Easy Spinach And Cheese Stuffed Pizza Rolls Recipe

These stuffed pizza rolls can make any boring salad or soup come to life. They are pillowy crumbly dinner rolls filled with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, gruyere cheese, and pine nuts. They are versatile, and the savory filling can combine different cheeses and vegetables. These dinner rolls are a meal by themselves, perfect and simple to make when you want to serve something special to a crowd for a potluck or a picnic.

Jump to:

• Ingredients for the dough
• Ingredients for stuffing
• Instructions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top tips
• FAQ
• 📋 Stuffed Pizza Rolls With Veggies And Cheese

There is nothing cozier than fresh homemade pizza and bread.

Adding some of your family's favorite vegetables, crunchy nuts, and stringy cheese will make everybody happy.

I usually make those fluffy rolls on a winter day when we have a healthy minestrone, and the boys want some yummy bread to deep into it.

I can make the dough ahead of time and bake them at the last minute to enjoy warm rolls filled with melty cheese.

I put plenty of cheese, and they enjoyed the extra vegetables mixed inside the bread.

You can check the recipe for a sweet version of these rolls: Homemade cinnamon rolls. You may also enjoy these savory Brioche sausage rolls.

For more bread rolls recipes, check: Italian milk bread rolls, English muffins

More bread recipes you can check: cheese bread, flatbread piadina, bruschetta

For more spinach recipes, find: Italian Spinach ricotta pie, ricotta spinach gnudi malfatti

Ingredients for the dough

I make the dough in the bread machine in 1 and half hours. I use the same bread dough for my pizza focaccia and Panini al Latte:

• All-purpose flour: if you want to use good quality flour, I would suggest the Caputo bread flour brand
• Milk: you can either use low-fat or regular
• Melted butter: the butter should be melted. I like to melt it in the microwave with the milk as it is usually cold from the fridge. You can melt it over a regular stove if you don't have a microwave. Before you add the egg to the mix, make sure they are back to room temperature; otherwise, the egg will cook in the hot milk
• Egg: I have my own chickens free to walk around the garden, so I always have free-range eggs. I do recommend free range not only for the taste but also for animal wellbeing.
• Sugar: the sugar is needed to activate the yeast but also to make the dough sweet, like a brioche.
• Salt: 1.5 tsp
• Active dry yeast: I prefer dry yeast to fresh one as I can keep a stock at home and make pizza and bread anytime. The fresh yeast should be used within a short time frame and kept in the fridge. As yeast is a living bacteria, the fresh yeast easily perishes, so the dough will not rise.
• Egg yolk and some milk for the egg wash are optional if you want to brush over the bread roll to make a golden brown top

If you don't have a bread machine, you can find here How to make the dough without a bread machine.

Once the dough is done, you can fill them with your favorite mix of vegetables, cheese, and some nuts. Very easy to make!

See the recipe card for quantities.

Ingredients for stuffing

These are the stuffing ingredients I use for this recipe; feel free to change and substitute:

• Pine nuts: I like to use pine nuts because their delicate flavor and crunchy texture combine well with savory ingredients. You can also substitute with toasted almonds to add some sweetness or walnuts.
• Cheese: I use gruyere cheese here because I like strong cheese with sun-dried tomatoes. Although you can also use Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese or feta cheese. If you can find it, smoked Scamorza is a good alternative, as it adds a smoky flavor and a nice stringy texture.
• Red onion: you can also use regular onion

Easy to store vegetables

• Frozen spinach is one of my backup vegetable resources. They are among the few vegetables that freeze well and are always ready to use when no fresh vegetables are left in the pantry. They have the added convenience that they are already washed. It takes forever to rinse spinach from their sand. Make sure you remove all excess water.

• Sun-dried tomato: I always buy dried packed sun-dried tomatoes, not the ones stored in oil. I never trust the quality of the olive oil used in vegetable preserves. Sun-dried tomatoes are stored in open crates at the market and sold by weight. While you may think it is not hygienic, their flavor is much better and the price more reasonable. Just dip them into boiling water for a few minutes to clean them. They are one of my favorite pantry backup vegetables, and I can always count on them when I have no fresh vegs in the fridge. Find out more on how to clean at the end of this article in the FAQ section.

