If you’ve made a giant batch of Easy Artisan Bread, and you’re wondering what to do with all that dough, this Pizza Rolls recipe is for you. 🙂 One of the reasons I like making a large batch of easy artisan bread dough is because I can keep it in the fridge for a week and pull off some dough whenever I want to make bread, pizza, calzones, or in this case Pizza Rolls. You can use any kind of pizza toppings you like. I used my favorite combo – sausage, mushrooms, and peppers. Since Mo doesn’t like mushrooms and Em isn’t a big fan either, I only put them on one half of the dough. You can use whatever toppings you like so this is another creative and flexible recipe – use your favorites. One time, I made this recipe using breakfast sausage, onions, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese. I cooked up the sausage, onions and tomatoes to bring out all those flavors. That was yummy too – not so pizza-like, but delicious.
To get started, sprinkle some flour on the dough and pull out a hunk of it.
For this batch of pizza rolls, I’d say it was about 1/3-1/2 of the dough and it made enough to feed 8 people. Just plop the dough, as is, onto a well floured surface (I use about a cup of flour). You don’t need to form it into a ball first and I find it rolls easiest if it isn’t handled too much.
Roll the dough as thin as you can without tearing it, maybe 1/4 inch thick. Roll it into a rough rectangle. I don’t worry about getting this perfect because the dough is going to mush together a bit once you roll it up with the fillings.
Now, the fun part – sprinkle with lots of shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese. Add your toppings. In this case, I used turkey sausage that I browned in a fry pan first. I like it kind of over-cooked and crispy, but you cook it how you like it. I also added mushrooms and peppers to half the dough and these were cooked first as well. I just added a splash of olive oil to a hot fry pan and cooked them until they were a little browned. Love sauteed mushrooms! So spread the toppings all over the dough as if you were making a big pizza. Sprinkle generously with dried oregano. It took me a long time to realize that oregano is what makes pizza delicious – always remember the oregano!
Once you get all the toppings on, start from one of the long sides and roll, roll, roll just like you are making cinnamon buns. I like to start on one side and just fold it over a bit and work my way all the way along the edge to the other side, then head back towards the other side, rolling as I go. If you find the dough sticky and hard to roll up, sprinkle some flour right along the edge you are trying to roll and kind of push the flour into the bread and roll it. [The below picture is actually of my breakfast sausage/cheddar creation because I forgot to take a picture rolling the Pizza one. 🙁 The pizza roll recipe has a lot more sausage than this picture shows. – just like to make sure I am extra clear in my instructions and I don’t want anyone wondering why their creation does not look exactly like mine. 🙂 The rolling process is the same, which I think a picture helps to show.]
Before you know it, it’s all rolled up and looks like a log of dough. Give the seam a pinch, just a little, all the way down to seal it, and then roll the whole log so the seam is on the bottom. The weight of the log will help to seal it.
Slice with a sharp knife about 1- 1 1/2 inches thick. Remember that they will expand a bit in the oven. If you have trouble with the dough sticking to the knife, dip the knife in flour before each slice. Carefully lift and place in a well greased baking pan. I find the easiest way to lift each slice is to slide the knife underneath and keep the other hand on top of the roll to steady it. Then turn the roll on it’s side in the pan so the cut sides are on the bottom and top and you see the spiral (like a cinnamon bun). I used a 9×13 pan and also an 8×8 pan because they wouldn’t all fit in the 9×13. I also like to use metal pans because I think the rolls crisp up better than in a ceramic, but that is just my preference.
Once you’ve got the rolls all tucked into the pan, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and place a pan of water on the bottom rack. Once the oven is up to temperature, place the pan of rolls in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
Pizza Rolls
Ingredients
Easy Artisan Dough - (see original post or use quantities below for this recipe)
- 3 cups water
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. yeast
- 2 tsps. salt
Filling
- 2 8 oz. packages of shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese
- 2 lbs. ground sausage we use turkey sausage
- dried oregano
- 8 oz. pkg. mushrooms
- 1 red or yellow bell pepper
Instructions
Dough
- Make the dough at least one day ahead.
- Mix all ingredients in a large container with a cover and place in the fridge.
Rolls
- Brown the sausage in a fry pan until cooked to your liking.
- Saute the mushrooms and peppers until cooked and the mushrooms are a little browned.
- Pull out the dough and sprinkle with flour.
- Place on a well-floured work surface and sprinkle on some additional flour.
- Roll thin, about 1/4 inch thick.
- Sprinkle with cheese, sausage, veges, and oregano.
- Starting with the long side, roll into a log.
- Slice 1-1 1/2 inches thick and place in a well greased 9x13 pan. You may need an additional pan, depending on how thick they are sliced.
- Place a pan of warm water on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
- Once the oven is up to temperature, bake for 35 minutes.