Pre-Stromboli research

The Mall Stromboli
I think the name of the restaurant was Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen

Back when we were doing last minute wedding shopping, we stopped at a mall restaurant and bought what was labeled as "Stromboli" for the ride home.  The filling options were the same as their pizza toppings.                                                                                                                         
Prince CuddleBunny's had sauce, pepperoni, and cheese.  Princess Artiste and I opted for a combination that featured spinach and feta.  We were always going to try making some, and Prince CuddleBunny reminded me of that this week when, just a half hour before dinner time on Wednesday, he requested it for dinner.  Too late to try.

Since our usual pizza night was substituted by a staff "Tailgate Party" (barbecue) at the high school football game, I thought Saturday night could be "Stromboli Saturday" this week, using the dough I didn't use on Friday.  That meant that I had a little investigating to do during the day Friday to see if I could get an idea of what I needed to do and have on hand to make that happen.

Image from Wikipedia...
Which also tells me
Stromboli is of American origin

According to my internet research Stromboli is actually a little different than what we'd had.  It's supposed to be pizza dough rolled into a square, topped with sauce, meats, and cheese, then rolled into a log... So when sliced it looks sort of like a cinnamon roll with the crust spiraling through it.  The ones we had from the mall (shocked to learn that mall food might not be culturally authentic) were surrounded in crust, but had only the fillings inside.  I wanted to stick with that idea, as I didn't want a dinner item that was such a high percentage of bread.

Calzone image from Northendpizzeria.com

I wondered if maybe what I wanted to make, then, was Calzone.  I thought that a Calzone was pizza toppings enclosed when half the crust was folded over the other side and sealed on the edges.  I was partially correct.  I had the folding and sealing part right, and the fillings can be the same as tops pizza.  But the sauce is served beside or on top after baking, not included inside.

Some of you with Italian backgrounds or in areas where Italian foods are readily available are probably amused that this was all news to me.  But maybe I have some readers that are in my same boat.  I think what I'm probably going to make is more of a "Pizza Pocket."  I will show you...whatever it ends up to be.