Pizza Rolls

I am about to release to you all a HUGE family secret...our recipe passed down for a few generations for breadstick dough. I, however, use this dough not only for breadsticks, but for pizza dough and even used it in college to make loaves for Subway like sandwiches...it is very versatile.

It was discovered in one of my great grandmother's recipe books, handwritten. We don't know if she or my great-great grandmother wrote it down...

But everyone begs for it...and we usually say no.

However, I couldn't in good conscience share my pizza roll recipe without giving you the recipe...because its so darn easy and it would be a shame to tell you to go buy a bag of Rhodes rolls or a can of Pillsbury pizza dough when I know a cheaper, better, easier way....

So...with that preface...let's get started with the recipe for my homemade pizza rolls. My husband LOVES these. he was bummed last night that I only made a half a batch. I promised him that I would make a full batch and freeze them with the leftover mozzarella and pepperoni at the end of this two weeks so we can have them again and he can eat them until he is sick!

First and foremost...the dough recipe. If you make a full batch, you will end up with 14 rolls

1 1/2 c warm water
2 TBS yeast
2 TBS sugar

Let these ingredients sit together until the yeast bubbles. Then add"

1 tsp salt
3 cups flour (if you mix it with a wooden spoon, one cup at a time, you won't have to knead it. You will only need to bring the dough together so that it forms a uniform ball.)

Let this sit for 20 minutes to rise.

While its rising start THIS pizza sauce recipe (it is literally the BEST pizza sauce recipe I've ever found and the only one my husband likes.) The longer this sauce simmers, the better it tastes, so you want to start it now.

After you've started the sauce, you'll want to cut 14 squares of mozzarella cheese (or the cheese of your choice) they should be 1/2 inch cubes.

Next you want to take a small handful of dough (enough that you would make a 1 1/2-2 inch ball) flatten it in the middle, and then make a "sandwich" of 2 pepperoni pieces with the cheese in the middle. (If you want it to be vegetarian, you can, of course, skip the pepperoni)

 Next, you want to pull the sides of the dough around the pepperoni and cheese, being careful not to make holes in the dough. Pinch all the sides together, and place them in a greased 9 inch pie pan with about a 1/4 inch space between each roll.

 Next, take a knife and some soft butter and butter the tops of the raw dough rolls. (I know that looks like a lot of butter...I used it to top 4 of the rolls...)

 Once all the rolls are in the pan and buttered, lightly sprinkle them with garlic powder, Italian seasoning (you could just use parsley if you don't like the taste of Italian seasoning), and parmesan cheese.

 Bake them at 350 for 20-30 minutes (until they are golden on top) and Voila!

 Serve them with the sauce! Just look at that cheesy deliciousness!

What I love about this recipe: Its a crowd pleaser, its simple, and it tastes like something you would get at a pizza joint, but its MUCH healthier because you can control the ingredients. I always use skim mozzarella and turkey pepperoni. For those of you wondering, you can TOTALLY use wheat flour for the bread dough (I did all through college).  Its also not very messy. I can cut a roll up into pieces and my one year old can eat this without needing a bath afterwards because you can eat them without the sauce and they are still tasty (she devoured hers in minutes...I wish I'd thought and made the full recipe instead of half of it, because I'm sure she would have been happy to eat another one.)

Happy eatings!

Hugs and loves until next time, darlings!