Cheese and Garlic Scape Stromboli

One of the bridal gifts Michael and I received that gets a lot of play at our house is our Breadman Automatic Breadmaker TR875. At a cost of under 100 dollars, this machine is not only affordable, but one of the more compact units on the market. It has many options: the typical bread making and dough mixing options, even options to kneed pasta, and mix and cook jams. I have made tons of bread and jams with this thing in the last couple years, and after hundreds of uses it is still going strong.

One of my favorite things to use this machine for is to knead bread dough so that I could bake it in my oven. It definitely knocks a lot of the time it would take to make dough manually, as you can just add the ingredients and set the machine to take care of the work while you do whatever you want. I pre-made pizza dough the other day and set it in the freezer for use later. I defrosted it in the refrigerator last night for use in today's dinner: Cheese and Garlic Scape Stromboli.

This is a very simple recipe, for which you could either use a dough you have pre-made a couple days ago, or fresh dough that you just made. If you don't have a bread machine or don't have any interest in kneading your own dough, using a store bought pizza dough (Trader Joes has them for about 1.00 for a two pound bag, and Pillsbury pizza dough in a can works perfect for this recipe). You can also use whatever fillings you want.

This is the bread dough I used for this Stromboli. It is a recipe that is found in the book: The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook, by Beth Hensperger.

Cornmeal Pizza Dough

(for 1-1/2 or 2-Pound Loaf Machines)

1-1/2 cups water

1/4 cup olive oil

3-2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup medium-grind yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons SAF yeast or 2-1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Place all the ingredients in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer's instructions. (I follow no particular order) Program for the Dough or Pizza Dough cycle and press start.

When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, press STOP and unplug the machine. Immediately remove the bread pan from the machine, and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.

For stromboli pizza, I cut the dough in half, use one half and store the other. If you are using another dough you would need about a pound of dough. If using the can Pillsbury pizza dough, one can is perfect and needs the least amount of handling (you'll see why in a second.)

Ingredients to assemble the Stromboli:

1 pound of pizza dough

1/4 cup of pizza sauce (I like to use Trader Joe's Pizza sauce)

about 1/2 cup of Three Cheese Pizza blend

half of a garlic scape finely sliced (this made about 2 tablespoons)

garlic powder

onion powder

dried basil

dried oregano

a little olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If using a pizza stone, place the cold stone in a cold oven and preheat them together. (always put a cold stone in a cold oven, as putting a cold stone in a hot oven may crack it in half. I speak from experience.)

If using garlic scapes, heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the garlic scapes until they are tender remove from heat and set aside. You may substitute thinly sliced garlic for garlic scapes (I just had a couple left over from the CSA).

For non-pillsbury dough, on a lightly floured surface, form the dough into a cube and then flatten to a rectangular shape. With a floured rolling pin, roll out to an 11x17 inch rectangle, or a rectangle of similar proportions. The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick at most. For pillsbury pizza dough in a can, open the can and roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surFace. It will be about a 9x13 inch crust straight out of the can, just roll it until it is about 1/4 inch thick.

Spread pizza sauce on the dough leaving about an inch on the long side of the dough free of sauce. There should be enough sauce to lightly cover the pizza dough, but you should be able to see the dough in some places. You don't want to drench the dough. Top with the cheese mix, sprinkle the spices in the amounts you desire, and spoon the sauteed garlic scapes evenly over the pizza. Brush the free edge of the dough with some olive oil. Starting with the long side of the dough that is covered with toppings, begin to roll the dough into a long cylinder, ending at the free edge. Place seam side down on a cutting board and cut into thirds. you should have three equal sized pizza rolls. Brush the tops with olive oil and sprinkle a tiny bit of the cheese pressing lightly to ensure the cheese sticks. Place the rolls directly on the pizza stone seam side down, or on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the inside dough is cooked through. Remove, and let sit for a couple minutes, and then serve.

You can always substitute whatever you want for the fillings. Use pepperoni, sausage, or vegetables. Use any kind of cheese or sauce you want. I hear alfreado sauce makes a great pizza sauce. Have fun with this!

Combinations I love:

Caramelized onion, goat cheese, and thyme (no sauce) <-- this is my absolute favorite pizza

Spinach and mushroom, and cheese (regular pizza sauce)

Sausage and Cheese (regular pizza sauce)