Eating Healthier in Today's World

Savory Roll-Up Breads and Buns

Our last post featured the sweet, gooey, sticky buns or roll-ups that we all love to eat, so today I thought we would talk about changing the fillings to make a savory roll-up instead.  These make a wonderful quick lunch to replace the mundane sandwich and are a real favorite snack for the after-school crowd.  They are equally easy to grab and go if you are on the run.  They can be made ahead and frozen and just thawed individually as you need them making them very convenient for the busy mom. 

Most of us are familiar with cinnamon raisin bread rolled up pinwheel style and baked. Stromboli is a savory version made with meats, cheeses, and sauces.  Use these recipes to make stromboli from scratch or make them in smaller sizes to serve as subway-type sandwiches or larger loaves to slice into individual servings.  Be creative with the ingredients! Try a flavored bread like Vegetable Bread and switch cooked meats, cheeses and vegetables to fit your tastes.  By the way, several of these recipes are from our new cookbook, Cooking and Baking with Fresh Ground Flour.

To start you can choose what kind of dough you would like to use making your roll-ups.  We recommend making it in our Bosch Universal Plus Bread Mixer of coarse.  I prefer either the 100% Whole Wheat Bread Dough or the Whole Wheat Roll Recipe, but you can use a Basic White Bread recipe or add herbs to any one of these dough to change the flavour of the bread itself.  We will roll out the dough into a large rectangle the same way we do with the cinnamon buns and then add your filling to within 1/2 inch of the edges.  Again it is your choice which whay you roll the dough, jelly-roll style, either long ways for larger buns or across for smaller roll-ups. 

One of our favorite fillings for these Pizza Roll-Ups is this simple recipe using 2 cups of grated Mozzarella Cheese ( I use the Slicer/Shredder for the Bosch with the large grate blade to grate all soft cheeses), a drained 8 oz. can of mushrooms and a little oregano.  Top the dough with the cheese and sprinkle on the oregano and add the mushrooms.  Drizzle some olive oil over top and add some fine grated parmesan cheese (also done with the fine grate blade of the Slicer/Shredder).  Roll up the dough and seal the ends and slice them with a knife or dental floss and let rise 1/2 hr. and bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 to 45 min.. 

Another Roll-Up recipe can be made with Turkey or Ham, using deli meat sliced very thin.  We spread the dough out and add a light layer of Dijon mustard.  We place the ham or turkey cold cuts (smoked turkey is really good) on top and sprinkle with 2 cups of Swiss Cheese.  Drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle lightly with oregano.  Roll up and proceed the same way as above.  This one really mimics the flavours of a a good ham and cheese sandwich. 

You can also try this recipe for Stromboli bread or pizza bread that has a some spinach added for more nutrition.  For a variation to your Savory Roll-ups try this Turkey Sausage Roll-up or my personal favorite Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Roll-Ups.  Like I said earlier, be creative and I am sure you can come up with a combination that will please even the most discerning member of your family.