Why is it that whenever I try to cut down on my wheat consumption I am assailed with amazing wheat based recipes at every turn! This week it was Joy The Baker and her fabulous pepperoni pizza rolls that got under my skin and wouldn’t let me rest until I’d put my own spin on the recipe.

To justify making these pizza rolls, I decided to fool myself into believing they were healthy by thoroughly injecting them with kale.  I recently discovered the joys of homemade pesto and it turns out that the kale variety, whilst being full of lovely vitamins, tastes incredible. I was worried that without the basil something would be lacking, but the flavour is just as distinctive and works perfectly with the mozzarella and olives.

These pizza rolls are marvellous served warm from the oven, crispy on the outside and super soft and saucy in the middle. And what’s more, they only take about an hour to prepare so you can even whip them up for a quick post-work supper!

So first you make the dough, knead it and leave it for around half an hour to double in size.

While it’s rising you’ve got the perfect amount of time to whip up the pesto in the food processor.

A couple of good handfuls of kale, toasted pine nuts, garlic, rapeseed oil, lemon juice and parmesan are quickly whizzed together.

Then it’s assembly time! Pretend you’re making a big rectangular pizza. You most likely won’t need all of the pesto and the leftovers will be amazing on spaghetti.

Roll it up!

Cut the log into 6 chunks and pop them into a greased and floured muffin tin. Beautiful.

Only 15 minutes in the oven and you’ve got something major on your hands. The only problem is that you may have a few issues only eating one. I know I did!

Kale Pesto, Olive & Mozzarella Pizza Rolls
Adapted from Joy the Baker
Makes 6

Ingredients:

For the dough:
1 1/3 cup to 1 2/3 cup plain flour
1 2/3 tsp fast action yeast
1 1/8 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup very warm water (I went with half and half boiling water and cold water)
2 1/4 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

For the filling:
1/2 cup pine nuts
3 cups kale
1 cup grated parmesan
2 small cloves of garlic
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup rapeseed or olive oil
1/2 cup sliced green olives
1 cup mozzarella

In a large bowl (I used my stand mixer) mix together 1 cup of the flour, yeast, salt and sugar (put the yeast into the bowl on the opposite side to the salt and sugar so that it isn’t killed off by the salt). Whisk the oil into the water and then add that to the dry mix. Stir together until a soft dough is formed, adding the rest of the flour as necessary.

Knead the dough on a floured work surface for around 5 minutes until it’s smooth. Then put it into a greased bowl, cover it with a tea towel and leave it to double in size, which should take 30 – 40 minutes.

Now it’s time to make the pesto. Start by toasting the pine nuts in a small, dry frying pan until light brown. Don’t take your eyes off them as they burn super quickly.  Leave them on a plate to cool a little before putting them in a food processor with the kale, parmesan, garlic, lemon juice and oil. Process the mixture until it’s nice and purified, adding a little extra oil if needed.

Preheat the oven to 220C / 210C Fan / 425F and grease and flour a 6 hole muffin tin.

When the dough has doubled in size, roll it out on a floured surface into a 12 inch by 6 inch rectangle. Spread the pesto over the dough, leaving a small gap around the edges, and top it with mozzarella and olive slices.  Take hold of a small end and roll it in on itself to form a 6 inch long log. Slice it into 6 even pieces and put each piece into a hole in the muffin tin, cut end up.

Bake them in the oven for 15 minutes until they are golden brown and puffy. Then let the rolls cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the tin. Best served warm, but the baked rolls can also be frozen, defrosted in the fridge and then warmed wrapped in tin foil in the oven. Enjoy!