Pesto Pizza Pinwheels

Hubbs and I both love pizza.  I mean, who doesn't?  We definitely love the convenience of buying out, and when we lived in Brooklyn, we bought pizza out a lot.  Most of the pizza places we frequented were just small local stores using homemade, good ingredients, so we didn't have to worry about it. I know there are places here in Michigan, but they are not as convenient to get to as we would like.  We have to get in our car and drive to get the pizza (we just walked there on the way to our house from getting off the subway in Brooklyn), and we might as well just make it ourselves - control the ingredients and use exactly what we want.  

We end up making pizza about once every week to week and a half.  This time when I made it, I decided to try something different and fun - pinwheels.  I've seen them for years, but have never made them before.  I had some extra pesto in the freezer from last summer when we had our bountiful basil crop, so decided to use that.  These turned out really good!  We dipped them in hot marinara sauce.  Yum!  My little brother came over when I was making them and hinted that they looked great.  I gave him several of them, which he promptly dipped in ranch!  He literally puts ranch on everything - even in the sauce when he makes his lasagna.  Funny kid!  These could work with any combination.  They would also be great for a party or a get together.  

 

 

 

Freshly baked pesto pizza rolls

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough (I use this recipe.  Use half for these rolls and freeze the remaining half for later.)

Pesto Sauce
Vegan Cheese

Toppings:
 - Green Peppers
 - Onions
 - Baby Spinach
 - Kalamata Olives
 - Pickled or fresh Jalapeno Peppers
 - Pignolis

Filtered water to seal the dough. 


1.  Prepare the dough according to the attached instructions. 
2.  After the dough has risen, punch it down.  Place the half you are not using in a freezer bag, label and freeze for later use. 
3.  Roll the pizza dough out into a large rectangle-ish shape on a floured surface. 

4.  Liberally spread pesto over the surface of the dough - leaving about an inch of space at the top bare.

5.  Sprinkle the vegan cheese over the surface of the pesto, followed by the veggies and other toppings, as desired.

6.  Top with baby spinach.

7.  Slowly roll the pizza into a cigar shape.  Sprinkle a little water onto the top of the pizza to help the dough seal together. 

8.  Use a sharp non-serrated knife to slice the pizza into rounds.

9.  Place the pizza rounds onto an oiled sheet tray.  At this point, you can decide to place a towel over the prepared rolls, place in a warm place and allow them to rise some more, then bake them.  Or you can put them in the oven right away at 375 degrees for about 15-22 minutes - which is what I did.

10.  Let them cool just until you are able to handle them safely.  Dip into warm marinara sauce or whatever else you like to eat with your pizza.  Depending on my mood, I may drizzle some sriracha over the top.  Yum!


Enjoy!

Koko

Some Things I've Been Baking Lately

Here are lots of vegan baked goods I have been baking over the past several months. When I was compiling this collage of photos and took a step back to look at them, I was very proud of myself. I know I have been working hard on all of these goodies, it's just great to really see it all come together. And this is really why I am so obsessed with taking pictures of everything I cook or bake. It is such a great feeling to come back and look at it and say, wow I did a great job! Most of these baked goods were made at my job - a few were made at home. All of them were made with lots of love and excitement! They really make me feel happy and confident that many of them would look great in a display case of my own! Take a few minutes to look at the pictures. Let me know what you think.

 

 

 

 



Maple Syrup Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies
Notice one Missing?

 

 



Close-Up of Apple Crisp Cupcakes with
Salted Caramel Frosting, Drizzled with Caramel Sauce



The tray of Baked Apple Crisp Cupcakes



These are so beautiful!



Finished Tray of Cupcakes.  Gorgeous!

 

Toasted Coconut-Almond Cake with Coconut Frosting



Basket of tasty baked goods: Coconut Chocolate Chip
Cookies & GF Coconut Macaroons

 

 



Crispy Double Chocolate Cookie



Nutella Mousse Filled Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Topping



Nutella Mousse Cupcakes topped with Toasted Hazelnuts



Snickers Bundt Cake

 

 



Gluten Free Cherry Crumb Bars



A Close-Up of the Delicious Bars!



Mocha Cake with Coffee Frosting



Double Chocolate Mocha Brownies



Vegan Tiramisu Cupcakes



I mean seriously - how beautiful are these guys?



Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies before baking

 

 



Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting & Raspberry Filling




Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.  So beautiful!



Beet Velvet Cupcakes

 

 



Raw Keylime Pie Mousse Cups



Pumpkin Roll Cake with Vegan
Cream Cheese Frosting



Beautiful swirls made of vegan cream cheese frosting



Pretty, pretty!



Chai Cupcakes with Spiced Frosting

 

 



Almond Joy Bundt Cake

 

 



Gluten Free, Soy Free, Raw Keylime Pie

 

Vegan birthday cake for my dad!  (Carrot Pineapple!)



Vegan Tiramisu Cups



Coconut Lime Cupcakes with Zesty Lime Frosting

 

 



So Zesty!



Gluten Free Chocolate Cookie Dough Truffles made with Chickpeas!



After portioning and freezing.






Smoothing out.



A blurry inside view of the truffle.

 

 



Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting



Topped with toasted hazelnuts



Close-up of the yummy cupcake



Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cream Pie in a Cookie Crust

 

 



Mocha Cookies with Coffee Icing

 

 



Kitchen Sink Cookie with Pretzels, Chocolate Chips, Peanut Butter
Chips and Kettle Chips

I hope you enjoyed these pretty pictures of tasty vegan baked goods!


Koko

Vegan Breakfast Sandwich: Tofu Egg Hollandaise

It is definitely no secret now that my Hubby and I plan to open our own vegan cafe here in Michigan.  We are working hard on it everyday it seems like.  In theory it doesn't seem so hard or involved - people open restaurants and other food businesses everyday.  But do they do it well?  Do they open simply because they like to eat?  Or because they see themselves as good cooks?  It definitely takes more than that to open a food establishment!  I have known since I was a teenager that I wanted to open up my own place.  It has certainly evolved over the years in regards to the theme.  I didn't always want to open up something vegan.  But I definitely know what I want now and have been working so hard over the last 10+ years to build experience and make it happen. 

 

 

I test recipes pretty much everyday.  Some days that means baking and decorating like 6 whole cakes, 10 different kinds of cookies, 5 different sandwiches, etc.  Some days that means only testing a smoothie or soup recipe.  Some are very involved, some are pretty simple and straightforward.  This is a recipe I tested recently.  As simple as it may look, it took quite a bit of time because each component was homemade.  And it was very tasty.  Hubbs and I had our own critiques, but both thought it was a great idea and definitely warranted further testing.  After I finish this post, it's time to work on the business some more.  Phew!  A lot of work, but it is going to be so worth it once we are open!  Can't wait!!

 

 





Crazy delicious!  And awesomely messy!
On a fresh baked vegan biscuit.



Fresh Baked Biscuit - it ended up being a bit too big for the sandwich.



Biscuit cut in half  - it looks so fresh!
And a juicy sliced tomato.



Tofu Egg cooking.



Almost done - just needs the sauce!  So pretty!

Hope you enjoyed the pics of the tasty sandwich!

Koko