I was taking stock of my fridge the other day and noticed a half jar of pesto that I bought a couple weeks ago at Aldi. I didn’t want that pesto to go to waste, so today I whipped up these fun Pesto Pizza Rolls. They are a great appetizer or fun alternative to regular pizza if you want to change things up. You can eat them as-is or dip them into pizza sauce. Either way they’re super flavorful and have a wonderfully crispy cheese edge, similar to a deep dish pizza.
Make your own Thick & Rich Pizza Sauce to go on the side!
Choose the Flavor of Your Pizza Rolls
I made my Pesto Pizza Rolls with pepperoni and mozzarella, but the sky really is the limit for fillings on these guys. You can do regular pizza sauce instead of pesto and you could do something like olives instead of pepperoni if you want to go meatless. Just stay away from really watery vegetables like tomatoes.
Homemade Dough is Optional
I made a simple homemade pizza dough for my Pesto Pizza Rolls, but if you don’t have the time, patience, or confidence to do it yourself you can always grab a ball of raw pizza dough at the store or your local pizza shop. Once the dough is ready to go this recipe is super fast!
Pesto Pizza Rolls
Servings 8Ingredients
PIZZA DOUGH
FILLING
- 1/2 cup pesto ($0.85)
- 2 oz. pepperoni ($1.10)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.33)
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce (for dipping, optional) ($0.33)
Instructions
- Combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar, and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Let the mixture sit for about five minutes or until the yeast has developed a layer of foam on top of the water.
- Meanwhile, add 1 cup of the flour to a large bowl along with the salt.
- Once the yeast has become foamy, add the olive oil to the yeast mixture, then pour the mixture into the bowl with the flour and salt. Stir until a thick batter forms. Begin to stir in more flour, a little at a time, until it forms a ball of dough that you can no longer stir with a spoon.
- Turn the ball of dough out onto a clean surface dusted with flour. Knead the dough, adding a small amount of flour as you go, for about five minutes. You should have used around 2 cups flour total from the very beginning, give or take a little.
- Place the kneaded dough back in the bowl, cover it loosely, and let it rise until double in volume. Once doubled, begin preheating the oven to 400ºF.
- Punch the dough down, scrape it out of the bowl, and onto a floured surface. Stretch the dough out into roughly shaped rectangle, approximately 10×16 inches. Try to avoid using a rolling pin, if possible, as this will compress the dough and prevent it from being nice and fluffy.
- Once shaped, spread the pesto over the surface of the dough from edge to edge. scatter the sliced pepperoni over the surface, then sprinkle half of the cheese on top.
- Roll the dough up into a log, then use a very shape knife to slice it into 8 (or more) equal sized slices. Place the sliced rolls in a casserole dish that has been coated in non-stick spray (or oil if you prefer). Make sure to use a dish large enough to allow the rolls room to expand as they bake. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over top of the rolls in the dish, allowing some to fall around the edges and between the rolls.
- Bake the Pesto Pizza Rolls in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed up, golden brown on top, and the pesto and cheese are bubbling around the edges. Serve warm with pizza sauce for dipping.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Look at those crispy edges!! 😍
How to Make Pesto Pizza Rolls – Step by Step Photos
Begin by stirring together 3/4 cup warm water with 2 tsp yeast (active dry or instant) and 1/2 Tbsp sugar. Let the mixture sit for about five minutes, or until the yeast creates a layer of foam on top of the water.
While waiting for the yeast to activate, combine 1 cup of flour and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl. When the yeast is ready, add 1Tbsp olive oil to the yeast water, then pour the whole thing into the bowl with the flour and salt. Stir until a gooey batter forms.
Begin stirring in more flour until a shaggy ball of dough forms that you can no longer stir with a spoon. At that point, turn the dough out onto a clean surface that has been sprinkled with more flour.
Knead the dough for five minutes, adding a small amount of flour as you go to keep it from sticking. Once kneaded, you should have used about 2 cups flour total (from the beginning, not since starting to knead). Place the ball of dough back in the bowl, cover it loosely, and let it rise until double in volume.
When the dough has doubled in size, begin preheating the oven to 400ºF. Punch the dough down, then turn it out onto a floured surface. Stretch and press the dough into a rough rectangle, about 10×16 inches. Try to avoid using a rolling pin if you can because this compresses the dough and it won’t puff up as nicely.
Spread about 1/2 cup pesto over the dough, edge to edge.
Add 2 oz. sliced pepperoni and 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella. Yep, that’s right, just 1/2 cup. You don’t need a lot of cheese and there will be more going on top.
Roll the dough up like a log, then use a very sharp knife to slice it into 8 equal sized pieces. I like to first slice it in half, then each half in half, and then each piece in half one more time. It’s easier to get them even that way than starting at one end and just start slicing.
Place the sliced Pesto Pizza Rolls in a casserole dish coated with non-stick spray. Make sure you use a dish that gives them a little room to expand.
Add the last 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella on top of the Pesto Pizza Rolls, allowing some to fall around the edges and between the rolls. That’s what will create those nice crispy edges!
Bake the Pesto Pizza Rolls for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed up, golden brown, and the cheese and pesto are bubbling around the edges!
Excuse me while I sneak one of these… thx. ;)
Note on cutting: My knives are apparently too dull and squashed the whole thing flat. Then I remembered the trick my mother taught me for doing the same thing with cinnamon rolls: take a piece of floss or other string and slide it under the dough roll. Bring the string up and cross the two ends taught to cut through the dough.
