Easy Vegetarian Stromboli - Rolled Up Pizza

Love PIZZA? Then you need to try this Stromboli for sure! A bread made from scratch filled with some delicious sauce, cheeses and vegetables and baked to perfection.

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A great recipe for weeknight meals or appetizer for parties; Stromboli has been a favorite here for really long.

Long golden brown log of bread filled with vegetables, sauce and cheese; Stromboli is a super customizable dish that is easy to make and always delicious!

I was introduced to Stromboli at a local eatery that served a SUPER loaded version of it. Served with marinara sauce on the side, I have to admit I often choose this over pizza!

What is Stromboli?

Stromboli is essentially a pizza in a different form. The BEST way to describe it is to say that it is in reality a rolled up pizza.

The dough and sauce used for this Stromboli is the same as that for pizza.

The toppings of the pizza become the fillings here.

From cheese and meats to vegetables; everything is PERFECT to add to the stromboli. In fact, you can always change up the fillings and get a different version of the same dish!

Once the dough is filled and rolled, it needs to be baked till golden brown. Top it with some seasoned butter or brush some egg wash before doing so.

Once baked, it is cut into slices and served alongside some marinara sauce.

What you need to make Stromboli?

Dough- For this recipe of Stromboli I have used the same dough I would for pizza.

It is a mix of flour, yeast, salt and unsalted butter. I mixed it using a stand mixer and gave it one rise in the Instant Pot.

I made two strombolis using the dough but you can choose to make some garlic sticks or focaccia using half the dough too.

The leftover dough can be frozen to make something another day too.

Stromboli can be made using store bought pizza dough too.

Sauce- Store bought or homemade sauce work in the recipe. I used this one for my recipe.

Swapping marinara for alfredo or pesto sauce is also an option.

Use only a little sauce so that the stromboli is not super wet or soggy. You can skip the sauce and serve it as a side too.

Fillings- I added onions, peppers, mushroom and spinach in the stromboli. I used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella cheese.

Adding meats or other vegetables like broccoli, corn, basil etc works too. Just make sure the stromboli is not over stuffed.

Seasoned Butter- I like to top my Stromboli with a mix of butter and herbs. I used chili flakes, oregano and garlic powder to season my butter.

I topped the baked Stromboli with some dried parmesan cheese. This step is optional.

Using the Instant Pot to proof the dough

For all my bread recipes I like to use the Instant Pot to proof the dough.

The main reason is that I have to wait for the same amount of time while baking my breads instead of checking every few minutes if the dough has doubled.

The yogurt mode on it's lowest power works perfectly for proofing any dough in any season.

If you do not have an instant pot, let the dough rise in a warm spot till it almost doubles for about 60-90 minutes.

Tips to get it right each time

While this recipe is pretty straight forward, here are a few thing to keep in mind.

The fillings for the recipe can be changed as you like but increasing marinara sauce to anything over ¼ cup might make the dough soggy and impossible to work with.

I used Instant Yeast in the recipe. Active dry yeast can be used too. Just bloom it before adding it to the flour. Take 2 ¼ teaspoon of yeast per 3 cups of flour.

Stick to drier ingredients like fresh vegetables vs canned and mozzarella cheese vs ricotta cheese for this recipe.

Leave about ½ inch on all sides while adding the sauce. This aids in easy rolling of the dough.

Swap regular cheese for Vegan cheese and butter for Olive Oil to make the recipe Vegan.

Serving suggestions

Once the dough is made, filled and baked, now it time to see what to serve this with.

Marinara is the perfect sauce to enjoy this with. Cheese and a tomato based sauce are a match made in heaven!

I like to serve mine with some soup or stew. Minestrone Soup, Broccoli Cheddar Soup or Roasted Butternut Squash Soup works well with the recipe.

Serving it with a pasta like Balsamic Caprese Pasta Salad, Bow-Tie Pasta in Pumpkin Sauce or Peas & Asparagus Stuffed Jumbo Shell Pasta works well.

Difference between Stromboli and Calzone

Quite often there is a discussion about how similar Stromboli and Calzone are.

While both are similar to pizza in many ways; they are different in the way they are made and their origins.

Stromboli or pizza roll originated in Philadelphia, USA while the Italian Calzones are from Naples.

A calzone is essentially a hand pie made using pizza dough. It is rolled out, filled and folded over into half. These are then baked and served as individual portions.

Calzones can easily accommodate wetter ingredients like lots of marinara sauce and ricotta cheese. These would be difficult to handle in a stromboli.

Both of these are brushed with egg wash or melted butter before baking to get a golden crust.

Steps to make Stromboli

1- In a large bowl add flour, unsalted butter, salt and instant Yeast.

2- Add warm water and mix well using a stand mixer or with your hands. Bring everything together and make a soft and smooth dough.

3- Cover the dough ball with some oil or butter and place in the instant pot. Set the mode to yogurt (low) and time to 60 minutes.

4- Once the dough rises and doubles, remove it.

5- Meanwhile, add garlic powder, chili flakes and oregano to softened unsalted butter. Mix well and set aside.

6- Divide the dough into 2 parts and place one part on a baking mat and roll out into a thin rectangle of 9*13 inches.

7- Spread the marinara sauce onto the dough, but leave ½ inch on the edges to prevent the sauce from oozing out.

8- Spread onions, pepper, mushroom and spinach leaves in a thin layer. Top with some mozzarella and cheddar cheese.

9- Tightly roll the dough along the longer side making sure the fillings do not slide away.

10- Pinch and seal the edges and ends. Make a few cuts on top. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

11- Brush the seasoned butter on it and place in the preheated oven.

12- Bake for 22-25 minutes and serve sliced.

Yield: 2 Strombolis

Author: Smruti