stuffedveggies: Vegan Spinach Artichoke Stromboli


Vegan Spinach Artichoke Stromboli

This dish is a huge hit at our house. It's one of those things that looks tricky to make, but really is
super easy. And it seems unhealthy, but really it's filled with healthy ingredients.

If, like me, you usually keep no-knead refrigerator bread dough in the refrigerator, then it can be prepared pretty quickly - but looks like it took hours.

If you don't keep your own dough on hand, you can whip one up in about 5 minutes, using a recipe below. Or you can use a pound of dough from the grocery store.

I use one of these two no knead doughs - either one can be made in about 5 minutes. You can stir the dough ingredients together 2 hours before making the rest of the recipe. Or, you can prepare the dough the night before, or even days in advance, and pull it from the fridge when you need it.

My Vegan Brioche Dough

Artisan Bread in Five Basic Dough

I've tried this with both doughs, and they're both delicious. My family has a slight preference for my dough recipe in this dish. (They prefer the other one for some other dishes I serve, so they're not just biased : )

I got the idea for this filling from this Spinach and Artichoke Rolls recipe at Rabbits and Wolves and adapted it slightly. I love their blog, and recommend checking it out for this and other great recipes!

Preparing the filling is easy. These instructions make enough for 2 - 3 Strombolis, made with 1 pound dough per Stromboli.

These are the ingredients you'll need:
Firm or Extra Firm Tofu (not silken)
Oil
Apple Cider Vinegar
Salt
Pepper
White Miso
Garlic
Fresh Spinach (Frozen can sub, if that's all you have, but it's not quite as wonderful)
Marinated Artichoke Hearts
Spaghetti Sauce (from a jar)

And this is what you do:

In a Colander, place

1 Block Firm or Extra Firm Tofu

Squeeze it firmly with your hands to extract all the liquid you can.
It will fall apart - that's okay.
Place in a food processor:

Tofu (above)
2 Tablespoons Oil
2 Tablespoons Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
Pepper to taste
2 teaspoons White Miso

Whir till smooth, scoop into mixing bowl, set aside

Now, in a Saute Pan, heat
Oil (you decide how much )
1 teaspoon Fresh Garlic (I use the kind from a jar)
Then add
1 Quart (2-3 handfuls) Fresh Baby Spinach, Rinsed (not dried) & chopped
Salt & pepper
Saute till just wilted, but still bright green.

Add to mixing bowl with tofu mixture (above)

Finally, Drain & coarsely chop
1 jar Marinated Artichoke Hearts

Add to mixing bowl with Tofu & Spinach mixture (above) and stir

Now, take 1 pound of dough (enough for a loaf of bread) flour it well, and roll it into a large rectangle on a floured cutting board.

Move Dough Rectangle onto a parchment - lined pan

Dough Rolled into large rectangle, and placed on parchment, next to a roll of Baguette Dough

As you can see, I put a cylinder of dough next to the Stromboli, so we could have a Baguette, too!

Down the middle of the dough, lenthwise, Drizzle

Pizza Sauce

Drizzle Pizza Sauce Down Middle of Rectangle

Then, down the middle, again lengthwise, Spoon
1/3 to 1/2 of Filling mixture

Spoon Filling on top of Pizza Sauce

Then, with a Pizza Cutter, cut several parallel lines (creating dough strips that are attached to the center dough), perpendicular to filling, down each length of rectangle - like this.

Cut Parallel lines, perpendicular to filling. Use a Pizza Cutter.

Then, cut the lines the same way down the other side of the rectangle.

Now, alternating from one side to the other, fold the strips of dough over the filling. This makes a beautiful braided look, and is very easy to do!

Fold Dough Strips over Center Filling

Alternate Sides, each time pulling over center Filling.

Keep going, folding in from alternate sides the whole way down.

Keep going. Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect!

Keep alternating sides, and folding over the center. See the Braid Developing?

Keep going all the way to the end, folding final strips under the end of the Stromboli.

Now, allow to rest, while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Finally, slide the pan with the Stromboli into the oven, and bake for 30 minutes.

(BTW, this recipe will also work at 350 degrees for 40 minutes : )

Remove from oven. Allow to cool JUST long enough to avoid burnt mouths. Although if you can wait long enough, it's also good warm. We've never had enough left over for me to know how it tastes cold ; )