Recipe: Pizza Spirals

Why can't I be different and unusual... like everyone else? – Vivian Stanshall 

Mmmm...fresh from the oven pizza spirals.

This recipe falls into the category of “different and unusual.” Actually that’s not completely right. I have pizza buns at least once a week from the Superstore, but they’re not like these.

Light, fluffy dough.

Pizza buns are sort of a snack but can be turned into a light lunch. The ones we purchase have pizza sauce and cheese slathered on top of a flat piece of puffy dough. They’re not bad…

I wanted to see if I could pull them off at home. The more I started thinking about doing it I started to wonder if you couldn’t turn a whole pizza inside out – but not like a calzone. Somewhere in between a pizza bun and a calzone. It was an intriguing thought.

This was a bread weekend for me, apparently. Two days ago I posted Maritime white bread (here). I guess the yeast wasn’t quite through with me. I've begun to realize that all the amazing kinds of bread you can make are really not all that different. It's only ingredient quantities and slightly different technique that yield such different results.

At first these were going to be cheese spirals – delicious flaky rolls stuffed with gooey mozzarella cheese... You could certainly do that with this dough. Your options are just cheese, or sauce and cheese – or pretty much whatever you want to include.

Leave about 1" bare on one of the long sides.

This recipe takes many of the ingredients in a simple pizza and wraps them in delicious, light dough much like that in a cinnamon roll. I’ve already started thinking what would happen if I turned others of my “standard” pizzas into spirals. I think artichoke heart, genoa salami and provolone would be stunning.

These rolls may take a little extra time, but they are amazing and delicious. Just remember that most of the "work" time, as with all bread, is in the rising. If you couple that with using a machine to knead, as opposed to by hand, these are hardly any more work than a regular pizza.

These will certainly elicit surprise when you put a serving plate down for at a buffet or your hungry family. These also have the distinct ability to be able to be picked up and eaten by hand without mess, even when warm!

Roll up carefully making sure the filling is evenly distributed.

Cut into 12 equal pieces.

Pizza Spirals

Prep: 3 hours, including 2 rises  |  Cook: 30-40 min  |  12 servings

2 tbsp white sugar

3 tsp yeast

1/2 cup warm water (110°-115°F)

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs,slightly  beaten

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, +/- a little

toppings:

1 cup tomato sauce

250 g sausage, cooked and broken up well

200 g mozzarella cheese, grated

2 tsps pepper

2 tsps oregano

1 tsp basil

sprinkle of salt

 2 tbsp olive oil

Place in an oiled pan and let rise. then top with remaining
sauce, sausage, cheese and spices.

Place the sugar, yeast and warm water a bowl. Let stand, covered, until creamy, about 10-15 minutes. (I do mine in my KitchenAid bowl so the machine can knead the dough.)

Add the milk, vegetable oil, salt, eggs and one cup of the flour. Mix until completely incorporated. Then slowly add the rest of the flour. Since the moisture content in flour varies daily, don't out all of the flour in. If it needs it add the rest, or even a slight bit more.

Knead with the dough hook until smooth, about 8 minutes, or by hand for 12 minutes. (Watch TV while you do it. It helps pass the time.)

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1-1/2 hours.

Punch the dough down and place it on a lightly floured rolling surface. Roll the dough out to a rectangle approximately 12” x 18”. The dough will fight back but be persistent and keep square corners as much as you can.

Cover the dough with slightly more than 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, taking care to get it out to the edges, but leaving one of the long sides bare about 1”. See the photo just above where the recipe starts. Sprinkle with most of the sausage, 3/4 of the cheese and half of the spices. Shake a little salt on top.

Roll the dough up like a jelly roll starting at the long side. Turn the roll seam side down. You will have a roll about 18” long.

These were amazingly good. I ate three for dinner, pig that I am.

With a serrated knife cut in two and then each half in sixths so you have 12 pieces. Arrange the rolls in a baking pan that has been rubbed with olive oil. Let rise for 30 minutes in the pan until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Just before placing in the oven spread the tops with the remaining sauce, sausage, mozzarella and spices.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until well browned. Let cool for 5 minutes and then serve.

 

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