Rolling in the Dough
We picked up a funny date night habit since Covid. Once we felt safe enough to venture from our homes, we started going out with some friends for dinner every now and then. When dinner was cleared away, it felt like the evening was too young to go back home, so we looked for something else to do. Well, most coffee shops and ice cream joints closed early, so we took up the habit of hitting the grocery stores – Trader Joe’s being our favorite date night splurge.
I do love Trader Joe’s but it is not my normal grocery store, so it still feels like a treat to shop there. There are a few things we have grown quite fond of that you can find regularly at TJ’s. We love all of their dark chocolate treats, baked goods and cheap wine. But we have also become fans of many of their items that can be used as shortcuts to weeknight meals. One of these products is their fresh pizza dough. You can get it in plain or herb dough balls, which you can store in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
On our last trip, we grabbed 2 bags of pizza dough. The first was used for pizza the next weekend and the second bag of dough sat waiting for it’s moment. Pizza was on the menu again this weekend, but we had an extra guest for dinner the night I planed it, so we ordered take out instead.
While my husband could eat pizza every night, I like a little variety, so I was looking for something else to do with the last bag of pizza dough. I knew I could make Stromboli, but I was hoping for more variation. So, I took to the Internet again.
I found a recipe that looks delicious and slightly different than your average pizza. I found a recipe for BBQ Chicken Pizza Rolls. That seemed like a perfect use for the pizza dough, so I set out to make the recipe from www.savingdessert.com.
The first step is to prepare the pizza dough. Trader Joe’s dough says to let it rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. The recipe says to place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover it. While your dough is doing it’s thing, you can prepare the other ingredients.
Savingdessert.com has a recipe for homemade BBQ sauce and it looks amazing. I really wanted to make it, but time was not on my side. In that case, you can use your favorite store-bought sauce. Ours is Sweet Baby Ray’s.
The chicken has flexibility as well. You can use a rotisserie chicken, or leftover chicken, or prep a couple of chicken breasts using your favorite method. I “grilled” my chicken breasts in a cast iron grill pan on the stove top.
You only need abut a cup of chicken, so no need to prepare a lot, unless you need some for lunches, etc.
Bacon is also suggested as a filler for your rolls, so of course I added that. I just cooked up a few pieces of microwave bacon and crumbled it up. The recipe online uses red onion, which is not my favorite, so I diced up some sweet white onion. I also had been given some big, beautiful red peppers from a friend’s garden, so I diced up some of that as well. It made a great addition.
Once your dough has rested, lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out into a rectangle. Spread the BBQ sauce evenly, leaving a border around the edge. Sprinkle some mozzarella cheese, the meat and the veggies evenly across the top.
Carefully roll the dough the long way, then slice into 8 pieces, so they resemble savory cinnamon rolls. Place them into an oven-safe skillet that has been lightly oiled. It is supposed to be a 10 inch pan, but I used my 12 inch cast iron skillet.
Bake for 25 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 400ºF. After they start to brown, remove them and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on top and pop the pan back into the oven for another 5 minutes.
My BBQ Chicken Pizza Rolls did not come out looking as lovely as the ones on savingdessert.com. My oven also runs hot and I cooked mine a little too long. They were still delicious, but a touch too close to “blackened” on the bottom. Next time I will shave about 5 minutes off of the baking time.
Serve these babies along side a nice green salad or your favorite veggies. They make a great alternative to your average pizza, and of course you can mix up the filling any way you want.
Find the full recipe here. I’d love to hear how you make yours.
