Strombolini

don't be fooled by its ugly appearance... this baby tastes AMAZING

I just finished the longest exam I ever took on US securities law (Waddup Prof. Steinberg!) It was a take-home exam that took me three whole days to write, non-stop. For the last six hours of writing I listened to Shakira's "This Time for Africa" song so many times that I had to stop myself from unintentionally writing waka waka eh eh in my exam. 


"What did you eat while you were writing non-stop?" you may ask. Excellent question. 
I made strombolini. Sometimes I find a recipe online that gets stuck in my head and won't leave me alone. I think about them while I'm spacing out in class and before I go to sleep at night. This is one of those recipes. I found it while cruising the Fresh Loaf website, and before long I was thinking about all the different fillings I could make it with. 


The dough is really simple- you just mix everything together and knead it till smooth. Let it rise, roll it out into a rectangle and fill it with anything.... Don't roll the dough out too thin like I did or the dough will break when you roll the strombolinis up. 


I spread mine with tomato paste and some vegetables that I took out from a soup I was making (before I poured the water in)- caramelized leeks and onion, and roasted peppers, and cheese. Yum. You could really fill this with anything though- sausages/salami and mustard, any combo of veggies and cheese, or artichokes, olives, etc etc. Delicious!!! Trust me, they don't look like much but that didn't stop me from eating three in one sitting (please ignore my sheepish expression). 

Oreganato Bread- courtesy of "dstroy" from the fresh loaf

4 C flour
3/8 C polenta or corn meal- thats a little under half a cup
2 tsp granulated garlic or 2 T crushed fresh garlic
3 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp black pepper
1 T instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 - 1 3/4 C water

Mix all the dry, add water and mix, then knead it for approx. 10 minutes. Let it rise for 1 1/2 hours.Roll it out flat into a rectangle and top with any of your favorite toppings. Roll it up jelly roll style and slice it into 1 inch thick slices. Let rise for 1 1/2 hours then bake for 30 minutes at 350.