Stromboli - Rocket Pesto and Mozzarella Loaf

16 March 2005

This is another entry from the book Bringing Italy Home by Ursula Ferrigno – I quite like fresh cheese but am not mad about it when it’s melted (so I often make pizza without cheese for myself!). For some reason this bread recipe, which does have melted cheese, appealed to me so I decided to give it a go. Like most Italian bread, you make Biga starter with fresh yeast first and when the dough is ready, spread the pesto, scatter the mozzarella evenly on top and roll it up like a Swiss roll. In the recipe you put Parmesan in the pesto but I skipped that bit as I didn’t want it to be too cheesy…
 


Stromboli is a volcanic island north of Sicily – this bread got its name because while baking the cheese bursts out from the bread crust. I like the chewy texture of the dough as well as the crust outside – as you can imagine, it’s almost a meal in itself and the smell of the pesto is lovely when you tear it open!
 

Food - Savoury        15 comments    Permalink

  • hi keiko - wow, this looks scrumptious! I love pesto, both classic basil and less usual rocket ones. I’d love a hunk of this for lunch!

    Posted by chika | 17 March 2005 #

  • Oh god, that looks good.

    Posted by Arthur | 17 March 2005 #

  • Yeah, I can imagine the wonderful smell. Gosh, I’m hungry!

    Posted by obachan | 17 March 2005 #

  • Keiko, would you say this is an ’authentic traditional’ stromboli? ’Coz I came across strombolis with ham and cheese stuffed inside. Just wondering ...

    Posted by celiaK | 17 March 2005 #

  • Hi Keiko,
    ’so happy I discovered your blog - your style of taking food pictures is one-of-a-kind and really beautiful... Your site gets me hungry every time I visit ;)

    Posted by Nicky | 17 March 2005 #

  • Beautiful pics.
    I would buy the book too.
    This recipe sounds fabulous!

    Posted by Dreska | 18 March 2005 #

  • Hmmm, so this is what real stromboli is like, huh? The American version is just like fold-up pizza pocket. This makes me so hungry. Thank goodness it’s almost dinner time.

    Posted by Lynn | 18 March 2005 #

  • Oh my god, I am a cheese FIEND, and often will taunt my husband by emailing him at the office to say that I ate all of his favorite cheeses in the fridge.

    I’m such a rascal. ;-)

    Posted by rowena | 18 March 2005 #

  • That looks amazing! I’m actually going to be throwing a mozzarella cheese making and pizza party this weekend. I love the rocket pesto idea, because I LOVE arugula. Can’t wait to try it!

    Posted by megwoo | 18 March 2005 #

  • Hi there, sorry for this late response.

    Chika - I love pesto too, but I usually make it without parmesan...

    Arthur - thanks!

    Obachan - can you easily get rocket at supermarkets in Japan now?

    Celia - I don’t know if this is the authentic version, but they all seem to have melted cheese as a common ingredient?

    Nicky - Thank you for visiting, I love your site too!

    Dreska - I’ve got a couple more of her books, most recipes are very simple but they work well. I like the photos in this book too.

    Lynn - I didn’t know that the American version was like fold-up pizza pocket! is it popular there?

    Rowena - oh, you are such a rascal indeed :) So does you husband fill up the cheeses every time you finish them?

    Megwoo - how was the party? How did the cheese making go? it sounds loads of fun! (I visited your site, but couldn’t find a post about it...)

    Posted by keiko | 24 March 2005 #

  • Hi Keiko, The party was great! I’m writing about it in my next saucymag.com article, so it’s not going to be on my site. How was your wild boar salami? I can’t wait to see pictures!

    Posted by megwoo | 4 April 2005 #

  • Hi Megwoo - I must check saucymag! Oh, I’m sorry we finished the wild boar salami already... It was delicious (we actually had wild boar ham as well!). Will try to take pictures next time.

    Posted by keiko | 6 April 2005 #

  • Yes! Yes! I need pictures of wild boar salami if I’m to live vicariously...

    Posted by megwoo | 15 April 2005 #

  • Wow - that looks friggin’ amazing!!

    Posted by Christiane | 16 February 2006 #

  • that looks bloody lovely!!

    Posted by ashleigh and kimberly | 29 April 2009 #

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