Stromboli -- Wheat-free & Low Carb

This week is finally over...yay!!! I was in the mood for "Friday night pizza" this evening...but I wanted to use up the thick meat sauce I had leftover from last night's Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce, so I decided to use it to make the next best thing -- Stromboli. Stromboli is essentially a rolled up pizza (whereas a calzone is more of a folded over pizza). There are many different variations of stromboli...many have just meat and cheese filling and you can dip, dunk or top it with sauce when you eat it, if desired. I decided to use my Easy Cheesy Baguette Bread recipe as the base for my stromboli. I have also used that recipe to make Cheesy Pepperoni Baguette Bread, and both of those turned out great. The only real difference with this stromboli was that I added my thick meaty sauce to it. I will add a disclaimer that putting your sauce inside the crust/dough does make it a little more tricky to roll up...so you might prefer to make a stromboli filled with just meat and cheese (pepperoni, salami, sausage, etc.) and then either dunk or top it with sauce when you eat it. My basic recipe for the Cheesy Baguette Bread I used for my stromboli is below -- add a bit of sauce inside if you choose to, or just serve it alongside when you eat it. If you you'd like to see a few different step-by-step photos of how I roll the dough that were posted when I made the Cheesy Baguette Bread and Pepperoni Baguette Bread last winter...click on the links above. The recipe as well as a few photos of tonight's stromboli are below. Enjoy!

Stromboli (Wheat/Grain Free)

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients

1/2 cup ground golden flax seed meal (organic golden flax has a milder taste than brown)

2/3 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Black pepper, to taste

4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Wet Ingredients

1 egg 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

2 tablespoons water (if necessary, add an additional teaspoon or 2)

Filling

1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan, etc.)
Pepperoni, salami or cooked sausage, optional
Toppings of choice (cooked diced peppers, mushrooms, onions, etc.)
1/4 cup marinara or pizza sauce, optional

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, optional

Pinch red pepper flakes, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Mix dry ingredients together; make a well in the center of the bowl and add wet ingredients; mix until a dough forms.  Let the dough sit for about 5 minutes to thicken (if the dough is still too wet or sticky to handle, add additional grated Parmesan to stiffen it up a bit). Place dough in center of a lightly oiled cookie sheet covered with greased parchment paper or foil (like Reynolds non-stick foil).  

Press the dough out with a lightly oiled rubber spatula into a rectangular shape (approximately 12" x 8").  Lightly spread with sauce, if desired (or serve with sauce after cooking). Scatter cheese and pepperoni or other meat on top of the dough; sprinkle with optional seasoning, if desired. Using a rubber spatula and lifting the long edge of the parchment paper or foil, gently roll the dough lengthwise, jelly roll fashion, until it is rolled into a tube shaped stromboli/baguette (seam side down) -- carefully rolling the dough onto another sheet of parchment or foil. Gently press the ends closed so cheese doesn't melt out while baking.  Lightly sprinkle top of stromboli or baguette with additional shredded cheese, if desired.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until done.  Remove from oven and let cool about 5 minutes so cheese set. Serve with heated marinara or pizza sauce, if desired.