See the recipe card for quantities.

You can find more ideas on cheese and vegetable combinations to use as savory stuffing in the article: 10 Vegetarian Pizza Toppings Full Of Veggies

Instructions

Making the dough

To make the dough in the bread machine, prepare the wet and dry ingredients separately.

Preparing the wet ingredients

1. Melt the butter with the milk in the microwave for 1 minute at low power
2. Let them cool down before you add the egg; otherwise, the egg will cook
3. Add one egg
4. Mix until all the wet ingredients are combined

Preparing the dry ingredients

1. Mix the flour with the salt and the sugar
2. Stir with a fork

Preparing the dough in the bread machine

1. Pour the wet ingredients into the bread machine bucket
2. Add the dry ingredients
3. Put the dry yeast
4. Place the basket in the bread machine with the cycle "Dough". The final dough will be ready and had his first rise in 1.5 hours

N.B: If you don't have a bread machine, you can check the article: how to make dough without the bread machine

Preparing the stuffing

While the dough is rising in the bread machine, you can prepare the stuffing. I like to stir-fry the vegetables to flavor them with onion or garlic.

1. Stir-fry the spinach with one onion until they defrost completely. Add some salt and let it cool down
2. Rinse with hot boiling water the sundried tomatoes and mince them into small pieces

Stuffing and shaping the rolls

1. Roll the dough into a rectangular shape over a baking sheet
2. Spread the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes.
3. Sprinkle with cheese and pine nuts
4. Roll the dough over one side, keeping the soft dough straight with the support of the baking sheet
5. Cut the rolled dough into slices

Hint: you can also place it into a bread loaf and bake it whole

5. Put the rolls in a baking tin; leave enough space around it as the dough rises and doubles in size
6. Cover with a kitchen cloth and let them rest for 30 minutes or more in a warm place

Hint: to give it a golden brown color, brush the rolls with egg wash made with an egg and 2 tablespoon of milk before you let them rise for the second time. Do not brush them after they have risen.

7. Bake them for 30 minutes at 350 F - 180C
8. Once they are ready, arrange them into a bread basket and serve warm

Hint: You can prepare the rolls hours before and bake them 30 minutes before serving them

Variations

This is a vegetarian version, but you can add bacon, ham, or prosciutto for more flavor.

You can mix some chili pepper with spinach if you like it spicy.

For a sweet version, check the recipe: homemade cinnamon rolls

You can find more ideas on cheese and vegetable combinations to use as savory stuffing in the article: 10 Vegetarian Pizza Toppings Full Of Veggies

Equipment

As I often make pizza, bread, or brioche dough, I bought a bread machine which makes my life so much easier when I have children staying for lunch or dinner at the last minute.

You can read the article HERE to learn more about my bread machine.

However, making the dough from scratch is easy; you can find all the instructions HERE.

Once you add the stuffing, you need a rolling pin and some parchment paper to roll the dough.

Storage

If you have leftover rolls, you can store them in a plastic bag or an airtight container for the next day.

You can warm them up and give them as a quick meal to the children at snack time

If you want to keep them longer, you can freeze and gradually defrost them in a warm (not too hot) oven.

Top tips

• You can use any filling you like. For more cheese and vegetable ideas, you can read the article: 10 vegetarian pizza topping
• If the vegetables for the stuffing are cooked, make sure they are at room temperature before you assemble the rolls
• If you do not have a bread machine, you can find the detailed recipe here: Brioche & Bread Rolls’ Dough without a Bread Machine
• To give it a golden brown color, brush the rolls with egg wash made with an egg and 2 tablespoon of milk before you let them rise for the second time. Do not brush them after they have risen.
• These stuffed bread rolls can be prepared hours ahead and baked 30 minutes before serving them
• The hardest part of this recipe is rolling the dough with the stuffing. By laying it over a baking sheet, it will be much easier to roll it mess-free

FAQ

If you are making the Stuffed Pizza Rolls With Veggies And Cheese, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.