The holiday season is always my favourite time of year to test out new gadgets, whether it was a surprise someone gifted me or something I eyed up during a holiday sale. Over the years, the type of gifts that get me the most excited has certainly shifted. While I still love trying out the latest tablets, headphones, and other tech items, lately my heart has belonged in the kitchen. If you’ve been following my recent posts, you already know that 2020 has been the year of building my collection of favourite appliances along with a repertoire of delicious recipes to match. After all, what better way to pass the time while staying home than by perfecting my cooking skills for when it’s safe to gather with friends and family again?
I’ve been obsessed with the versatility of pretty much every product Ninja Kitchen Canada has to offer. They always seem to take a staple household item, like a blender or a coffee maker, and turn it into something cutting-edge that allows you to make endless recipes without taking up too much counter space or needing any extra add-ons.
My favourite product of theirs at the moment is the Ninja® Foodi™ Digital Air Fry Oven. I’ve been curious about hopping on the air fryer bandwagon for years, but always felt that I wouldn’t get a ton of use—or the most for my counter space—with a traditional air fryer. I loved the idea of instead having an air fryer oven, because it allows me to cook larger items and explore more settings. In just one appliance, you can fry, roast, broil, bake, make bagels, toast, dehydrate, or simply keep your food warm.
This air fry oven is also a dream when it comes to counter space. It has a sleek design to begin with, but it actually flips up to stand against your backsplash, taking up 50% less space when it’s not being used. I hate having to constantly move things in and out of storage that I don’t use every day, so this was a huge selling point for me. Despite its compact size, it somehow still manages to beat other brands’ models when it comes to usable cooking space. It can fit a 13” pizza, up to 9 slices of toast, or 6 chicken breasts—way more than any other fryer I’ve come across!
The first recipe I wanted to try this out with is Stromboli! I absolutely love a good appetizer, but I have been trying to avoid pre-packaged finger foods from the frozen aisle and have been testing out recipes to make my own instead. Stromboli is the perfect item to test out in an air fryer oven because of its size. A regular air fryer basket couldn’t really fit one, but you don’t necessarily need your convection oven either—this is convenient whether you have other items going in the convection oven and need more space, or are just looking for a quick bite and don’t want to waste time heating the whole oven.
I love stromboli because of how easy they are to customize. You can fill them with virtually any ingredients you’d like, and they’re always a hit at parties. They’re really the ultimate comfort finger food! Here is the recipe for one of my favorites:
- Roll out your favorite pizza dough on parchment paper so it is about 10 inches long
- Spring on shredded mozzarella, sliced pepperoni, and chopped peppers and onions
- Roll the dough long-ways so all of the ingredients are tucked inside
- Set the air fryer to 350 degrees for 15 minutes, letting it preheat for 2 minutes
- Once heated, place the stromboli seam side down on the pan.
- Spray the top with cooking spray and sprinkle on garlic powder.
- Cook for the remaining 13 minutes.
- Slice and serve with your favourite pizza sauce!
What are your favourite air fryer recipes? Comment below or message me on Instagram to let me know what I should cook up next!
