Keep On Rolling

Girelle di Pizza con Ricotta Fresca, Melanzane, Peperone & Ajvar
Pizza Rolls with Fresh Ricotta, Eggplant, Red Peppers & Ajvar

 

Suppertime was snack-time again this evening!

Armed with a roll of pizza dough and just a few odds and ends, I whipped up these wonderful pinwheels of goodness in just 40 minutes or so- time to have a drink and relax after a hard day's work, before tucking-in to something yummy to end the day with a smile... yeah!

 

I am sure you have made pinwheels of pizza dough before- everyone has of course, because they are so easy! But I suppose it all depends on the filling you choose to use, no?

You can use the same-old regular ingredients that you would put on top of a regular-old pizza... tomato sauce, cheese, maybe salami or ham... or you could use something a little different maybe. Like this.

 

1 roll of pizza dough, 1 small eggplant, 1 Spring onion, 2 small, sweet red peppers, 1 tablespoon of ajvar, 2 tablespoons of fresh ricotta, 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, a little fresh parsley, and simply salt and pepper for seasoning. Simple. But different. And very, VERY good!

 

 
Perfect hot or cold, wonderful for a party, or any time you want to share an easy snack with friends... or family... or just your lil' ol' self when you suddenly get the munchies! Sometimes it is this simple kind of thing the spot, in a way more elaborate and fussy food never could... and you know it too!

 

To make these little rolls, turn on your oven to the highest setting in advance and then dice up your ingredients nice and finely.

 

Season with salt and pepper and stir-fry in just a little olive oil for 5-6 minutes until the eggplant has softened nicely and is beginning to brown. Once you have got to that point, set the pan to one side to cool off and get busy with the ricotta...

 

Mix the ricotta together with the ajvar, oregano and parsley and season with salt and pepper.

 

Simply stir together until nicely blended with a spoon, no fuss... and that's it! You have done all of your prep-work... and it is time to get rolling!

 

Unroll the pizza dough, spoon out the ricotta/ajvar topping and spread it out evenly all over, using the back of the spoon.

 

 
Scatter the pepper and eggplant evenly on top and carefully roll up the dough... not too tightly though! Leaving it a little bit more loosely rolled will allow it to expand and bake better.

 

See? it's not that tightly rolled- but that is just fine!

 

 
Using a sharp knife, cut into slices of around 1" and then squeeze back into a slightly rounder shape before setting on their sides on a sheet of baking paper. I managed to get a yield of 12 little rolls from my 1 packet of pizza dough.

Bake in a hot oven, at the highest setting, for 20-25 minutes until golden brown a delicious! I flipped mine over after 15 minutes, then back over once more at the end, in order to make sure that the dough was baked-through, crispy, golden brown and perfect!

 

And I guess that the result does kinda speak for itself- no?

 

Simple- simply perfect- and simply delicious! And quite a magical little treat it was too! because no sooner had they appeared from the oven- whoosh! They were gone before you would blink your eye! But great while they lasted! Haha!