Classic Stromboli Recipe (Easy Dinner or Quick Appetizer!)

This easy stromboli recipe is basically rolled up pizza. The classic ingredients include mozzarella, ham, and salami. It’s so good dipped in marinara! A perfect quick dinner (that kids love) or appetizer for football-watching. It’s simple to learn how to make stromboli!

How was your Labor Day weekend?? Today Eric and I were doing yard work (okay, mostly Eric. I was making Stromboli ☝) and he said he was about to take down the 4th of July bunting that I put up way back in June. Then he remembered it was Labor Day and decided to leave it up in the name of patriotism. He also pointed out that September 11 is coming up, as well as Veteran’s Day in November, so really we HAVE to keep it.

I’m the worst at taking down decorations. We still have a string of homemade snowflakes hanging up high in our living room from Christmas. IT’S SEPTEMBER GUYS. May as well just leave it up til December I guess. (Yes, I realize this is how old ladies who leave their Christmas villages up all year are born. Send help.)

There were some killer sales this weekend, was anyone else doing some shopping? I love that shopping these days consists of me sitting on my couch googling promo codes. We’re so spoiled. Actually in some ways online shopping is harder for someone like me because the choices are basically infinite. But I finally decided on buying this desk:This photo is from City Farmhouse. The desk is the same one I bought (on sale!) from Cost Plus.

It will double as a nightstand, like in the photo below. I don’t have an office.

Now my task is to find a chair that is ergonomic and somehow not hideous. Anyone have any suggestions? The two requirements seem to be mutually exclusive. I’m writing this post from my couch right now, where I always sit because I don’t have a desk. My lower back hurts, the fingers in my right hand are numb (I have tendonitis), and I have 1-2 hours of work ahead of me.

(Did you know it takes me several hours to write a blog post? Usually between 4-6 hours of computer time*, if I’m lucky. This does not include grocery shopping, recipe testing, photo sessions, or the the promotion that needs to be done after I hit publish. And that’s just posting content for you guys. Forget about all the time I spend on SEO, research, social media promotion, fielding emails, responding to comments, negotiating contracts, etc…

I know food blogging is this weird new industry that’s a little misunderstood. (“oh, you have a blog? That’s so cute!”) It makes sense that people don’t understand, and it doesn’t bother me. How long has the internet been around, anyway? How many hundreds of thousands of jobs has it created? Why would the average person investigate details about how to make money online, unless you had a reason to learn about it?)

Anyway, that’s why I need a desk space with a decent chair that is designed to be used for hours at a time. Also I need a physical therapist probably, but I can’t buy that online in my pajamas, so it will have to wait. I’ll find one right after I take down my 4th of July bunting and Christmas snowflakes.

*I just listened to this podcast from The Life Coach School about Productivity (Episode #179) and it was mind bogglingly helpful. She talks about how whatever amount of time you assign yourself to do a task, that’s how much time you will take. So the idea is to assign yourself less time and work faster. It’s well worth the listen, I’m already implementing some of her ideas. Thanks to Liz from The Lemon Bowl for the recommendation!

How to make Stromboli

Raise your hand if you’ve had stromboli?? It’s so good. It’s basically pizza that’s rolled up like a cinnamon roll. Minus cinnamon and sugar, plus pepperoni, cheese and marinara sauce. You bake it as a long roll and slice it after it’s baked. My kids loved it. It makes a great quick dinner or would be an awesome appetizer for football watching this fall. If you make it for a meal it would serve about 4 (with a couple sides, I’m thinking broccoli and a big salad) or if you make it as an appetizer then it will serves 6-8, depending on how hungry your guests are.

The fillings for stromboli are as limitless as pizza toppings. You could literally put anything in. Next time I think I’m going to try a combination style one: green peppers, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives. Yum!

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One year ago: Easy No Cook Pizza Sauce
Four years ago: Asian Salmon Burgers with Wasabi Mayonnaise
Five years ago: Mini Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Icing

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Classic Stromboli Recipe (Easy Dinner or Quick Appetizer!)

Serves 4 for dinner, 8 for appetizers     adjust servings

 Stromboli is basically pizza that's been rolled up like a cinnamon roll. The classic ingredients include mozzarella, ham, and salami. I threw in some pepperoni and pepper jack cheese just for fun. It's so good dipped in marinara! Perfect quick dinner (that kids love) or appetizer for football-watching. 

Ingredients

• 1 10-12 ounce pizza dough*
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup** mozzarella, shredded (I like to shred fresh mozz.)
• 12 thin slices ham
• 4 ounces Pepper Jack cheese, sliced
• 15-17 salami slices
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 15 slices pepperoni
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheee
• cracked black pepper, to taste
• more chopped parsley, to garnish
• marinara sauce, for dipping

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. Lightly flour a work surface or a square of parchment paper. Roll your pizza dough into a rectangle about 12 by 14 inches. I prefer to roll out my pizza dough on parchment paper, because you can just put the paper straight into the oven without trying to transfer it. 
3. Brush the top of the dough with melted butter. 
4. Sprinkle garlic over the top. You can either use fresh garlic or the kind in the jar. 
5. Sprinkle the top with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Leave a 1-2 inch border around 1 long edge and the two short ends. 
6. Top with 12 slices of ham
7. Layer slices of Pepper jack cheese on top of the ham.
8. Layer salami on top of the Pepper jack. 
9. Add another 1/2 cup mozzarella.
10. Layer on the pepperoni.
11. Sprinkle the last 1/2 cup mozzarella on top, then sprinkle with parsley.
12. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Add 1 tablespoon water. Use a brush to coat the 3 exposed edges of your stromboli (short, short, and 1 long edge) with egg wash. 
13. Carefully roll up the long edge of your stromboli, starting with the one edge that didn't get the egg wash. Roll it tightly so that it stays together. 
14. Seal the seam with wet fingertips, then roll over the stromboli so that the seam is facing down. Seal the ends with wet fingers, folding the dough underneath if there is extra. 
15. Transfer the stromboli to a baking sheet or pizza stone.
16. Brush with melted butter or the extra egg wash. Whatever is most handy. I actually used a little of both.
17. Sprinkle the stromboli with Parmesan cheese, then sprinkle with black pepper. Use a sharp serrated knife to make shallow diagonal cuts on top of the stromboli.
18. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, until the top is brown. If you are nervous that it's not done, lift an edge with a spatula and make sure the bottom is brown. 
19. Let sit for a few minutes so you don't burn your fingers off. Use a sharp serrated knife to chop into 8-10 slices. 
20. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and dip in warm marinara sauce to serve. 

by The Food Charlatan

Recipe Notes

*This links to a pizza crust that will make TWO 10-12 ounce pizza doughs. So clearly the answer is to double this recipe and make 2 Strombolis :)

**You will need a total of 1 and 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella for the whole recipe. 

One more thing, I don't think this recipe is overly spicy with the pepper jack cheese, but if you are very sensitive then just use all shredded mozzarella. 

All images and text © The Food Charlatan

If you make this recipe, share it on Instagram using the hashtag #TheFoodCharlatan so I can see it!

More delicious dinners or appetizers! <<Code for delicious things wrapped in bread.

Chicken Mushroom and Cream Cheese Stuffed Rolls << my mom used to make these all the time!

Pepperoni Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls:

Jalapeno Popper Cheesy Bread with Bacon:

More Stromboli recipes from friends:

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu Stromboli from A Dash of Sanity
Cuban Stromboli from Wine and Glue
Chicken Bacon Ranch Stromboli from Melissa’s Southern Style Kitchen