Spinach Stromboli

Weekend dinners invariably include pizza (homemade or otherwise). After cooking dinners all week long, I feel entitled to a night off. Normally pizza night is a welcome respite, even if it is homemade. Assembling pre-made dough, marinara sauce previously made and waiting in the freezer to be thawed, and toppings is just as easy as walking down the block to the pizza joint. But tonight, I just was not feeling it. I wanted the ease of pizza night, without the pizza. The solution was pizza's cousin, stromboli. I had never made one before, but I had eaten one before and so I thought that qualified me to create one. 


Spinach Stromboli 

1 package frozen whole wheat pizza dough, thawed

1 cup marinara sauce (my recipe is here); or use store bought

2 T olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and well drained

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (or 4 oz. mozzarella + 4 oz. cheddar)

1 egg, lightly beaten, + 1 few tsp water to thin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano (or basil)

If you are making the marinara from scratch, make this about 30-60 minutes before you are ready to assemble the stromboli. 

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion and garlic. Sautee just until the onions start to become tender. Add the spinach and cook another 3 minutes or so. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Roll out the pizza dough into a rectangle shape, about 10" x 14". Spread the marinara over the dough evenly, leaving about a one inch border around the edges. Add the spinach mixture evenly over the marinara, and sprinkle with cheese.

Starting from one of the short ends, roll the dough into a jelly roll shape and press the seams of the dough together to seal, folding the end pieces over as well to seal the entire roll.

Beat the egg with a tsp or two of water, to thin, and brush the egg wash mixture all over the stromboli. Combine the garlic powder and dried oregano in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the stromboli. For an added bonus, sprinkle any extra cheese you may have on top as well (parmesan would be great if you have it) 

Place on a baking sheet and cook for 25-30 minutes until done. Serve with extra marinara sauce for dipping.   

The result was delicious, however there was an important lesson learned: lay the rolled stromboli SEAM SIDE DOWN on the baking sheet before baking. I neglected to think about this step, being my first crack at this dish, so about 20 minutes into baking my stromboli began to split apart at the top.