Summer Cheffing and Stromboli

Last summer, I was blessed to be the farm chef for a second season here at Polyface! After a summer of “firsts” the prior year, I enjoyed the reassurance of telling myself “You’ve done this all before” ...well, almost. Variety is indeed the spice of life, and nothing is exactly the same from one season to other (which I love). 

Along with a new season came a fresh crew of stewards. Getting to know them was the highlight of my summer. Whether it was lively conversations as we ate dinner together, laughing at inside jokes while we cleaned the kitchen, or dancing our feet off to the Virginia Reel, there was hardly a dull moment the whole summer. But for all the fun we had, the connection I made with these young people through quality conversations far outweighs it all.

As the season wrapped up, I decided to incorporate stromboli into one of our dinners. I guess it turned out alright because that stuff was gone by the time I got my plate. I couldn’t resist doing it a second time because the process was so fun and the team seemed to really enjoy it! 

Now, I am by no means an expert on stromboli, but let me shorten the learning curve for those of you who might be tempted to make the same mistakes I did. 

I tend to think there is no such thing as too much cheese, but trust me when I say you can overfill this thing. While my team was more than gracious and said it was perfect, you can 1). avoid a lot of mess and 2). ensure that your dough is cooked through if you don’t go ham on the filling. 

Speaking of ham, I stuffed my stromboli with Polyface ham, cheese, minced garlic, and fresh parsley. While the recipe I have included comes with specific filling ingredients, I am somewhat of a rebel who likes to modify recipes and cook with the resources I already have. 

I hope you enjoy this concept as much as I enjoyed seeing my team eat it!

Stromboli Recipe

Pizza Dough Recipe