Saturday, March 3, 2012

A different kind of Reuben


This is a different, fun take on a Reuben....and super simple.

Dough
Pastrami (I just used the stuff from the lunch meat section, pre-sliced. One pkg. per reuben)
Cheese (I used swiss)
Sauerkraut
Thousand Island dressing.

For the crust, you could use any pizza dough you want. I happened to have some extra time on the day I made this, so I made my own...also super simple:
1 pkg. active dry yeast (I have a huge bag, so I used two tbsp.)
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tsp. salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups flour, plus more for dusting.

I used my Kitchen-aid, with the dough hook. In bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and warm water, stir gently to dissolve. Let it stand until it foams (5-10 min).
Turn mixer on low, add salt and two tbsp. olive oil. Add the flour a little at a time until incorporated. When it comes together, increase mixing speed to medium until it gathers into a ball. If it's too sticky, add flour 1 tbsp. at a time. If it's too crumbly, add a few drops of water.

Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until it's smooth and elastic. Form a ball and put in a lighly oiled bowl, turning it over to coat in oil. Cover and let rise for about an hour.

When it has doubled in size, turn it onto a floured surface. This is enough dough to make three pizzas, but I used it to make two Reuben loafs. Separate it into two equal balls and roll one out into a large rectangle shape. If you're only making one loaf, you can wrap the extra ball of dough in saran wrap, then again in tin foil and freeze it for later use.

Slit the sides, but leave about 4-5 inches in the middle uncut.Start layering. Pastrami, sauerkraut, cheese, dressing.
Repeat.

Then, starting with the top right strip, fold it over the sandwich stuff. Then fold over the top left strip. Continue folding over, right-left until you get to the bottom. Tuck in the expose ends and squish the dough together at the top and bottom to close up the gaps.

You can brush the top of the loaf with egg white if you want to. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Slice off a piece and enjoy!

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