October 30: Strombis! (aka Stromboli) AND My "One Day More" Remix

Today we find ourselves so near the end we can taste it. Luckily for you, you might also soon be tasting these ooey-gooey strombolis. But before we get to that...

As I sat down to type this post, all I could think is how there's only one day more and then our month will be over. And when I think the phrase "one day more," I SING the phrase because it's kind of the huge ensemble musical number in my favorite musical Les Miserables and that's how my brain works.

Sitting here singing to myself, I started changing the words to suit my blog. And, well, I was having fun with it so I ended up doing the whole thing. Which means today is your lucky day because you are getting a recipe AND a parody song in a single post and omigodwhatcouldbebetterthanthat???

Here's the plain instrumental for when you want to perform this with friends karaoke-style. (What? Who wouldn't want to do that???) And also here's my favorite cast singing it with the actual words. Ah, sweet music!

"One Day More - of Bloggy Recipes for the Month of October" 
Lyrics by Natalie Munroe 
Music: Claude Michel Schonberg (Original Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer)

ME:

One day more.

Another day, another recipe.

This never-ending road of cal-or-iessss.

The people eating all these foods

Will surely still be in the mood

One day more!

YOU:

I do not eat this much

all year.

How can I do it

in October?

ME:

One day more!

YOU & YOUR SPOUSE:

Tomorrow I'll eat more I fear,

And yet, how can it all be over?

YOUR NEIGHBOR:

One more day of yummy food.

YOU & YOUR SPOUSE:

Will we ever eat again?

YOUR NEIGHBOR:

One more day of you not sharing!

YOU & YOUR SPOUSE:

I was born to eat this food!

YOUR NEIGHBOR:

What delights I might have known.

YOU & YOUR SPOUSE:

God, I love all of those foods!

YOUR NEIGHBOR:

If you'd only ever shaaaareeeedddd.

YOUR KID:

One more day before it's gone.

YOU:

Do I try to make my own?

YOUR KID:

I should stuff some in my sock drawer...

YOU:

Shall I check on Pinterest?

YOUR KID:

If I hide it really well

YOU:

Do I try, oh do I dare?

YOUR KID:

I could hide them in a tree

ALL:

The time is now,

the day is here!

ME:

One day more!

DOCTOR:

One more day of eating junk food.

You should all be so ashamed.

Don't you care about your waist line,

all that sugar in your veins!

ME:

One day more!

JUDGMENTAL PARENTS:

Watch 'em bust their seams,

Eating all them sweets.

Never paused for green beans,

Just kept eating treats.

Here a little cake

There a cookie, too,

Most of them are sick now

Still they're feeling blue!

NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS:

One day to a new beginning!

GYM FRIENDS:

It is time to exercise!

NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS:

We'll get candy pretty soon.

GYM FRIENDS:

They'll get candy pretty soon.

NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS:

There is new junk for the winning.

GYM FRIENDS:

Add some extra crunches on.

ALL:

Do you hear the people sing?

YOU:

I will-- go on-- to make my own!

ME:

One day more!

DOCTOR (overlapping)

We will watch these people's intake

We'll watch over what they eat

We will judge on every morsel

We will monitor each sweet.

YOU & YOUR SPOUSE:

I do not eat this much all year!

YOUR NEIGHBOR:

One more day of no more treats!

YOU & YOUR SPOUSE:

How can I do it in October?

ME:

One day more!

JUDGMENTAL PARENTS:

Watch 'em bust their seams,

Eating all them sweets.

Never paused for green beans,

Just kept eating treats.

DOCTOR:

One more day of eating junk food.

We must nip it in the bud.

You will care about your waist line

Tomorrow is the judgment day

ME:

Tomorrow we will feast our last,

Tomorrow is the judgment day

ALL:

Tomorrow we'll discover what our

bathroom weight scales have in store.

One more dawn.

One more day. One. Day. MORE.

***

I don't even care that having done that makes me a huge nerd. It was incredibly fun and I have neither regrets nor regerts. (Probably because I was NOT eating a Milky Way...)

Meanwhile, you're over there like, "What just happened here? I thought there were strombolis. She's obviously on some kind of sugar high from this month of baked sugar."

I can't argue that. So let's get on with the recipe part, shall we?

I know I already gave you a very solid dinner option for tomorrow (aka All Hallow's Eve). The slow cooker meal most definitely IS your friend, and I stand by it.

That said, maybe you don't have a ton going on during the day on Halloween and/or you happen to have 35-45 free minutes to make dinner (that's total time including both preparation and bake time). In that case, I offer you this as another option. (In fact, this is also delicious reheated so, theoretically, you could make it the night before and reheat and eat then. That's an idea!)

