Pizza Rolls

... not rolls, but a rolled pizza. Is there a term for that? Maybe a pizza twist?

Anyhow... Last night I had the strong craving for pizza. Do you know what I'm talking about? When you get hungrier by the second and all you can think about is having pizza. Perhaps it is just me, but pizza gets to me... Obviously, I should work on that.

Thankfully, there are very decent ready-to-bake-doughs available, but I usually would prefer to make my own.
Not last night though.

But if you have the little bit of extra time it takes to make a dough yourself, please do. It makes a grand difference, I promise.

Ingredients:

• pizza dough

for the sauce:

• tomatoes, canned, diced (because it is faster)
• garlic, one clove, finely sliced
• fresh basil
• pepper, salt, olive oil, oregano

toppings:

• fresh spinach
• mozzarella, diced
• parmesan, grated

There are of course no rules as far as toppings go. We just had spinach in the fridge. Though you should probably not layer on too many things... the rolling part gets messy.

Preheat the oven to 220 °C/ 430 °F

Start by preparing the sauce.

In a small pan heat up olive oil with the garlic in it. The longer the garlic is in the oil, the more intense will the taste be.

As soon as the garlic softens a little, pour in your tomatoes and let them reduce. Once you are happy with the consistency, season with salt, pepper, oregano and paprika to taste. Maybe let it simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the flavours to set.

Now add the basil, stir and let it cool a little. 

In the mean time, either roll out your dough, or unpack it ... a rectangle-like shape would be preferred.

Now spread your sauce all over it and add the toppings and cheese of your choosing. In our case the spinach and mozzarella.

Roll the dough from the wider side. This will get a little messy, so make sure there is a bit of room in your working area.

The fun part: Cut your roll evenly and place them, carefully, in a muffin or cupcake tray.

Sprinkle parmesan over the rolls. This will add a nice crust. And put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes. You should check them regularly to make sure nothing burns. It happened once... not that tasty... and the baking time really seems to vary depending on your dough thickness and your topping choice.

Just check on them and everything will be fine.

Bon Appétit