BRAIDED STROMBOLI
We need pizza dough, any kind of pizza dough, store bought is fine too...
My favorite pizza dough is:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 and 1/2 tsp of yeast
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 3 cups of flour
for brushing: egg white, beat with a bit of salt
as for filling, whatever you desire, I like hard salami or pepperoni, cheese and a bit of green veggies
- 16 slices hard salami
- 1 cup of mozzarella / Italian blend cheese
- 1 cup of chopped broccoli, I used frozen, thaw and squeeze dry
- jalapeno pepper, chopped
- chopped hard boiled egg
for pizza dough:
- dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water, stir until foaming, let it sit while preparing the others ingredients
- mix salt and flour, add olive oil, then add in the yeast mixture, mix and blend well
- place the wet dough on a floured surface, knead with hands until smooth and elastic, about 5 to 6 minutes, add flour if needed, little by little
- after we have a smooth dough, place it in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, let it rise for 1 hour
- deflate, then roll it on a floured surface, roll to form a thin rectangle, about 18" and 12"
- lay salami on the center of the dough, about 4" wide
- to form the braid, starting at the edge of the filling, cut horizontal toward the end of the dough, about 1"
- then start braid them, lay 1 strip from the right dough to the center, cover the filling, then overlap it with the strip from the left side, do it till the last strip
- gently pick the braid up and transfer it to a floured pan
- cover and let rise for 30 minutes
- brush the top of with beaten egg white mixture
- bake in a preheated oven, 350'F for 30 minutes until golden brown, take out from the oven, immediately brush the top with butter, lightly