This stromboli.

And until I discovered this recipe early last week to make as a regular dinner, I didn't realize how simple it was to make. WITH homemade dough! (Spoiler alert: it's rather easy.) I made it and everyone loved it, especially as a fun change-up to pizza. (We eat pizza once every 7-10 days here at my house because it's quick and easy and everyone likes it, but it's always homemade pizza. Many times I use a store-bought dough (my favorites are these and these) but I like control over the toppings.) I followed the directions from Carlsbad Cravings' blog--which is a fantastic blog. I've made several of her recipes and they're always flavorful, with easy-to-follow directions. She's one of my go-to bloggers for non-dessert items. I highly recommend checking out her site.

I was bummed because I was so impressed by this meal the first time I made it that I wanted to share it on here. But stromboli as "fall" food? Um...no.

Then, eureka! I saw this eyeball wrap while browsing my saved Festive October pins. The look of it reminded me a lot of stromboli's pinwheel appearance. EUREKA! I can make my stromboli look like an eyeball and it's magically transformed into Halloween fare! HOLLA!!!!

So here it is.

I followed her recipe for the crust and the process and the bake time, but I went rogue on the toppings. She put waaaaay more into her stromboli than I ever would. Below, I've listed what I used. But by all means, go see her fully-stuffed stromboli and then, when you make your own, you do you!

Pepperoni and Cheese Stromboli

Adapted from Carlsbad Cravings 35 Minute No Wait No Rise Stromboli

Stromboli Dough

1 3/4 - 2 1/4 cups of flour (start with 1 cup, then add more 1/2 cup at a time. Both times I've made it, I've used 2 cups)

1 envelope Fleischmann’s® Pizza Yeast (I found it in the baking aisle at my market. It's sold in 3s. Which is a good thing since you'll want to make this again and again!)

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup of very warm water (120° to 130° F)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 egg, beaten (egg wash)

Toppings

1/2 cup marinara sauce (I use Contadina Pizza Squeeze on the stromboli itself, but I love serving a side of additional sauce for dipping and I'm in love with the Prego Sausage and Garlic flavor)

fresh or dried herbs of your choice (I used fresh oregano and parsley from my garden)

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese

9-15 slices deli pepperoni

Garnish

grated Parmesan cheese

Garlic powder

extra pizza sauce for dipping (optional) (as I said, I LOVE the Prego Sausage stuff. It's flavored well and offers extra meat for the stromboli)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silicon baking sheet. Set aside.

2. Make the dough.

In a mixer bowl, add 1 cup of flour, yeast (straight out of the packet), sugar, and salt. 

 

Add water and olive oil. (This smells so delicious!) Mix until blended. 

The photo is mostly dark, but you can still make out the sticky texture & see it isn't in a ball yet

Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough pulls together into a ball. The dough will be slightly sticky, but should be formed and able to be handled. 

Now it's coming together

Pour dough from bowl onto a floured surface. (I used a 15x10 glass cutting board for this step both times I made this, and I found it quite helpful in the rolling step.) Knead dough for about 4 minutes, or until it's smooth and pliable.

 Use a rolling pin to roll out your dough in a rectangular shape about 10x15 inches. (This is where it was so handy to have the cutting board of the same size as my guide.) 

3. Assemble stromboli.

Top dough with 1/2 cup of sauce. Spread it out so it covers the dough but leaves at least an inch border. 

Top sauce with shredded parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, then herbs, finally topping with pepperoni.

4. Make an egg wash by wisking one egg in a small bowl or measuring cup. Brush egg wash over the un-sauced edges of dough. Then roll the dough lengthwise (like a jelly roll).

Once rolled, pinch and tuck the edges closed. Brush the dough with egg wash. Cut air slats every inch or so.  Sprinkle top with garlic powder, salt and pepper, and grated cheese if desired.

5. Bake for 15-25 minutes (mine took 20 both times) or until top is golden brown.

6. Allow to rest for 5 minutes prior to slicing. Cut right along the pre-sliced slats. If making into eyeballs, arrange onto plate preserving the pinwheel-type shape. (If necessary, pinch the ends of the slice together so that it's more rounded and less oblong.) Place a pimento stuffed olive in the center as an eyeball. 

Serve with extra sauce for dipping and place it on the plate as though it's an agape mouth.

If you make this as a non-Halloween meal, just skip the olives and pile those delicious strips of stromboli right on your plate. 

Music & a fab meal! What more could you want on a windy Monday? I can't think of anything, either.