Stuffed Pizza Rolls

This is a fun recipe that can be adapted to your personal taste. Feel free to make your own dough recipe and put your fave filling in this delicious spin on pizza. I of course stole this recipe from Our Best Bites. This would be a great party treat. You could make smaller ones for appetizers or larger ones for dinner. It looks like a lot of steps but really these babies are super easy and fun to make.


Stuffed Pizza Rolls
1 roll refrigerated pizza dough (thin crust or thick)
marinara/pizza sauce
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted butter
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t dried Italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice: ie, ham and pineapple, pepperoni slices, sausage, etc.

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. If you make your own dough, 400 is usually a good heat.

Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". You're going to want to cut it into 24 squares, so just eyeball it if you need to. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square. (Note that you're not putting the marinara sauce on the dough- it's for dipping after)

When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).

Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter and then sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning and top with Parmesan cheese.

Cook them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Keep an eye on them! Doughs vary, so I'd check them after even 10 minutes. Serve with warm pizza or marinara sauce. Enjoy!

TIPS
I used Pillsbury Classic refrigerated pizza dough. I cut my dough into 20 squares. I shredded cheese (Never us pre-shredded cheese from the store on pizza, it contains something that keeps it from clumping and makes it weird and rubbery when it melts. Shred it yourself and you'll be much happier!) but next time will cube it because it will make the closing of the rolls easier. Also I put too much filling in mine so I had to pull on the dough to close each roll which ended up with thin crispier tops and thick doughy bottoms. They still tasted fine but next time I will use less filling or bigger squares so I can close the roll without stretching the dough. I served mine for dinner with a garden salad. These tasted amazing the next day warmed up in the microwave.

Strawberry Sauce

I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Our Best Bites, that can be found at ourbestbites.com. This sauce is so versatile. You can put it on pancakes, ice cream, toast, warm sugar cookies, and even mix it with your fave lemonade to make strawberry lemonade. The possibilities are endless. I made a double batch and it made about 4 small jars. Easy to make and freezes quite well. Your kitchen will smell amazing while making this delicious sauce.



Strawberry Sauce

1 pint strawberries

1/3 c. white sugar

1 tsp. almond extract (my favorite) or vanilla extract

Wash strawberries and remove stems. Roughly chop the berries. Combine berries, sugar, and extract in medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for five minutes, stirring/breaking strawberries up with a wooden spoon constantly. After five minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly (if you have a glass blender jar) and a lot (if you have a plastic blender jar). When cool enough, transfer mixture to blender and pulse until desired consistency is reached. Enjoy!

TIPS

I used almond extract and at first it smelled so strong I thought I was going to regret it but it cooked way down and tastes perfect. Next time I might try vanilla just to try something different. I used a potato smasher to mash up the berries while cooking. I made my sauce very smooth, no chunks at all.

Raspberry Custard Pie

This pie is a beast to make but is delicious and beautiful. It's worth every minute it takes to make it. I got this gem from my friend Summer's blog.





Raspberry Custard Pie

1 single baked pie crust

1 cup milk

1/4 cup flour

1, 1/4 cups sugar, divided

1/4 tsp salt

2 egg yolks, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup whipping cream (don't add sugar)

3 cups fresh raspberries (12 oz unsweetened frozen)*

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp cornstarch

*If using frozen raspberries, thaw berries before use and reduce water to 1/3 cup.

Prepare and bake a single pie crust shell. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar and the salt; stir to mix well. Add 2-3 tbsp milk to sugar/flour and stir to create a smooth paste; add remaining milk and stir to blend. Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook pudding mixture until it begins to bubble; continue to cook 1 minute (mixture will be thick. Stirring egg yolks constantly, spoon a small amount of pudding into beaten egg yolks. Pour egg yolks back into saucepan and stir well to mix. Return pan to heat and continue to cook until mixture is VERY THICK. DO NOT allow to bubble. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool pudding.**

** You want the pudding mixture to be very thick. To create a firmer texture: Place 1 tbsp cold water in small microwave safe cup, sprinkle 1/2-1 tsp unflavored gelatin over water and allow gelatin to soften. Microwave gelatin in 3-4 second intervals stirring after each interval until gelatin is dissolved. Stir gelatin into cool (not cold) pudding just prior to folding in whipping cream.

Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into cool pudding mixture; spoon pudding mixture into baked pie shell, cover and chill pie for AT LEAST 1 hour to partially set.

In a medium saucepan, crush berries with a potato masher; add 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and water, mix well. Over medium heat, stirring, bring berries to a boil. Remove from heat and cool. Spoon berry glaze over pudding in pie shell (when cool). Refrigerate overnight to completely set. Garnish with an additional dollop of whipped cream, additional fresh berries and a mint leaf if desired.

TIPS
My custard was too thick and I wasn't able to fold the whipped cream into the custard. I had to beat it in and I was very scared it was going to turn watery. Although my custard was a little lumpy it was very firm in the pie and tasted fantastic. I'm not sure what I did wrong exactly. The recipe says the custard needs to be very thick but maybe I made mine too thick or I let the custard cool too long before adding the whipped cream. I didn't need to do the gelatin step. I am determined to get this pie right so I am going to test it again and see if I can get the custard right this time. I also used frozen raspberries and it tasted delicious. I used fresh berries for the garnish. I used my deep pie dish and should have used a regular size because my crust didn't go up to the top of the dish so you can't see it pictured above. I also made my pie the night before I served it so it was in the fridge for almost 24 hours.