Pizza Rolls

This is more of a concept than a recipe, inspired by something that Giada made on her show a while ago.  You take some store-bought pizza dough, put some toppings on it, roll it up and bake it, and voila!  Pizza rolls.  It's remarkably simple, yet completely tasty and crowd-pleasing.

Today I made two - one with just marinara and cheese to please every palate, and the other was slightly more interesting, so that is the one I'm featuring here today.  You can, of course, put anything you like in it.  So long as you don't go for any toppings that are super chunky, you'll be able to roll it up into a pinwheel.  Just slice it up, put it out on a tray, and watch your guests gobble it up.

Pizza Rolls

serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. store-bought pizza dough (preferably whole wheat)

flour for your work surface

2 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced into 1/4 inch slices

one 15 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 425.  Line a baking sheet with parchment or silpat liner.

2.  Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll out the pizza dough to about 12 inches around.  Distribute the mozzarella slices fairly evenly around the pizza, followed by artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes.

3.  Carefully roll up the pizza into a cylinder, tucking in the edges to seal.  It will look like a giant burrito.  Brush with olive oil and season the top lightly with salt and pepper.

4.  Place on baking sheet, seam-side down, and bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.  Cheese might leak out, and that is perfectly okay.  Let cool a few minutes, then cut into 1-inch slices with a serrated knife.  Serve.

Enjoy!