For those of you who have read my previous posts, you know I have three kids, two boys and a girl… well these kids are growing and eating like crazy and I am always trying to find ways to help them, help themselves to food. These pizza rolls are awesome for when the kids get hungry but you don’t feel like making anything, they can take them to school for lunch or just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up and then YUM! Now I realize that making bread from scratch seems like a lot of work but if you take the recipe and make these in bulk, you really will save yourself a lot of time in the end when you don’t have to make school lunches (oh how I hate making school lunches!) and when you don’t have to get up and help your complaining kid find something to eat in the abyss known as the pantry. This is a very large recipe, it makes approx. 48 to 55 pizza rolls, feel free to cut it in half but they freeze beautifully so I say make it once and enjoy it longer. You’ll notice that the recipe calls for potato flakes, this will give a pillowy texture to these rolls that you can’t get any other way, shhhh…it’s a secret ingredient.

For this recipe I kept it simple and just used marinara sauce, oregano, calabrese and mozzarella but you can add whatever you normally like on pizza, do it up with ham and pineapple, add some amazing cooked italian sausage, whatever you like.

 

 

 

Rules for Working with Yeast

1. Salt kills yeast, don’t add salt directly to the yeast/water mixture
2. Use new yeast or yeast that has been kept in the freezer. Old yeast may no longer be active
3. Water should be luke warm not cold but no hotter than 110F
4. Cover rising dough with a damp towel or loosely with plastic wrap to avoid building a crust which will prevent the dough from rising (proofing) fully

For The Bread 55g 310g 410g 590g 13g 40g 85g 1865g 35g 175g Potato Flakes Hot Water Milk Warm Water Yeast Sugar Shortening AP Flour Kosher Salt Eggs Directions: Hydrate potato flakes with 310g hot water and stir to combine, set aside. Put the yeast, sugar, warm water and milk together in a bowl until it starts to bubble (5 mins). Add the eggs, shortening, eggs, flour and salt into a stand mixer with the hook attachment and mix all ingredients together until it forms a dough that comes away from the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough with the hook for 5-10 minutes, the dough should be very pliable but not sticky. Rise for 1.5 hours on an oiled bowl, then turn out and shape into 4.5 oz buns or 3 lbs. loaves and rise covered with tea towels for another 1.5 to 2 hours.

For The Filling:

2 Cups Marinara Sauce

3 Cups Mozzarella Cheese, grated

2 Tbsp Oregano, dried

48 Slices Calabrese (spicy or regular)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Divide the dough in two big pieces, press the first ball of  dough out to 36 inches in length and 8-10 inches high. Spread half of the marinara over the dough leaving a 1″ border on all sides.

 

 

 

Sprinkle half of the oregano over the dough

Place half of the slices of calabrese vertically over the dough, this will make it easy to roll.

Finally add half of the mozzarella over the dough evenly

Roll the dough towards you using the same technique as a cinnamon roll

Cut into 24 evenly sized pieces. Repeat this process for the second ball of dough or simply portion it into 3oz. balls and place into a greased pan for soft dinner rolls.

Place tclose together in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to proof (rise) for 1.5 to 2 hours at room temperature

Remove plastic wrap and place in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown

Brush with melted butter, cool slightly and serve.

Enjoy!