Stromboli -OR- Filled Bread

A couple of weeks ago, we had cousin Ty spend the week with us. When he's been to our house before, he has complained about the amount of fruits and veggies we eat (more than he would like). So I was worried about what kind of food we could feed him. I had some frozen bread dough in the freezer, so I made Stromboli - They turned out great. These recipes are from www.rhodesbread.com, but I'm re-posting them with the changes I made to them.

Braided Athenian Bread

1 Loaf frozen bead, thawed to room temperature
1 Tbsp fresh minced garlic - THIS IS WAY TOO MUCH! I did 3 cloves, but should have done 1!
6 ounce can whole black olives, halved
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons pimentos (original recipe is capers but I didn't have any)
1/3 to 1/2 cup green olives cut in half (mine were stuffed with capers)
1/4 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
poppy seeds

Roll loaf into a 10x16-inch rectangle. Let rest 10-15 minutes.

In a bowl, combine garlic, olives, parsley, pimentos, tomatoes, yogurt and pepper.

Spread filling lengthwise in a 4-inch strip down center of dough. Sprinkle filling with Parmesan cheese.
Make cuts 1 1/2-inches apart on long sides of dough to within 1/2-inch of filling. Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.

Lift braid with both hands and place on a large, sprayed baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.

Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and slice to serve.


This is the Athenian bread and the BBQ chicken before they were baked:

BBQ Chicken Stromboli

1 Loaf frozen bead, thawed to room temperature
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken ( I just used a can of chicken)
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup chopped red onion (I used a regular onion)
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (didn't have any so I skipped it)
1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Roll bread dough into a 10x13-inch rectangle. Combine chicken, cheese, onion, cilantro and paprika and mix well. Brush dough evenly with BBQ sauce to within 1/2 inch of edge. Spread chicken mixture evenly over BBQ sauce.

Starting with a long side, roll up jelly roll style. Pinch seam to seal. Place, seam side down, on a sprayed baking sheet. Turn ends under slightly. We brushed ours with egg and sprinkled with dried onion. Bake at 350°F 30-35 minutes. This one did take longer to cook than the other 2 did. I think I cooked it an extra 5 to 10 mins more to make sure the bread dough rolled in the center was cooked.



Deli Stromboli

This one was the kids favorite! I didn't even get a chance for a picture of the cooked one. They were a little flatter than I would have liked before I cooked them, but they tasted great!


1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed to room temperature
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2-3 tablespoons dijon mustard
6 slices deli ham
6 slices deli turkey
4 slices provolone cheese (didn't have it so I used some colby jack)
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

 Roll dough into a 12x15-inch rectangle. The original recipe has you saute until tender 1/4 c red onion, 1/4 c chopped green or red pepper and 1/4 c mushrooms in 2 Tbsp olive oil while the dough rests. But I didn't do that. I just used fresh green onion instead.

Spread the dough with mustard, avoiding 1-inch around all edges. Layer middle third of dough, vertically, with ham, turkey and provolone cheese. Top with vegetables and mozzarella cheese. Fold one third of dough over fillings. Repeat with remaining side.

Place seam side down on a large sprayed baking sheet. Tuck ends under and cut some vents in the top using a sharp knife. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Let rise 30 minutes. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 25-30 minutes.