side, overlapping to close the dough.Wet your fingers and use the water as “glue” to get it to stick.  Then flip it over, so that the seam is underneath (this will help prevent it from opening during the bake) and gently place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush egg over the top of the entire Stromboli and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and a little Italian seasoning.

Bake at 350 degrees as directed on the bread package- about 20 minutes or until bread is golden brown and firm to the touch.  (You want to make sure it is fully baked throughout.)

Slice into 2 inch slices and serve with your favorite Tomato Pasta Sauce for dipping.

Please your crowd for a party with this and perhaps 30 years later they will still have happy food memories or make a weekday meal feel like a party this week by rolling some up for dinner!