As much as I love my roommates, and I do love my roommates, there is nothing better than having the whole apartment to myself. The opportunities to make a mess and not be considerate to others are few and far between so I try to take advantage whenever I can. This weekend I went on a baking frenzy! Pretty much everything made this week and next was made in one weekend.
I saw these pizza rolls awhile ago and wondered if they could be baked. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with fried food, I love it, I’m just not making it at home. Once I made Joy’s fried guacamole for NYE, but that was a rare opportunity. Since discovering baked doughnuts here and here, I’ve come to prefer baked doughnuts over fried. Whenever I see a fried item I now think, “could I bake this?”
Yes, you can bake these pizza rolls! They come out crispy and were super easy to make. In fact, they are probably easier to make than fried because you just flop them all on a baking sheet and toss in the oven. There is no need to stand over hot oil flipping and watching pizza rolls.
Homemade pizza rolls, like everything homemade, are so much more flavorful than the highly processed version. This version is tasty with a good amount of spice. They are cheesy and gooey. I shared a little recipe for a dipping sauce, but honestly, I preferred these dipped in ranch. Ranch is my guilty please!
One Year Ago – Slutty Brownies
Baked Pizza Rolls
Adapted from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures
Yield ~ 21 rolls {2 dinner servings, 4-5 snack servings}
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 garlic cloves
good sprinkle of dried oregano
sprinkle of red pepper flakes {more or less depending on your desire for spiciness}
1/2 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Italian-blend cheese
4 leaves of basil
21 wonton wrappers
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Preheat the oven to 400 F.
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Add the oil to a medium saute pan and allow to heat. Add in the tomato paste and stir around for about one minute.
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Use a garlic press to smash the garlic, add to the tomato paste and saute slightly. Stir in the oregano and red pepper flakes.
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Pour in about half the can of diced tomatoes with the juice. Stir and allow to cook until all the water is evaporated and you have a pasty consistency.
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Transfer to another bowl and place the fridge to cool.
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Once cool, chiffonade the basil and add to the tomato mixture with the cheese. Mix well.
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Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray generously with cooking spray.
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Set up your pizza roll making station with a small bowl of water and a fork.
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Dab a small amount of water around the edge of the wonton wrapper; add about 1 teaspoon of filling in the center. Fold in half and use a fork to seal the edges all the way around. Place on the foil and repeat until you run out of filling.
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Bake for 6 minutes and then flip each pizza roll. Bake for another 5 minutes or until the edges are crispy.
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Allow to cool for a minute or two because the filling is hot! Serve immediately.
Dipping sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic
generous sprinkling of dried oregano
salt + pepper
the rest of the diced tomatoes + the juice
1/4-1/2 cup water
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Heat the oil in the same saute pan used for the filling. Add in the tomato paste, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir for a few minutes to toast.
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Add in the diced tomatoes and water. Cook on low. Add more water if needed.
While writing this post all I could think about is how much I wanted some more pizza rolls…
