Pizza Rolls for Lunch

Since my eldest grandson started school last Fall, we've packed his lunch most days. He is very easy going about what we pack for him, but I feel bad when he gets peanut butter and jelly sandwiches several days in a row because we need to get groceries. 

This morning I made up some pizza crust dough and used the last of a jar of pizza sauce from the frig to make these homemade pizza rolls.

I didn't take step-by-step pics, but it's simple. I divided the dough in two and then rolled each half into a rectangle. Shredded cheese was sprinkled all over each piece of dough. I mixed the pizza sauce with a pound of browned ground beef and divided that between the two pieces of dough, spreading it out evenly and trying to get it clear to the ends of the rectangle. Then roll it up on the long side and slice into rounds about an inch or a little more than that wide. 

They were placed on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat, then I sprinkled a tiny bit of grated Parmesan cheese on top of each one and baked them at 400° for almost 25 minutes. 

It was my intention when I started these that I would use some turkey pepperoni left from the package they used to make pizzas for supper on Saturday, but there was no leftover pepperoni. Next time. The hamburger worked okay and didn't fall out of the rolls because I mixed it with the sauce before putting it on the dough. Obviously, any topping you like on a pizza could be used for these. We have some garlic cream sauce left from Saturday's pizza-thon, and I think I may make some more using that and some cooked mushrooms and onions. Yum!

These little things are pretty tasty on their own or dipped in some Ranch, which is how I ate two of them for my lunch. I put a couple in the cupboard for school lunch tomorrow, put a dozen in the freezer (in bags of two), and left several in a container on the counter for after-school snack today. 

You can just bake the roll without making slices, and the kids like that, too. I just don't think the center gets done enough without really drying out the outside. 

These aren't necessarily a quick think to make, if you factor in the one hour rise time for the dough, but they are easy. They'll be fine to eat at room temperature for school lunch, too. I'll thaw the frozen ones overnight in the frig, then by the time he's ready to eat them, they'll be perfect.