eat this, totino’s!

Remember those awful Pizza Rolls commercials? They may still have them now, I don’t know, but I remember watching them when I was a teen. The young boy, bounding home from school with his friends in tow, pondering what they would have for an after school snack. After perusing the kitchen and turning up nothing they open the freezer to find the holy grail- Pizza Rolls! Three cheers and the mom is a hero for keeping her kitchen stocked with such a stellar snack.

Yuck.

While I sympathize with the plight of working mothers (and fathers), there is just no excuse for that junk, veganism or otherwise. Crap, crap, crap. The only thing natural about Pizza Rolls is the cardboard they are packaged in. But, there is something to be said about the allure of pizza-filled dumplings. While these don’t whip us as fast as Pizza Rolls, you could easily make a big batch ahead of time, bake and reheat later in a toaster oven.

These are a little different in that pizza sauce is not baked in them. They are stuffed with a filling and then you dip them in sauce. But dipping just makes them more fun to eat, in my opinion.

Vegan Pizza Rolls

1/2 cup warm water
1/2 teas. sugar
1 package rapid-rise yeast (1/4 oz or 2 1/4 teas.)
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4. teas. salt

1/2 cup vegan pepperoni, chopped
1 cup vegan mozzarella, shredded (I used Teese)
3 tbsp. dried oregano
marinara or pizza sauce for dipping

In a large bowl, combine water and sugar and stir. Add yeast and let sit until foamy, about 3 minutes. In another bowl, combine flour and salt. Add the margarine to the water mixture and then add flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a sticky dough forms. Turn out onto a clean, floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, adding flour as needed. Place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450. I recommend using a pizza stone if you have one. Prepare pepperoni, mozzarella and oregano. Roll out dough into a 18 x 24 inch square and cut into strips about 1 1/4 inch by 3 inches.

On one side of each strip, place a pinch of each filling component. You need to be able to fold and seal them, so keep that in mind when filling them.

Roll over the naked side of the strip to cover the filling and pinch to seal. You may need to brush with a little water to get the dough to seal. If they don’t look beautiful now, don’t worry. They will get nice and puffy when they bake.

Brush or spray with a light coating of olive oil. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the oven, until lightly browned. You can also bake them for about 9 minutes in a toaster oven at 400 degrees. They will turn out fine, but the bottoms won’t be as crispy. Serve warm with marinara sauce. They reheat beautifully in a toaster oven.

Makes, approximately 30 rolls.

Now that’s what I call an after school snack!