Ground Beef and Pepperoni Stromboli

Valentine's Day. Fourth Valentine's without a partner. The tradition is fully formed: Jayden's cards, Chloe's cookies, heart-shaped food. This year, Chloe upgraded the cookies: red velvet shortbread with cream cheese drizzle. She found the recipe in "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" and adapted it (at TEN — she's ADAPTING recipes from professional cookbooks). The cookies were stunning. I posted them to Sarah's Table Instagram. 203 likes. TWO HUNDRED AND THREE. A Valentine's cookie post from a ten-year-old's hands, photographed by the same ten-year-old (side lighting, of course), became the most-liked post on the account. The audience is not just growing — the audience is responding to Chloe. The audience is responding to the next generation. The line has fans.

Elijah made a Valentine for Nana. A heart — red, construction paper, with stickers he placed himself (crookedly, aggressively, with the artistic vision of a toddler who believes more stickers equals more love, which: correct). He presented it to Mama and said: "Nana love." Nana love. Two words. The most important compound noun in the English language. Mama put it on her fridge. The fridge of Lorraine Mitchell is the Louvre of Mitchell family art. Every masterpiece ends up there.

Sarah's Table, February: seven orders total for the month. Revenue: approximately $1,500. After kitchen rent and ingredients: approximately $600 profit. From one day a week. From Sundays. From a side hustle in a rented kitchen with a dented Altima as the delivery vehicle. Six hundred dollars. It's not quitting-the-dental-office money. It's not life-changing money. But it's PROOF money. It's the money that says: this works. The concept works. The food sells. The table has customers. The business is not a dream — it's a revenue-generating entity that files taxes and has an Instagram account managed by a ten-year-old. The dream has a bank deposit. The dream is real.

I made heart-shaped pizza for the kids — the annual Valentine's dinner, pepperoni hearts, pink dough. Year three of the pink pizza. The tradition is locked. Jayden ate the pepperoni hearts first, then the cheese, then nothing else because the dough was pink and pink is not in the approved color spectrum. Elijah ate the cheese (orange-adjacent) and the pepperoni (also orange-adjacent). Chloe ate everything and critiqued the dough hydration, because she's ten and she has opinions about dough hydration now and I have created a person who evaluates my pizza dough and I am both proud and exhausted.

Year three of the pink pizza tradition, and my ten-year-old is now formally critiquing my dough hydration — so clearly it’s time I leveled up. This Ground Beef and Pepperoni Stromboli is where the Valentine’s pepperoni obsession goes when it wants to feel a little more intentional: same flavors Jayden and Elijah actually eat, same pepperoni Chloe approves of, but rolled into something that even a junior recipe adapter has a harder time finding fault with. Consider it the Sarah’s Table answer to the annual critique.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb store-bought or homemade pizza dough, room temperature
1/2 lb ground beef (80/20)
3 oz sliced pepperoni
1 1/2 cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella, divided
1/2 cup marinara sauce, plus extra for dipping
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 large egg, beaten (for egg wash)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp coarse sea salt or sesame seeds for topping

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly brush with olive oil. Set aside.
Brown the beef. In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef, breaking it up as it browns, about 6–8 minutes. Season with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, red pepper flakes if using, salt, and pepper. Drain excess fat and let cool slightly.
Roll the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pizza dough into a rough 12×10-inch rectangle. Transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.
Layer the filling. Spread marinara sauce evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the mozzarella over the sauce. Layer the seasoned ground beef evenly over the cheese, then arrange the pepperoni slices on top. Finish with the remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella.
Roll and seal. Starting from one of the long sides, tightly roll the dough over the filling, jellyroll-style, tucking the ends under as you go to seal. Pinch the seam firmly to close. Place seam-side down on the baking sheet.
Egg wash and score. Brush the entire surface with the beaten egg. Using a sharp knife, cut 4–5 shallow diagonal slits across the top to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle with coarse salt or sesame seeds.
Bake. Bake for 22–26 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown and the cheese is bubbling through the slits. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
Slice and serve. Cut into 6 even slices and serve warm alongside extra marinara for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Ground Beef and Pepperoni Stromboli — Because the Pink Pizza Tradition Deserves a Grown-Up Twist