Sausage, Roasted Red Pepper, and Spinach Stromboli

This, my friends, is what a “what-do-I-have-in-my-cabinet-that-I-can-make-dinner-from-without-going-to-the-store” meal gone surprisingly right looks like:

I’m only tooting my own horn because usually those kind of meals turn out okay but rarely ever noteworthy.  This Stromboli, however, was really delicious so I wanted to share the recipe.  I love that it’s a meal you can make ahead of time and just pop in the oven when dinner rolls around as well.  (I did everything but bake it in the morning, so if you do that, just cover it with plastic wrap after you have it on the pan and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake it.  I don’t brush it with egg white until I’m ready to bake it either).

Ok, so here’s what you need.

Stromboli Dough:
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water, divided
3 cups flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

The fillings:
1 (15oz) can Muir Glen Organic Pizza Sauce (Don’t get another brand, seriously.  It’s so rich and a lot of what makes this so good.  Even WalMart carries it).
1 cup fresh spinach
1 onion, sliced thin
2 Italian Pork Sausages (I used these)
Roasted Red Pepper, chopped (Usually jarred in the section with the olives)
Shredded Cheddar
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
Mix yeast with 1/2 cup warm water and let sit for 5 minutes.  Add water, olive oil, sugar, salt and flour (1 cup at a time) and mix well until the dough forms a ball.  I use a stand mixer fitted with a bread hook which makes this really easy.  Knead well and return to bowl.  Cover and let rise 30 minutes.  Punch down and let rise 30 more minutes.

While the dough is rising, slice your onion and sausages thinly.  I used a food processor with the slicing blade to make this really fast and easy.  Slice your sausages so they are circular pieces like pepperoni.  In a large, non-stick skillet caramelize the onions in a bit of olive oil (I like to add a bit of vinegar too).  When onions are almost done, add the sausages and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until fragrant and heated through.  Set aside.

Flour a surface on your countertop and place your ball of dough on it.  Using a floured rolling pin, roll out into a rectangular shape until it’s about 1/4-inch thick.  Top with about 1/2 to 2/3 of the can of pizza sauce leaving 1 inch edge around the dough.  Reserve rest of the sauce for dipping.  Top evenly with spinach.  Layer on onions and sausage.  Add roasted red pepper.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and Cheddar.  Go easy on the fillings so you can roll it up!  Roll it and press ends to seal.

Move Stromboli carefully to a baking pan with a piece of parchment paper on it (so that it doesn’t stick).  At WalMart I find parchment paper in the craft section in the cake decorating aisle.  Try it.  Once I did I was obsessed.  Great under oven fries, cookies, etc.  Nothing sticks to it.

Use a sharp knife to cut 3 slits in the top of the Stromboli to allow steam to escape.  It looks kinda fancy too.  Brush with egg white or melted butter.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.  Serve with reserved pizza sauce (warmed) and/or garlic butter dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

Try varying the filling ingredients according to what you have on hand.  These are just things I happened to have on hand that went well together.  I always have organic flour, canned pizza sauce, and a big jar of yeast in the fridge so I can always fall back on homemade pizzas, Calzones, or Stromboli.

Oh and if your kids are just sauce and cheese kind of pizza eaters like mine, I just add fillings 3/4 of the way in the Stromboli and leave 1/4 with just cheese for the kids so I only have to make one meal.