Cheese Pinwheels are basically my one more excuse to eat Pizza!
Inspired by my maniacal love for pizza
Who doesn’t love pizza? While preferences might vary from completely authentic Italian style to very westernized versions, I think most people enjoy this pie in some form. For example, my family loves Indian style pies with substitutions for sauce such as saag or curry masala base or daal, toppings such as Indian style vegetables like alu gobi (potato cauliflower), bhindi (okra), alu baingan (potato eggplant), pakoras (fritters) or protein like tandoori chicken or paneer or fish, and finishing touches such as chopped cilantro or raw onions or a splash of lemon juice. I’m actively salivating as I think more about these Indian style pizzas.
~ The Indian style pizza deserves it’s own post - coming soon! ~
What’s my favorite pizza? I love pizza in many forms - from completely authentic from an unassuming non-english speaking restaurant in Italy to experimental versions in my kitchen. My favorite pie in North America is either at The Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley, CA or slices from so many amazing places in NYC (on my recent trip I relished this one). I also love making pizza at home. It is super easy but also tastes so much better than my generic local or chain restaurants. Since I enjoy cooking from scratch, I usually start with making my own dough and sauces. When I am maintaining an active sourdough culture, I use that for dough. Otherwise, I mostly follow a fast yeasted dough recipe from either Collective Works: Bread, Pastry, Cheese, Pizza or the Flour Water Salt Yeast cookbooks. The simple recipes (mainly consisting of flour, yeast, salt, water, olive oil) are easy to follow with a dough ready to use in as little as 2 hours (but longer fermentation is always better!).
How do I eat more pizza? In an effort to get more creative with pizza and entertain myself in the kitchen, I started experimenting with cheese pinwheels, inspired by the breads found every day at The Cheese Board Collective. I wanted to convert a cheesy slice of pizza into a handheld size bread roll that was also oozing with flavor from a simple topping/filling. After a few attempts, I succeeded with a version we all enjoyed. With each attempt, I drove around the city delivering cheesy breads to my friends who happily served as my tasters and offered constructive feedback (thanks y’all!).
How easy are cheese pinwheels? They are so easy I urge you to prepare some right away! I prepare a yeasted dough using all purpose bread flour with an overnight fermentation. You can follow any yeasted dough recipe you like or even purchase uncooked dough from the grocery store. Next divide up the dough, add your favorite toppings, and bake at 450C for 20-25 mins (depending on the oven). That’s it - an easy road to deliciousness in your mouth. My favorite toppings have ben a mixture of olive oil, raw red onions, nigella black seeds (for texture and visual appeal), salt, pepper, and lots of cheese (e.g. cheeses like asiago, gruyere, white cheddar, feta either combined or solo have been excellent).
In one version, I divided the dough into small pieces, flattened it on a baking sheet, and spread the mixture on the top (picture below features onions, nigella, feta, red pepper flakes, olive oil), pressed it down gently, and let it rest for 30 mins before baking at 450C for 20 mins.
While I enjoyed the soft chewy dough with a cheesy textured topping, I felt like the flavors and textures did not marry as well as I would like. I got creative and tried another version.
In my favorite version to date, I spread out the dough on a clean floured counter and stretched it with either my hands or with a rolling pin. I add my toppings over the entire dough, rolled it carefully into a log, cut it into small pieces, and lined them on their side on a baking sheet. These rested for ~45 mins before baking at 450C for ~20 mins. Here my toppings were white cheddar cheese, onions, nigella seeds, mustard seeds, salt, and olive oil.
This configuration effectively married the chewy dough texture with softened onions and crunchy nigella seeds for a complex mouthfeel and bite bursting with simple yet satisfying flavors. These pinwheels are delicious on their own but sometimes I dip them into a very hot sauce to add that extra zing in the spirit of living food life on the rocky edge.
In the future I plan to experiment with adding wet sauces (like tomato sauce, pesto, creamy curry for the Indian-style, chimichurri, Thai curry sauce, etc.), and veggies like peppers, spinach, olives, etc. to see how the pinwheel holds up to the moisture and bulk. If anything interesting transpires with these ideas, I’ll be sure to share!
In the meantime, I hope you will make these cheesy pinwheels to delight your taste buds and basically consume more pizza without the monotony or the guilt (hopefully).
Dish Debrief:
Is this my winner or disaster? It’s a win
How would I rate this dish out of 10? 8 out of 10
What would I change next time? experiment with different toppings (e.g. pear + white cheddar + balsamic glaze or caramelized onion + goat cheese + parsley)
Would I make this again? for sure