Chicken Pesto Pizza Rolls

I was trying to figure out what to make for my first post and I thought that it should be dedicated to pizza in some way since it’s my favorite go to food. I was browsing pizza recipes and found this recipe for homemade pizza rolls from Carpe Season, which I adapted into chicken pesto pizza rolls.

I grew up on pizza and I remember coming home from school and looking for anything from Hot Pockets and Bagel Bites, to leftovers and frozen pizza. If it resembled pizza in any way I would probably eat it, well as long as there were no veggies involved. Chicken and pesto are one of my favorite combinations so I thought why not make it into a pizza roll. Convenience is usually associated with pizza rolls, pop them in the microwave and boom, 2 minutes later you have a snack. While the homemade version is not as convenient, it more than makes up for it with its taste and texture.

This recipe only made 12 larger rolls and that’s because I used about 2 tablespoons to fill each roll.

I adapted this recipe by using pesto instead of tomato sauce and using chicken as my “pizza topping”. I didn’t have any thyme on hand so I substituted it for parsley.

• 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 4 mini sweet chili peppers (minced)
• 3 tbsp. of pesto
• 3 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 1 tsp. of pepper
• 1 tsp. of oregano
• 1 tsp. of basil
• 2 tsp. of red pepper flakes
• 2 dozen egg roll or wonton wrappers
• 1/4 cup of fresh parsley (minced)
• 1 cup of shredded cheese (I used colby-jack because that’s what I had on hand)
• Vegetable or olive oil for frying
• Total prep and cook time 45 – 60 minutes

Directions

Prep/cooking

Start by mincing the garlic cloves and sweet chili peppers as small as possible and put them in a small bowl to be added to the chicken later. Next, cut the chicken into pieces as small as possible and begin to fry them on medium heat. Season the chicken with the salt, pepper, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes. I like a hint of spiciness in almost everything and that’s the reason for the pepper flakes. While the chicken is cooking, continue to chop or break apart the chicken into smaller pieces. When the chicken is nearly done, add the minced garlic and chili peppers and cook for about two more minutes. Turn off the burner, add the pesto and cheese and mix with the chicken and peppers, the pan will still be hot enough to melt the cheese and warm the pesto.

 Assembly

Have a cutting board or plate ready to roll and place finished rolls on. Put a damp towel over the finished rolls and one over the egg roll wrappers to keep them from drying out. Fill a small cup or bowl of water, this will be used to seal the edges of the rolls. Start by placing a tablespoon of the filling (1 for smaller & 2 for larger rolls) in the center of the wrapper. Put your fingers in the water and moisten the edges of the roll. Fold the wrapper over the filling and tuck under the filling as far as possible, then continue to roll the wrapper until you can’t roll any more. Push any air out by gently pressing on the top of the roll and working towards either side of the roll and then seal the roll by pressing firmly on each side of the roll. Next, cut off extra wrapping and lightly moisten the edges again to ensure a secure seal. Continue to assemble pizza rolls until there is no more filling.

Final Cooking

Fill a pot with vegetable oil about 1.5 inches deep and heat to 375 F.  Place a few pizza rolls in the pot, (keep the temperature between 350 F and 375 F, this will depend on how many rolls you place in and how big your pot is of course. Flip the rolls until both sides brown evenly which takes about 30 seconds to 1 minutes. Make sure to use a spoon or utensil that has holes in it so that the hot oil drains before placing  the rolls on a plate with a dry paper towel. Repeat until all the rolls are fried.

Let the rolls cool a few minutes before serving and garnish your homemade chicken pesto pizza rolls with fresh parsley.

Music

Mat Zo released his album Damage Control last week and WOW, I was blown away. The album ranges from soothing trance to upbeat house, some trap and everything in between. EDM has been highly criticised with producers using cookie cutters to create songs that are hard to tell one from another, that is certainly not the case with Damage Control. The diversity is what makes this album so special. It’s easy to tell that Mat Zo truly understands and loves making music.