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Family Favourite Pizza Rolls

This is a family favourite, easy(ish) to put together, and really fun to serve! You can make it your own with fillings and can customise it to be vegan or vegetarian as you need. We love it for hosting, for a bring and share dish, or for the times we want snacks while watching sports games!
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time35 mins
Rising time1 hr
Course: Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: pizza
Servings: 20 rolls

Equipment

  • 1 Large Bowl for Mixing
  • 1 12" x 16" Oven Dish for Baking
  • 1 12" piece of Cotton to cut the Rolls

Ingredients

Homemade Pizza Sauce

  • 1 1/4 Cups Tomato Passata
  • 1/4 Cup Butter or Olive Oil
  • 2 tsp Dried Oregano
  • 1 clove Garlic
  • 1/2 tsp Salt

Pizza Dough

  • 4 1/2 Cups Flour You can go white, wholewheat or spelt. I like a 50:50 mix of white and wholewheat.
  • 1/4 Cup Soft Butter or Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 Cups Room Temperature Water
  • 4 tsp Dry active yeast

Toppings

  • 10 oz Cheese
  • Any other toppings you want!

Instructions

To Make the Sauce

  • Add all the sauce ingredients to a pan over a low to medium heat. Cover with a lid leaving space for the steam to escape so the sauce can thicken.
  • Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes or until it has reduced slightly and thickened into a pizza sauce consistency and smells wonderful!
    red pizza sauce in a grey frying pan with a wooden handle
  • Set to the side until you're ready to use it. You can cool, seal and refrigerate it for 3 days before using.

To make the Dough

  • Add the flour, salt, yeast and soft butter to a large bowl and mix it together.
    flour, yeast, butter and salt in a glass bowl on a grey flour
  • Slowly add the water, mixing it to combine until you have a shaggy ball of dough.
  • Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes until it's stretchy and elastic. You should be able to gently stretch it without it breaking. If you're not familiar with kneading, you want to fold and press the dough over and over again, turning it in between folds.
  • Cover the ball of dough with a dish cloth and leave the dough to stand for about 10 minutes. While it stands, gather your toppings and make sure you have a large space clear to make the rolls, and lightly grease your oven safe baking dish.
    a ball of dough rising in a glass bowl on a grey surface

To Assemble the Pizza Rolls

  • Tip the ball of dough out onto a lightly floured surface and begin to stretch it into a long rectangle. You can roll it with a rolling pin, but I usually just stretch it with my fingers. You want to stretch it to about a 10" by 24" rectangle in a "landscape" orientation in front of you i.e. with the long side of the rectangle facing you. Note: Make sure it's not stuck to the surface as it will be really hard to roll. Iff it is stuck at all, gently release it with a palette knife, flour the top and flip it over.
    white pizza dough rolled out on a white surface with basil growing behind
  • Spread the tomato sauce (or pesto is a great option too!) evenly over the whole of the dough right up to the edges.
  • Spread the cheese and any other toppings over the dough evenly. Again you want to take the toppings right to the edges.
  • Starting with the long edge close to you, begin to roll the large pizza rectangle into a long sausage. Go slowly and work back and forth along the long side until it's fully rolled.
    white pizza dough rolled into a long roll on a white surface with basil growing behind
  • To cut the rolls, take a piece of cotton and slide it under one end of the roll about 1" down from the end. Leave cotton sticking out both sides so you can grab it at both ends. then cross the ends over the roll at the top and pull them to cut the roll. It creates a really clean cut. Note: If you have chunky toppings they can get caught in the cotton as you pull it, it's ok - it still works and it's a cleaner method than a knife that crushes the rolls.
  • Put the roll in the corner of the dish and cut the next roll. If you cut them at about an inch or a little over, you'll get 20 rolls which is 5 down the long side of your dish, and 4 across the short side.
    20 pizza rolls in a white dish
  • When all the rolls are cut and their places in the pan, cover with a clean dish cloth and let them rise fro 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Preheat the oven to a medium heat 175C/350F and when it's heated, put the rolls in.
  • Cook the rolls for 35 minutes and then pull them out to test. If you have an oven without a fan assist, they may need 5 minutes more. Carefully pull out one roll and make sure it's fluffy at the top and bottom and not doughy. If it's doughy, pop them back in for another 5 minutes.
  • We like to serve them right from the dish with chopped veggies or salad. You can also transfer them to a serving tray to avoid serving on a hot baking dish.
  • Optional: You can sprinkle over some more cheese 5 minutes before pulling them out of the oven, drizzle over some pesto, or top with fresh basil leave, get creative and use what you have!