ANTIPASTO STROMBOLI
SERVES 8-10
Stromboli, kissing cousin to the calzone, is an Italian wrap, a delicious pastry filled with goodies. Most often, stromboli is made with a yeast-raised dough, more like pizza dough, but I like the way puff pastry cooks up flaky, rich, and beautiful. A meaty, cheesy stromboli is the most sensible thing to do with the leftovers from an antipasto platter, but I like it so much, I don’t wait for leftovers: I start with stromboli. Serve this at your next game day party, on the sidelines after soccer, or on the buffet table at brunch. It’s savory, flavorful, and very pretty. Stromboli is a construction project, so take your time and keep chilling the pastry at every stage.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 recipe (20 ounces, 500 g) Quick Puff Pastry (recipe below) or store-bought
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 anchovies, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon grated garlic
- 8 ounces (225 g) mix of thinly sliced, Italianstyle cured meats such as salami, mortadella, soppressata, and/or capicola
- 4 ounces (113 g) sliced provolone cheese
- 1/2 cup (70 g) sliced roasted red pepper (about 1 pepper)
- 1/2 cup (100 g) chopped, squeeze-dried canned artichoke hearts in water (about 3)
- 1/2 cup (70 g) sliced large green pimento-stuffed olives (about 8)
- 3 ounces (85 g) fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes
- 3 pickled hot peppers, sliced
- 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cool water and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt)
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmigiano Reggiano
DIRECTIONS
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Lightly dust the counter, the puff pastry, and the rolling pin with flour. Roll out the dough to approximately 10 by 16 inches. Use a bench scraper or offset spatula to help lift and briskly transfer the dough to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate the dough until ready to fill.
With a fork or the back of a spoon, mash the tomato paste, anchovies, and garlic into a smooth paste. Spread the paste thickly down the center of the pastry, marking off a space about 6 by 14 inches. Layer half the cured meat, half the provolone, the remaining cured meat, and the last of the provolone slices on top of the anchovy spread. Scatter the red peppers, artichoke hearts, olives, mozzarella, and pickled peppers down the center of the filling. Sprinkle with the oregano and grind black pepper over the meats and vegetables. Drizzle the filling with the vinegar and olive oil. Beautiful, right? If the pastry has warmed during this time, pop the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so. It’s impossible to work with puff pastry when it warms up.
With the 10-inch sides at the top and bottom, use a paring knife or a pizza wheel to make four diagonal slashes 1 inch apart along each long 16-inch side, from the filling to the edge. Each strip will be about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. Fold the pastry at the top up and over the filling and do the same with the pastry at the bottom. Now, lift the left and then the right side, carrying the pastry strips up and over the filling. Starting at the top, start latticing the cut strips, slightly overlapping a bit each time. Continue like this to create a latticed effect, tucking in the last two strips. Try not to stretch the strips. Trim away any excess dough with scissors.
Get to work on the corners. There is likely to be a big lump of dough at each corner that needs to go. Gather the dough at each corner and use scissors to snip the excess. Pinch the seams together. Think rustic.
After all this handling, let the stromboli settle onto the baking sheet into a nice, plump shape, about 5 inches wide and about 13 inches long. Chill for at least 30 minutes or no more than 2 hours.
Heat the oven to 425˚F and place a Baking Steel, baking stone, or inverted baking sheet on the center rack to heat as the oven heats.
Brush the surface of the stromboli with egg wash and sprinkle on the Parmesan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until deeply browned. Watch, especially in the last 10 minutes, that the cheesy topping doesn’t burn; if it is getting too dark, tent it with foil.
Cool slightly before slicing. May be served warm or at room temperature
***
QUICK PUFF PASTRY
Makes 1 block (20 ounces, 500 g)
Puff pastry is laminated dough, a reference to the layers folded into a buttery mass. Traditional puff pastry uses nothing but flour and butter, the butter beaten flat and then folded and rolled and folded and rolled and reworked= four times, each called a “turn.” Here, in the quick version of traditional puff, the dough is made in the mixer, the folds and turns happen all at once, and it’s much less work. (If this seems difficult, it’s worth making real puff pastry once to see what a joy this version is.) I like to make a double recipe, and then cut it into two portions, freezing one for later.
I make puff with regular American-style butter because that’s what is usually in my freezer, but you can use lovely fancy butter if you wish. This pastry is all about buttery flake and flavor. In the recipes on pages 157 to 163, you’ll be most successful rolling and portioning if you remain obsessively diligent about keeping the dough very very cold, never never never smeary, and the edges of the dough block and the rolled dough very squared and even. Use the bench scraper to make those crisp edges. Be obsessive.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 16 tablespoons (226 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice and refrigerated at least 1 hour
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) cold water
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter a few cubes at a time until the dough is a collection of little bits about the size of jelly beans. It should seem dry-ish and pebbly. With the mixer still running, add the water and lemon juice in a steady stream. Mix for 30 seconds. Turn out the crumbly dough onto the work surface and, using your hands and a bench scraper, press and shape the dough into a long firm rectangle 10 by 5 inches.
Use the bench scraper to fold the dough in thirds, like a business letter, so it is about 5 by 3 inches. Turn the dough 90 degrees and reroll the dough into a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. Repeat the folding and rotating three times for a total of four turns. If the dough becomes too sticky to work with, place it on a baking sheet and chill until firm, then resume your rolling and turning.
Form an X with two long pieces of overlapping plastic wrap and lightly flour the surface. Place the tidy rectangle in the center of the plastic wrap. Wrap the dough in the plastic and, at the same time, use a bench scraper to form the squared sides of the 5- by 3-inch block. Once wrapped, use a rolling pin to gently press across the surface of the block, smoothing the top. Flip it over and do the same on the other side. Square it up again. Now let it rest: Refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. Quick Puff Pastry will keep refrigerated for 3 days or in a ziptop bag in the freezer for 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
WHEN PIES FLY guides the rolling pin novice and the experienced dough wrangler to dozens of shapes and styles of crusty, flaky, delicious treats. Barrow's well-tested, foolproof crust recipes means pie-making is fun, not scary, and her step-by-step techniques makes turning out a free-form pie practically foolproof.
WHEN PIES FLY includes many types of pastries (both homemade and store-bought), ready for the lunchbox, the dinner table, road trips, and picnics. These handy crusty offerings go from freezer to oven, and will win over everyone at the table. No one will be able to resist Sesame Chicken Hand Pies, Savory Nectarine Marscapone Tarts, Pork Pastor Empanadas, Spiced Apple Strudels, and much more. The perfect mix of nostalgic favorites and new pastry creations, WHEN PIES FLY is a wonderful dive into the world of pies in all of their forms.
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