Stromboli (strom-BOH-lee) – a type of turnover made from Italian bread or pizza dough, filled with cheese, Italian meats such as salami, and/or vegetables. A stromboli is made with a square shaped pizza dough that is topped with any pizza toppings and is then rolled into a log and baked.

If you haven’t heard of stromboli (maybe you’re not from the Northeast and/or not Italian, and/or didn’t read last year’s stromboli story), that’s OK. What you need to know about our Christmas Eve stromboli competition is that anything goes, as long as it can be sprinkled over a square piece of pizza dough and rolled into a log, and as long as it is delicious.

We had a total of four kids and five adults creating stromboli; another three adults volunteered themselves as tasting judges. The ground rules were this: Come up with an idea for a stromboli filling. Prep your filling, lay it out on a square piece of dough, wrap it up like a jelly roll, line it up with the rest of the stromboli in the oven, and prepare to be judged.

The stromboli, prepared by competitors ranging in age from 4 to…er…let’s just say seniors, covered a wide range of styles. The entrants included:

1) Onion, potatoes, salami, and tomato (Chef Joe)

2) Spaghetti, bacon, and mozzarella (Sam, age

3) Spaghetti, tomato sauce, and mozzarella (Lily, age 6)

4) Reuben (corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing) (Dave)

5) Hawaiian (ham, pineapple, and tomato sauce) (Zach, age 4)

6) Mediterranean (olives, onions, peppers, and oregano) (Luke, age 7)

7) Ricotta cheese, spinach, sundried tomatoes, and pine nuts (Jeanne)

8 ) Italian sausage, pepperoni, peppers, cheese, and tomato sauce (Larry)

9) Cubano-boli (thinly sliced roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard) (Sara)

Now here’s where things got a little sticky. The judges ranked each one on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best. But some judges had hinted ahead of time that they could be bought. And there was some heavy lobbying going on. So we can’t be too sure how pure the judging process was. But anyway, the winner was…The Cubano-boli. The honors for most creative went to the Reuben-boli.

The prizes? These two incredible trophies. Who wouldn’t want one of these? Fortunately, there’s room on the big one to engrave the name of the winner on it year after year. So it looks like the challengers will be back for Stromboli Bowl 2012.

Basic Stromboli Recipe

(based on Kitchenaid pizza dough recipe)

1 small package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Stromboli fillings such as thinly sliced meats, cheese, tomato sauce, or other fillings of your choice

In mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Attach dough hook to mixer and mix on low speed for one minute. Continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans the side of the bowl. Continue mixing on low speed for two minutes. Remove dough and place in greased bowl, cover with a towel, and put the bowl in a warm, dry place. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, about one hour.

Remove dough from bulk, punch it down, and cut it into four pieces. On a large floured surface, gently press out each piece of dough into rectangles about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Place stromboli fillings in the center of the piece of dough, leaving about 2 inches of space at the top and bottom, and about 1 inch on each side. Carefully roll the dough like a jelly roll, from bottom to top, until the dough forms a log. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 4 stromboli; serves 8.