Homemade Pizza Rolls: July LetsLunch

Happy LetsLunch! This month our group of food bloggers got together to share our favorite foods inspired by "the munchies," in honor of our ring-leader Cheryl Tan's short story being published in The Marijuana Chronicles.

Having never imbibed myself (seriously, not like one of those *wink wink* situations), I consulted with a friend to come up with something munchie-themed. I settled on these simple pizza balls, adapted from a recipe I tested last year for the e-newsletter I was editing at the time.

I started with a store-bought pizza dough, but it would obviously be a bit more gourmet if you made your own from scratch. Sometimes when I make these, I'll chop up small pieces of fresh mozzarella, but I happened to have some string cheese in the fridge, and they were super simple to chop into bite-sized fillings.

Pinch off a small ball of dough, about the size of a walnut, roll it into a smooth ball, then flatten it out so you can wrap it around your fillings. I tried different toppings, like pepperoni and cheese, as well as cheese with a chunk of pineapple and a sliver of red onion.

Pinch the dough tightly to seal and place seam-side down in a prepared cakepan.

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with an aggressive pinch of coarse salt. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

While the pizza balls are baking, heat a large can of tomatoes with a pinch of oregano, red chile flakes and olive oil. Pulse with an immersion blender until chunky. 

Serve the pizza balls with the hot marinara sauce. Careful before biting into them, the melted cheese inside will be hot! 

--

Check out everyone else's posts throughout Friday on Twitter by searching the hashtag #LetsLunch. 

Pat's Sausage Rolls on The Asian Grandmother's Cookbook