Thursday, January 19, 2012

Spinach Stuffed Rolls

I made my own variation on this Spinach Twist from the Sisters Cafe to rave reviews all around. The boys around here were rather surprised that they liked them so much. Drew commented that it was the bacon and salt that made them so delicious, so I won't tell him that there was no bacon and they were still delicious.

While I have made the original version and liked it I made a few variation this time that I think put them over the top. The original recipe called for 8 oz of cream cheese, but I had half a brick of cream cheese and half a log of goat cheese so that's what I used. I think the goat cheese made all the difference in flavor. I also upped the spinach and decreased the meat. Then I opted for the traditional cinnamon roll style because it is easier than the original twist and caused less trepidation for my kids.

1 pizza crust, rolled into a rectangle
3 oz cream cheese
3 oz goat cheese
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 egg beaten
4 cups fresh spinach
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped ham (I used deli meat)
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine cream cheese, goat cheese, basil, rosemary, and egg in a small bowl. Spread over rolled pizza dough. (You may need to soften at half power in the microwave for 30 seconds or so to make spreadable.) Saute onions and mushrooms in butter until translucent. Add spinach and saute until wilted. Add salt and pepper and ham. Spread spinach mixture over the dough. Sprinkle parmesan over top of spinach. Roll up and slice like cinnamon rolls. Place on a lined jelly roll pan and bake for 20-30 minutes.