Pizza Roll Ups

Josh loves pizza and is pretty good at making it. So when he volunteered to whip up some homemade pizza dough, I got out of the way!

Instead of making the typical pizza, we tried a "Pizza Roll Up", inspired by Giada's new book. We rolled out the dough like a normal pizza and put the toppings on.This time we went with fresh spinach, mushrooms, roasted peppers (we used the ones we had in our freezer from the summer), red onion, fresh basil, and mozzarella cheese! Then Josh rolled it up, really tight. We brushed the pizza roll with olive oil and an egg wash so it would brown nice and even. It only took 25 minutes to bake. Once it cooled, we cut it into thick slices.

The crust was perfect and the fillings tasted fantastic!! The slices were oozing with cheesy goodness! We can't wait to try these again with different fillings and flavors. I think these would be fun to serve at a party or get together!! You can make the dough the day before and put it in the fridge. This dough also freezes well too and the recipe makes enough for two big pizza roll ups!

Pizza Roll Up

Dough:

1 package of dry active yeast
1 cup warm water
Pinch of sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cups flour
1 T olive oil

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup coarsely chopped baby spinach
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Roasted peppers
Chopped red onion
Fresh basil
1 tblsp olive oil
Salt & Pepper
1 egg-for the egg wash

1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water, sprinkle with pinch of sugar. Let stand for five minutes.
2. Combine flour and salt in large mixing bowl. (We do this in our Kitchenaid.) Pour half of the yeast water into your bowl and add in olive oil. Mix briefly. Add the rest of the yeast mixture. Mix until combined and switch to your dough hook. Let the machine knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Take the dough ball out and make sure it is smooth and not sticky!
3. Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Turn it over to oil both sides. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth/towel. Let rise for about 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
4. Divide the dough in half. You can freeze one if you want.
5. Roll our the dough on a lightly floured surface. It should be a 12-14 inch circle, about ¼ inch thick.
6. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella over the dough. Arrange the spinach over the cheese in a single layer. Sprinkle with the mushrooms, peppers, onions, basil, and then top with the remaining cheese.
7. Roll the dough into a thin cylinder, gently tucking in the ends. Brush the entire roll with the olive oil & season with the salt & pepper. We also brushed it with an egg wash to help the browning process.
8. Place the dough, seam-side down, on the baking sheet & bake for 25 minutes until the top is golden brown.
9. Cool the roll for 5 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut it into 3/4-inch slices.