Source: Pizza, Focaccia, Flat, and Filled Breads From Your Bread Machine
This is another recipe from Lora Brody's cookbook--Pizza, Focaccia, Flat, and Filled Breads. I changed two things from the original recipe. I used red bell pepper instead of green bell pepper, and I brushed it with an egg wash before I put it in the oven to make the crust crispy and shiny. The two of us will be eating this two more times this week and will reheat it in the air fryer. It's great with a garden salad and a glass of wine. Even if you don't make bread with a bread machine, it's good to have one just to make dough. I highly recommend having one and buying this cookbook.
This stuffed Italian sandwich takes its title from a volcano of the same name, located on an island off the coast of Sicily. When you cut it open, it oozes meat, vegetables, sauce, and cheese in lavalike fashion.
For the dough:
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup semolina flour (I didn't have semolina flour, so I used whole wheat flour)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
1/4 cup olive oil
Place all the ingredients in the bread machine following the order recommended by the manufacturer and program the machine to make dough. Check the dough about 10 minutes before the end of the second kneading cycle. It should have formed a soft but not sticky ball. Adjust the consistency with additional flour or water as needed.
For the filling:
1/4 pound mushrooms (about 6 medium to large), thinly sliced
1/4 stick unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green or red bell pepper, cored and cut into 1/2-inch squares
1 pound ground sweet Italian sausage (remove the meat from the casings)
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon coarsely-ground black pepper
1 - 14-ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
In a large frying pan, saute the mushrooms in the butter until they begin to exude their juices, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and pepper and saute slowly until the vegetables are just beginning to brown and the juice has evaporated. This will take an additional 5 minutes, more or less.
Add the sausage and cook, stirring often, until it loses its pink color completely. Drain off any fat, if necessary, and add the salt, pepper, spaghetti sauce, and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer slowly for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
To finish the stromboli:
8 ounces (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
Roll the dough to an 18 x 15-inch rectangle. Cover it with the sausage mixture, leaving a 1-inch border along the long edges. Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Starting with a long end, gently roll the dough into a log. Don't roll the dough tightly, as this will force all of the filling out the end. When there are two inches of dough left to roll, stop rolling and pull the unrolled edge of the dough up over the top of the log. Pinch it closed all along the top of the log as best you can, then transfer the log to a lightly-greased baking sheet or pizza pan, seam side down. Pinch the ends closed and tuck them underneath. Bend the log into a horseshoe shape. Cover it with a sheet of lightly-greased plastic wrap and let it rise for 30 minutes, or until it's somewhat puffy.
After removing the plastic, bake the log in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until it's golden brown. Serve hot or warm in slices.
Author's note: Substitute hamburger or turkey sausage for the Italian sausage if you like. You may also leave out or add additional vegetables. One of the most flexible of Italian dishes, stromboli was a way for cooks to use up leftover bits and pieces of vegetables and meat. To make this dish vegetarian, leave out the meat entirely, substituting black beans, or kidney beans, or additional cooked mushrooms.