It dragged some of my sauteed onions out of the roll but otherwise worked well, even cutting through the pepperoni with no issue.
Would it be okay to prep this and freeze it? It would be nice to make a few in advance and then the boyfriend could just pull it out of the freezer, thaw and bake it when he’s hungry.
I feel like that would work well. Bread dough/pizza dough in general freezes very well. I would definitely let it thaw completely before baking, though, which may take a little time at room temperature.
How would I adapt the dough to use my sourdough starter rather than active yeast?
Thanks!
Unfortunately I’m not experienced with sourdough starters, so I can’t give advice on that one.
I am trying these with crescent rolls because I stinnnnnnk at bread of any kind (like might as well not even bake it, just toss the final dough in the trashola-BAD). I’m sorry I can’t be true to the recipe, but this is something that would be a waste of my time, ingredients and the frustration–it’s real. And then I’d have no yummy Pesto Pizza Rolls, so I would also have a sad. Gotta be this way.
I will report back afterwards to comment (hopefully I can just comment on my comment if I can find it, but I think so!) on how it went. Maybe some other bread/yeast (yeast–it’s mainly the DARN yeast for me)/knead-challenged people might want to try it. AND if it turns out badly, I will save all you lovely people the trouble.
(Unless I’m just ALL bread challenged?? I have messed up pre-made frozen dough many times, a LOT of pizza crusts and recently burned my awesome cornbread ((but that was really because I had to take a phone call and didn’t hear the timer.)) I ALSO ((wow!)) am that person that makes a 7-10 course Fancy Pants Dinner Extravaganza, and I will put the heat-and-eat bread or frozen garlic bread in the oven, and while I’m like, cutting orange cups for kick-butt cranberry sauce–ask me for the recipe if that’s allowed! It’s all over the internet, and it is NOTHING like the canned jelly garbaaage, and the only cranberry sauce I’ve ever liked.–or doing double boiler stuff or watching something delicate on the stove, I let those stinkers burn VERY frequently.
Yeah, I’m thinking I just stink hard at bread. I hate bread machines so much because I truly love to roll out and knead and proof and the whole rigamarole, but maybe I have to give in and buy this trendy new machine that came out 25-30 years ago. :-P
Whew! Sorry that was a novella. I think I’m making the crescent rolls version this Sunday, 05/03. Wish me luck, y’all! Refrigerated dough is still dough I can mess up. :-( Oh, well. Courage! And good thing is that I buy my pesto at ALDI for super cheap like Her Eminence BB Beth, and I already have a jar in my fridge, so no big cost loss.
05/03…yeah, Corona kinda got in the way. But I finally made it yesterday with crescent rolls, and it turned out great! Couple of things if anyone tries it that way: they don’t puff up as nice as BB Beth’s because crescent rolls are thinner. They will separate on the perforated lines once rolled up—don’t worry about it. Her bake timing is still right, but watch it close at the end. Very yummy and easy. The pesto plus pepperoni is a great combo, and I like dipping!
More importantly, you know that pesto we all found at ALDI for cheap? They sell it at my local Dollar Trees now! At first I thought it was a one-off, like they got a great deal, but I’ve seen it for months now at different locations. They don’t sell the Romesco in the same brand, but oh, well. Kind of weird to go from never buying pesto because of the cost to finding to the cheap price at ALDI to being able to buy ALL the pesto.
Time and time again I find myself coming back to this recipe when I need a crowd-pleaser. I tend to take these to boardgame days because I can prepare them ahead of time and then keep them chilled in the host’s fridge until we’re ready to bake and eat. Everyone loves them, they’re easy to serve, and a great “small portions” option for something like a potluck where everyone wants just a little bit of everything. The pesto is what really makes it unique and so flavourful.
Wanting to try such a kind of pizza. Seemingly it is yummy.
Oh my gosh! Another recipe that knocks it out of the park and lands on my regular rotation. I swear every one of your recipes has been a hit! The dough was so easy I’m wondering how else I can use it. Could I use it for cinnamon rolls…?
I decided to bake them plain for 15 minutes, top with a little sauce and cheese, and then finish baking. YUUUUUUUM!
Cinnamon roll dough tends to be a softer, sweeter dough made with eggs, milk, and a little sugar. But this dough is great for regular non-rolled pizzas!
Made these for a potluck, was a HUGE success. I used pre-made dough though, since I was on a time crunch, but came out well. Awesome recipe!
What kind of flour should be used? I’m assuming all purpose, but bleached or unbleached?
You can use either bleached or unbleached all-purpose flour. :)
Is there a flour substitute you would recommend? I was thinking brown rice flour or chickpea flour?
I used my own dough because I already had some in the freezer, but these were so good! I’ll definitely make again and play around with other toppings.
Wow, these were great! I needed to use up the rest of the pesto left over from making your pasta shells with pesto last week. Loved the crusty cheese on top!
Made these last night. There were three left and I had vague plans of having them for lunches. Then my son came home (24 yo and a picky eater) and he devoured the leftovers. They tasted similar to calzones, but were a bit more accessible. I forgot the pepperoni (not my fave) and used leftover tomato sauce instead of pesto. I used the rolling pin and gave them an extra rise. Note: the recipe worked fine in a 9 x 13 inch pan, but it was way too big.
This dish was so awesome! I made it for family and they all thought I had bought it somewhere! Really excellent… I had a very difficult time getting the pizza dough to be an even rectangular layer. What a wonderful recipe I will definitely make it again.
These are awesome! I didn’t want to wait, so I used Trader Joe’s pizza dough to speed up the process, and mine were delicious. Thanks for the great idea!