The Best Stromboli Ever

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And now, here's another recipe from my WordPress blog:

Last week, I made the best Stromboli that Scott & I have ever had. No, seriously, it was THAT good. And because I want you to share in the delicious goodness of Stromboli, I'm sharing my recipe with you here. Keep in mind, though, that good Stromboli (and pizza, for that matter) has a lot to do with adding the fillings (toppings) that you enjoy. That is the first step to making the best Stromboli YOU'VE ever had.

Becky's Stromboli

(The crust recipe is from our Kitchen Aid Mixer cookbook and contains my additions.)

1 package active, dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
2 1/2-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbs butter, melted
3 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp dried basil leaves
1 tbs cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Use a dough hook and mix on speed 2. Next, add the remaining flour, butter, garlic powder, & basil leaves. Continue to mix the dough on speed 2 until dough starts to clean the side of the bowl. (I did have to add a little water because the dough wasn't sticking together. A lot of the powdery ingredients were still at the bottom of the mixing bowl. The amount I added was less than a 1/4 cup. If you need to add water, add just a little until all of the dough is staying together.)

Place dough in a greased bowl (I just spray a container with cooking spray) turning to grease the top. Cover. Let rise in a warm place free from draft, about 1 hour. Punch dough down.

Preheat the oven to 450* Brush a 14" pizza pan with oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Press dough across the bottom of the pan. (Let me be truthful, I have NO idea how big my pizza pan is. I pressed the dough as flat as I could because if you don't, the stromboli crust gets to be VERY thick, and you get a lot of crust with very little filling at the ends.)

Now comes the fun part: toppings! I like a lot of toppings on my pizza and the same goes for stromboli. Each half of this particular stromboli had slightly different toppings because of our different tastes. First, I put a thick layer of sauce on half of the crust (P.S. I LOVE a lot of sauce on my pizza, stromboli, & pasta, for that matter...). Then I sprinkled it with shredded mozzerella. We also had recently purchased a TON of lunch meat, so I added a layer of ham. On Scott's side, I put a layer of hard salomi. I followed the salomi with a layer of American cheese singles for both of us. After that, I also did a layer of pepperoni for both of us. (Scott's layer of pepperoni had no gaps. He really likes pepperoni, so I covered his half, overlapping the pepperoni a little!). I added more shredded mozzerella and put mushrooms on my side.

Once you've added as many (or as few) toppings as you would like, take the other half of the crust and pull it over your toppings. Pinch the ends together. (I took a knife and made an "x" on Scott's side so I would know which was which.) Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. (I usually only bake for 15 minutes, no more than 17.)

Enjoy! :)