Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Braided Spinach Stromboli

I was introduced to this recipe by a friend in college and I'm still making it!  Hows that for an Endorsement?

INGREDIENTS
Pizza Dough (I'm not gonna lie, white is better, but I made it with Whole Wheat like a good little girl)
18 oz Frozen Spinach or a TON of fresh spinach (of course, it's a topping, so use however much you like but remember it shrinks up a lot as it bakes)
20 oz Ricotta Cheese
~1/2 c. Grated Parmesan or Romano
Shredded Mozzarella
Minced Garlic
Italian Seasoning

- After you've made your dough and let it rise once, punch it down and roll it out into a broad rectangle (so it's almost a square) and set it aside.  If you're baking on a sheet pan, you can probably roll it out on it, but beware of non-stick because you're gonna have to cut on whatever you roll it out on.  I bake mine on a pizza stone, so i prefer to cover my wooden peel with sprayed foil (for ease of transfer, corn meal never does the trick for me) and roll it out on that.

- If you are using frozen spinach (which is actually best in this instance), it needs to be thawed and drained of excess liquid within an inch of it's life.  If you're using fresh spinach, you can either steam & drain it or leave it fresh.  If you leave it fresh, it will wilt as it bakes, but it's a pain to deal with and the texture will be a tad off. That being said, I used fresh spinach in the pics below because it's what I had.
- Mix together the Ricotta with enough grated cheese to absorb any excess liquid then mix in garlic & Italian seasonings to taste.

- Spread the cheese mixture down the middle third of the dough.  Then layer on the spinach & then the mozzarella cheese.

- On both sides, cut tabs into the dough.  It doesn't matter how many, just that there are the same number on each side and they are at least an inch wide.

- Cross the tabs over, one from the right then one from the left until the Stromboli is sealed.  The above pic isn't necessarily the best example (fresh spinach really distorts things) but usually it's quite pretty.
- Bake @400 until golden brown.

1 comment:

  1. Hello! My name is Felicia Lauer, and even though we barely met, we went to Grove City College together(I was a year behind you). I am married to Stephen Lauer, if you remember him. I clicked on the link for your blog on Cristy Carr's, and I have really enjoyed reading your material! It is clear both from your blog title and content that we share a love of from-scratch cooking and housewifing! I hope you will check out my blog, which is mostly recipes and cooking musings, at felicialauer.wordpress.com. May I add you to my blogroll? By the way, that stromboli recipe looks delicious and I will definitely try it! I hope you are enjoying the Lord's richest blessings in marriage and being a wife, and I hope to mutually enjoy one another's ideas on our blogs!

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