Sicilian Pizza Rolls (Italian American)
Not exactly like the pictures, but not too far off
Not exactly what comes to mind when someone says ‘pizza rolls’
Time: 3 Hours 20 Minutes
Difficulty: 3/5
Ingredient Availability:4/5
We’ve all heard of Totino’s pizza rolls, if not eaten them. As you can see, these pizza rolls from Italian American are a lot different than those little frozen pouches. However, the elements are much the same. Some sort of pastry, tomato sauce, cheese, and some meat is all it takes to make a pizza roll. Now, the question is if these are worth the time and effort when you can have some Totino’s in a minute or two.
Key ingredients and Omissions:
Not too bad for what it is
The only things that you may have a hard time finding are the fontina cheese and spicy salami. I used a combination of a couple deli salamis and pepperoni in this recipe, which I think is completely acceptable. Other than those things, everything else in this recipe should be pretty east to find. If you want to make this recipe easier, you could just buy your puff pastry instead of making it from scratch.
Tools:
Rolling Pin
Food Processor
Cooking Review:
Prep: 17 minutes
To prep for this recipe I cubed the butter, sliced the onion, diced the fontina and salami/pepperoni, and grated the parm.
Puff Pastry Dough: 25 minutes+ 1 hour rest
I added the four, salt, and pepper to the food processor and pulsed a few times until combined. Then, I added the butter in two additions, pulsing until there were pea sized pieces in the mixture. Next, I added the olive oil and pulsed until combined. The water was added next and the processor was run until the dough just began to come together. I transferred the dough to a lightly floured surface and began to knead it. However, I quickly noticed that this dough was much too sticky. I added flour until I was able to knead it into a smooth ball. I think I added at least another cup to get to that point. The dough was rolled out and folded according to the recipe, wrapped in plastic wrap, and put in the refrigerator to rest for an hour.
Filling: 28 minutes
While the dough rested in the refrigerator, I worked on the filling. After crushing the tomatoes in a bowl with my hands, I heated some olive oil and cooked the onions, salt, pepper, and oregano until softened, about 7 minutes. I added the tomatoes and sugar, brought it to a simmer and cooked for about 10 minutes. At this point, the sauce had reduced and thickened. I transferred the sauce to a bowl and put in the refrigerator to cool.
Assembly: 20 minutes+40 minute rest
To start the assembly, I prepared a egg wash with an egg and some water. I tend rolled out the dough and ended up dividing it into 6 squarish shapes. The recipe says to line baking sheets with parchment paper so that you can transfer the rolls to the refrigerator after assembly. I knew I wouldn’t have enough space in the refrigerator to add a baking sheet, so I just used a couple of plates. I added a quarter cup of sauce to each square followed by the fontina and salami. The corners were brushed with egg wash and brought to the center of the pastry. I then brushed the tops of the rolls with more egg wash and sprinkled with the grated parm. They were then transferred to the refrigerator to rest and cool for another 40 minutes. You really want to make sure that your filling is cool before you do this step. If it’s warm, like mine was, it will soften the pastry and make it quite easy to make a hole in the bottom of the rolls. I was lucky and this didn’t happen, but I could feel they were on the verge.
Baking and Finishing: 30 minutes
I transferred the rolls from the plates to a parchment lined baking sheet and baked them for 28 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I let them cool a little bit before tasting them.
Analysis:
Although I did say that you can use store bought puff pastry, I think that the one on this recipe does add something special. While it’s only slightly crispy, it does have some flakiness. It is a fairly light pastry with a unique flavor thanks to the olive oil and pepper. I still think I would’ve like a little more buttery flavor in the pastry. The filling is very flavorful. I will say that I only had 4oz of meat while the recipe calls for 8oz, which made the meat a little hard to discern at points. Overall, the sauce has a great balance of sweet and savory notes with the fontina cheese adding some more textural contrast and bursts of cheesiness. I think with the full amount of salami that the recipe calls for, this would be even better. All things considered, this recipe is going to get a 9/10. Sure, the puff pastry gave me some issues, which could have been my fault, but puff pastries are usually on the more difficult side. The way that everything comes together in the end makes it all worth it.
