Cheese Pinwheel Rolls

Photo: Madiha Salam

Ingredients

1 ball pizza dough

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

Parmesan cheese, grated

kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

garlic powder

Preparation

Lightly grease an 8-inch x 8-inch glass baking pan. Set it aside.

Place pizza dough on a lightly floured board.

Roughly flatten the dough ball in the shape of a rectangle. Using the rolling pin roll it out in a rough rectangle shape about 1/4-1/2 inch thick

Melt the butter. (I do this in the microwave. About 20 seconds on high usually does the trick.) Pour it in the center of your rolled dough.With your hand or a spatula, spread the butter to cover the dough.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the dough with an even layer of finely shredded cheese. I used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar.

Sprinkle with a little kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and garlic powder. If you want to add other ingredients (herbs, olives, etc.) add them in a thin layer now.

Roll the dough up like this, so you wind up with a long tube. Tuck the cheese in as you roll, like you would when rolling a burrito or a spring roll.

Next, cut it into about 12 pieces.about an inch or so wide.The end pieces will be kind of scrawny. That’s just fine. You’re going to stick them together in a corner of the pan to form one roll.

Take one roll carefully, so that it doesn’t unroll. Set it in the corner of your prepared pan.Repeat with the rest of the rolls, until you’ve nestled them all in.Stick the ends into a corner together. They’ll sort of bake together into one roll.

Cover with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap. Set in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Place into your preheated oven and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.They’re done when the dough is lightly browned, and the cheese has bubbled up and formed a nice, golden brown crust.The bottoms should have a similar, golden brown cheese thing going on, as well.

Cool them in the pan for about 10 minutes.Then airlift them out with a spatula or two. Serve warm, or let cool to room temperature

Pull apart. Serve and enjoy!