Oh man. I love these. LOVE. THESE. They are yummy in my tummy. Delicious. Fantastic. I could eat my weight in them. Okay, I probably couldn’t do that last one, but I’d be up for trying! 😀 What can I say? I am a big kid at heart and this kid loves pizza, especially homemade pizza rolls.
When I put together my favorite high school movies, it brought back lots of good memories (err … some not so great ones too because high school is complicated, right?), and every kid likes pizza. Okay, some weirdos probably don’t. And I don’t mean to bully you pizza haters, but seriously, what’s wrong with you? Just kidding. Mostly.
To be fair, I requested vegetable pizza (and I’m a carnivore) and avoided the pepperoni pizza at slumber parties, so I’m a little weirdo too. 😀
Anyway, pizza seemed like the perfect accompaniment to a good high school movie. And I contemplated a traditional pizza but decided to go the appetizer route because my friends and I used to go to Perkins and order tons of apps after going to the movies.
Good times.
Not so great for the waistline. But high school metabolism saved the day. And I miss you high school metabolism. You were awesome.
Stuffed Pizza Rolls
Makes 12 rolls | Slightly adapted from Two Peas and their Pod
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough, store bought or homemade
- 12 1-inch cubes of mozzarella cheese (from a block or use cheese sticks)
- 24 pepperoni slices
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- Pinch of salt
- 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- Pizza sauce for dipping
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Cut pizza dough into 4 equal pieces, then divide each piece into another 3 pieces. Roll dough into a small circle, approximately 2-3 inches, on a lightly floured surface. Place a cheese cube and 2 pepperoni slices in the center.
- Pinch the ends to enclose the cheese and meat and roll to make a ball. Make sure you don’t accidentally let any cheese or pepperoni be exposed. Place pizza roll in the prepared baking dish.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Be careful that garlic does not burn. Stir in basil, oregano, parsley and salt. Brush half the garlic butter over the pizza rolls*.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden. Brush pizza rolls with the remaining garlic butter and sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the tops. Serve immediately with pizza sauce for dipping.
Special Notes
* I try to avoid adding the garlic to the pizza rolls at this point. Some of my garlic burnt during baking, which does not taste yummy. I do add the garlic when I brush the tops after they bake with the remaining butter. The garlic cooked in the butter, so it’s it’s not raw and bitter.
I have seen people make these with biscuits (like Grands) which I do NOT recommend. Biscuits and pizza crust taste different! Many grocery stores sell pizza dough and you can buy pizza dough from pizza parlors, even places like Pizza Hut. If you cannot absolutely find pizza dough and don’t want to make it from scratch, then use frozen bread or dinner rolls. Let it thaw and rise, then follow the directions.
Pizza, Pizza for Me!
I won’t lie: I made a lot of yummy noises while devouring these. They were so freaking good. They make a great snack for movie night or really any time. They are very versatile as you can swap in different meats and/or veggies, just be sure not to go crazy and overstuff them. 😀
Other Yummy Appetizers for Movie Night
Just in case stuffed pizza rolls ain’t your thang, I have a couple other suggestions for you!
Fried Mozzarella Sticks
Another happy reminder of my youth. And honestly, fried cheese — is the food of angels.
Get the recipe, here.
Guacamole
I love the green stuff. In my dream world, I can eat guacamole and chips every night.
Get the recipe, here.
Go On … You Know You Want One or Ten!
This is a simple, popular appetizer that your family, friends, neighbors, complete strangers will love. I am already plotting the next time I can whip myself up another batch!
What’s your favorite movie treat?
Tanya
Oh my gosh. I’m only a half hour to lunch & this didnt help ONE BIT. YUMMMMM.
I love chip kind of snacks for movies. SO yep, give me some chips & guac. HEAVEN.
… counting down to lunch now.
LOL! I love salty snacks so chips and guac are some of my absolute favorite snacks. I could eat a whole by myself. Not that would but I could!
These look good! I’m with you though, chips and guacamole is something I can eat at any time of the day, every day. It is just sooooo good!! 🙂
Chips and guac is one of my favorites. And it embarrasses me to admit this, but I never had guacamole until I was in my mid-20s. It was like — where have you been my entire life? 😀
Fried mozzarella is way more my thing, but these pizza rolls look 10xs better than any store-bought freezer rolls!!
I love fried mozzarella sticks and cheese curds, which most restaurants sadly don’t offer in SoCal. Yes, these are so much better than store-bought freezer pizza rolls, although they are not crispy. But still flipping delicious!
I am going to need to try making these! We love pizza everything…..and I am always up for guacamole and mozzarella sticks. Great snacks!
Pizza is on my all-time favorite foods. I love it! These are great and I hope your family likes them too. Guacamole is another favorite and you can never, ever, go wrong with a good mozzarella stick. They were so much easier to make than I would have ever imagined, which I’m not sure is a good thing to know!