Screamin' Sicilian Stromboli = Love, Italian Style

Hope everybody is doing well this (hot) Thursday! After finishing my last post I realized that I need to expand my horizons, that I'm limiting myself by only posting about full meals, either homemade or purchased, and that I should include any and all foods that I enjoy. That being said, I wanted to share my experience from last night with the Screamin' Sicilian "Mambo Italiano" Stromboli.

Screamin' Sicilian "Mambo Italiano" Stromboli

Let me first say that, next to Asian, Italian food is probably my favorite. First of all, they put cheese on EVERYTHING (as I've mentioned before, I love, LOVE cheese). Secondly, my fiancé is partly Italian, and he can make some incredible Italian dishes, so that definitely helps. Finally, after binge-watching "The Sopranos" on Amazon over the last few weeks, we have both been extra-obsessed with all things Paisan (little inside joke if you are a fan of the show - and while I'm mentioning it, RIP James Gandolfini).  Chris and I especially love strombolis, those little heavenly pillows of Italian bread stuffed with meat and cheese. We used to get this one brand from Harris Teeter but I haven't been able to find them anywhere here in Mooresville, so when we found the Screamin' Sicilian kind, we were extremely excited (possibly a little too much so). We had already tried several of their pizzas and loved them all, so I had high hopes for their strombolis - and with good reason!

We had picked out the Mambo Italiano version, which is filled with Italian meatballs and pepperoni and Mozzarella, Parmesan, ricotta and Romano cheese. The come two to a box, and each one is fairly hefty, which was perfect because there was no way I was sharing (not even with Chris)! The directions say to preheat the oven to 400 and bake for 12-15 minutes. As soon as we opened the package, we got a whiff of wonderful Italian herbs and spices (as you can see from the second photo, they were sprinkled with oregano and parsley and other herbaceous goodness), and, as the stromboli baked, the aroma only got more intense. It took a little longer (probably closer to 20 minutes, but then again, we only set our oven to 350 - we prefer the "low and slow" approach), but the wait was definitely worth it. A little bit of the cheese had oozed out of the middle and was bubbling when we set it on the plate, making my mouth immediately turn into Niagara Falls.  

I prefer to use a knife and fork with these due to the dripping globs of cheese, and also to better pace myself - otherwise I would eat the entire thing in about two minutes flat! As soon as I sliced into the stromboli I could see the steam coming out the top and smelled the most amazing combination of meat and cheese. The first bite was absolute heaven. The bread on the outside was chewy and dense, the meatballs were tender and flavorful, and the four cheeses had melted perfectly. The end result was a delicious savory turnover that bested all others that I've tried.  I closed my eyes and chewed, wanting to savor every mouthful. When I finally dared to open them again, I looked over at Chris and was delighted to see that he had the exact same expression on his face. We chewed in silence for the next few minutes (Netflix had the new season of "Orange is the New Black," but our main focus was definitely what was on our plates over what was on TV), and the only other sound was that of our forks and knives eagerly scraping the plates while we shoveled bites into our mouths as if we hadn't eaten for weeks. Something about the flavor was addicting, like I just couldn't get enough. Despite trying to take my time, I finished the entire thing in about 5 minutes, and Chris followed suit shortly after.

I have to say that we tend to be skeptical of frozen dinners - don't get me wrong, there are definitely some quality frozen foods out there, but we are fairly picky about the ones we purchase. Screamin' Sicilian has hit another home run with these strombolis. Had I not previously known that they were frozen, I probably would't have guessed. There was none of that typical cardboard flavor or texture that is indigenous to frozen sandwiches and pizzas, and the ingredients tasted fresh, not preserved. There was something comforting and familiar about these, and while I can't put my finger on exactly what it was, we were both thoroughly impressed and will DEFINITELY be making another trip to the store while they are still on sale (Harris Teeter has the two-packs for $5.99 - best six bucks I've ever spent!).

Today I'll leave you with a quote from Wolfgang Puck: "Italian food is all about ingredients and it's not fussy and it's not fancy."

Couldn't agree more - as long as it tastes good, it doesn't have to be [fussy and fancy].

Have a great day! =)