cast iron heads vs aluminum for stroked 340

Seems this question sort of gets answered and sort of not, or I haven't found the magic words to search for that comes up with an answer.

The intent - Build a stroker for the street, pretty beefy but still streetable. So it'll be a dual plane manifold (likely air-gap) deal.

To be honest, I'd prefer to "get away with" using hydraulic cam/lifters, and I'm wanting to use X or J heads as well.

It'll go to the strip every once in a while with friends, for fun. It's not a drag car.

All that said, I'm hoping to get in the mid 550's HP/TQ, which seems doable with all the right parts.

So - the question in the subject above... Can you tune up cast iron heads to work with this sort of combo... or if I'm really to hit the numbers I want, for the engine to breathe, am I going to need to part with some significant money for better heads?

While I'm asking questions, what's the deal with closed vs open?

Thanks!