Involtini Recipe

When Jessie and I tried Peel Wood Fire Pizza on our staycation in September (see blog post here) we fell in love with their spinach artichoke involtini appetizer.  It was yummy pizza dough wrapped around a spinach artichoke dip.  Delicious!  I wanted to recreate it for a Holiday party appetizer and I couldn't find a single recipe online!  I did some further research on "Involtini" and found out that in Italy, Involtini is a type of dish where you wrap a food layer (typically meat) around a filling and then cook/bake it.  Sounds simple enough to me!  I grabbed a tube of my newest obsession, Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Dough (which I now always keep in my fridge for a last minute pizza dinner) and whipped up a traditional spinach artichoke dip.  Unfortunately I am marrying into a family of picky eaters (we're talking meat and cheese only) so I also made an alternate involtini with pepperoni and shredded mozzarella cheese.

Involtini out of the oven

First you roll the pizza dough out on a pan and then spread the filling over the entire piece of dough (spinach artichoke dip or pepperoni and cheese).  I didn't heavily fill the edges of the dough because I didn't want to have trouble rolling the dough and having it ooze out all over me.  After the filling is spread out, roll the dough longways into a spiral.  I usually bunch the ends to completely enclose the filling inside the dough.  I then brushed the top with olive oil mixed with Italian seasoning and sprinkled Parmesan cheese on the top (this turns out great once baked!)  Throw it in the oven at 400 degrees for only 10 minutes (or until it turns golden brown).

Pepperoni and Mozzarella Involtini slice

Once baked, I let it cool a big before cutting it into bite sizes slices.  I reheated when I served it later at Ryan's aunt house, and added marinara sauce and a Parmesan cream sauce for dipping.  They were gone instantly!  Super easy, Super Italian, and Super Good!

Last weekend I also tried a similar quick appetizer when I tore up pieces of pizza dough and made individual stuffed dough balls with pepperoni and cheese.  Those went fast too ;-)