Pesto Pizza Pinwheels

Well, the hockey gathering has ended. Lana is curled up next to next to me, completely spent. Not only did we have the food that I made, but we had burgers, dogs, and the best part of the night - venison!!!

One of the guys on Dan's team is a hunter and brought us some some fresh venison steaks and sausages (currently in the freezer awaiting the perfect recipe), and some fresh marinated venison that we grilled up. Sooooo goooooood.

Anyways, one of the things I made today were some pesto pizza pinwheels. The original recipe had a really healthy dough made from scratch, but I've posted in the past that dough in my nemesis. Even with store-bought pizza dough, it just never works out for me. No matter if I let it get to room temp or make sure my surface is clean and floured, dough just never wants to cooperate. I almost reconsidered making these, but I went for it anyways. I didn't use a homemade dough, I went for the Pillsbury dough, to save time and frustration. Let me tell you, it worked perfectly! The Pillsbury dough is so easy to spread and roll out how you want it, without shrinking right back into place. You could make these however you want. Throw in some sauce for a more traditional pizza roll, add more toppings if you please. I stuck with the pesto (from a jar), pepperoni, and cheese with some marinara to dip into. I've made my own pesto before, which is pretty easy, but today was all about cleaning and making several things, so time savers were a must.

Pesto Pizza Pinwheels
adapted from Recipe Girl
makes 16 pinwheels

2 cans Pillsbury pizza dough
1 small jar prepared pesto (I used maybe half the jar)
2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese
Pepperoni

Marinara for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease two baking sheets.
2. Grease your surface your working on to make it easier to move around and roll up. I worked on a large cutting board I had. Roll out one pizza dough. Press it down to stretch it out to how large you want it.
3. Spread a few big spoonfuls of pesto over the dough. Top with pepperoni and about 3/4 cups of cheese. Roll up at the longer edge. Cut into 8 pieces, discard the ends where it's mostly dough. Play the pinwheels flat on the greased baking sheet. Sprinkle a bit more cheese on top.
4. Repeat with the other pizza dough, pesto, pepperoni and cheese.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden. Serve with marinara sauce.