Buffalo Chicken & Rainbow Chard Stromboli

My most favorite pizza is buffalo chicken, I just love the spicy chicken with the creamy and tangy blue cheese, like eating buffalo wings without all the mess. I recently had dinner at a good friend's house and he made us stromboli and they were so good, why hadn't I thought of doing them before? So my buffalo chicken got rolled up in a whole grain crust with grass-fed, hand-dipped ricotta made by Maplebrook Farm in Vermont. Its the best ricotta I have ever had, its incredibly sweet and creamy. I had every intention of grilling the stromboli so that they got a smoky and charred flavor, like they had been in a brick oven but my husband is the grill master and he had to work. To create this smoky flavor, without the grill, I decided to saute some rainbow chard and spring onions with a bit of liquid smoke and added smoked guava sea salt to my whole grain crust. The chard is bitter, incredibly healthy and the onions are just that right touch of sweetness, hitting all your taste buds! The stromboli is so easy to make and even easier to freeze and store for a night when you want fast food but still want healthy. The cheese oozes out and every bite is like going to your favorite pizza place, while never leaving the comfort of your home.

Makes 2 large stromboli that serves up to 4.

Ingredients

1 large homemade, whole grain pizza dough, click the link to get my recipe or buy one from your favorite local pizza place.*
2 Pasture raised chicken thigh/leg combo, you can use 2 legs and 2 thighs if your butcher or farmer doesn't sell the combo.
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp Smoked guava sea salt, or regular smoked salt.
1 tsp Fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1/2 Cup grass-fed ricotta cheese, I used whole milk.
1/4 Cup blue cheese, I used a goat milk blue made by R&G Cheesemakers, but any pungent blue works.
2 Tbsp grass-fed buttermilk
5 Tbsp grass-fed butter
1/4 Cup favorite hot sauce, I used Frank's.
1 Tbsp Jojo's siracha
1 Tbsp red pepper flakes, use less if you are sensitive to spice.
1 Spring onion, sliced.
7 to 8 Large rainbow chard leaves, chopped.
2 tsp Liquid smoke
1 Cup grass-fed mozzarella, I used part-skim I like that it has less water and holds everything together well in the stromboli.
Smoked guava salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste, again regular smoked salt can be used.
Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling over the top.
Dried Italian herb mixture, for sprinkling over the top.
1 farm raised egg

Directions

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

Make your dough and let sit at room temp to rise. Set aside.

Mix the cayenne, smoked salt, black pepper and paprika in a small dish. Sprinkle liberally over the chicken and roast the chicken in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until it is cooked through. Remove the meat from the bone and chop or shred and set aside. In a saute pan melt the butter and add in the hot sauce, siracha and red pepper flakes. Put the chicken in the mixture, cook for one minute to help the chicken soak up the sauce. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan saute the rainbow chard with salt, pepper and 1 tsp liquid smoke. Saute till they are soft and wilted, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. In the same pan melt 1 Tbsp of the butter and cook the onion with liquid smoke, salt and pepper till it is caramelized, about 7 minutes. Remove and set aside.

In a small bowl mix the ricotta, blue cheese a bit of salt and pepper, to taste, this will vary based on the salinity of your blue cheese, taste before you salt. Set aside.

Line up your cooked and prepared ingredients in an area that is big enough to roll out your dough. Flour the area and cut your dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll one piece of dough out into a rectangle shape, spread the ricotta mixture on first, you want to spread it on a little more than half. Next spread out the chicken, chard, onions and mozzarella cheese, layering anyway you see fit.

Make an egg wash by whisking the egg with a Tbsp of water. With a pastry brush, brush all the edges with the egg wash. Fold over the short sides (toward the filling) and then roll the stromboli, very tightly, like rolling a burrito. Repeat with a second dough, the other two pieces can be saved up to a week in an oiled baggie in the fridge or frozen.

Place the stromboli on a pizza stone, I use a cast iron one. Cut slits in the top with a pairing knife and brush with more egg wash. Sprinkle with smoked salt, pepper, Italian herbs and parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven or until the dough is golden brown.

Serve with blue cheese dressing for dipping or as is, enjoy!

* I substituted the sea salt for smoked guava salt in the pizza dough recipe, regular smoked salt can be used as well.