Pizza Roll Sandwiches With Salami, Cream Cheese & Rucola

I was ready to switch my heavier clothes to lighter ones today when, after waking up to a gray day, I retreated back to heavier layered clothing again. Just the other day, I had to stay in my short-sleeve shirt because it felt like summer just shoved spring out of the way.  It was hot.  With the heat, scenes of picnics and outdoor eating with the kids played in my mind.  It's the time of the year when we like eating quick and easy food under the olive trees outside our house. 

The kids reign in our house when the warm months arrive.  We start to live outdoors, only going back indoors when necessary.  There are more colors around the house too, with new flowers coming out and new flowering plants I bought to cover for the ones that didn't make it through winter.  The old plants go through major make-overs of trimming here and there. Weeds of all shapes and sizes are pulled out.  Innumerable garbage bags are filled up with old leaves, twigs and dirt.  The wooden tables & chairs are brushed & oiled.  The bikes  are wiped clean and tested for running again.  Ok, outdoors, here we are to live in your midst again.  It's that beautiful time of the year again.  Late spring, early summer. 

My husband went home with pizza rolls from the pizzeria one day that I fell in love with after my first bite.  It was, wow!  The first one I tried was this combination.  Salame, rughetta e Philadelphia. In Italy, they refer to the cream cheese as Philadelphia even if it's a brand.  There are others but this one is the most popular brand and considered the best among its counterparts.

I tried the other combinations he took home and they were excellent too.  But this particular one won my palate.  The flavors work perfectly together.  Needless to say, I had the strong urge to try my own hands in making it.  It was easy.  Just use the the pizza dough for the bread and make them as thin as possible, cook them fast in the oven then roll with the fillings. 

I really love the idea of these pizza roll sandwiches.  They are perfect to take out in picnics, kids love them and they are very easy to make. The only thing that takes time and a little effort is the preparation of the dough.  But once they are cooked, you can fill them up with anything.  

I am starting a series of ideas as fillings for the pizza roll sandwiches to get ready for the summer's picnics and outdoor eating.  Drop by once in a while to see what new ones I have posted.  For the meantime, let me leave you with my favorite.  

Have a wonderful weekend to all of you!

Pizza Roll Sandwiches With Salami, Cream Cheese & Rucola

Ingredients:
Makes 12 pizza roll sandwiches of about 14 - 15 cm. in length each

PIZZA DOUGH:

• 500 g. flour (tipo "00") + extra for sprinkling
• 250 ml. lukewarm water + extra if necessary
• 25 g. (1 cube) fresh baker's yeast (lievito di birra)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt 

FILLING:

• 480 g. salami
• 300 g. cream cheese like Philadelphia
• rucola

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING THE PIZZA DOUGH:

1. Make a little mountain of flour on a wooden board (or in a big bowl).  Mix in the salt.
2. Make a hole in the middle.
3. In a small bowl, mix the baker's yeast with the water.  Mix until completely melted.  
4. Pour the water with the yeast in the hole little by little.
5. Use your pointing finger to mix the flour with the liquid.  Start from the center going outwards in a circular motion.  Add the extra virgin olive oil.  Add more water if necessary.
6. Knead until you have a compact ball of dough.
7. Put in a big bowl and cover with a cloth.  Let it rise between 2 - 4 hours at room temperature.  You can also leave it overnight.  If you are in a hurry, put it in the oven at 35 degrees Celsius for one hour.
8. When the dough has risen, divide it into 6 equal parts.  It should be elastic.  
9. Sprinkle the wooden board with flour. Flatten the dough (1 of the 6 you divided) as thin as possible because the thinner the pizza is, the easier it will be to roll it when it's cooked. You can also work on each dough with your hands by flattening it with your hands and stretching the sides little by little.  To see how to do it, watch this video that I picked up in YouTube.   
10. Transfer the flattened pizza dough on a pizza pan with the help of the rolling pin.  
11. Bake at a pre-heated oven of 200 degrees Celsius for 2 - 3 minutes or until cooked through but still soft.

DIRECTIONS FOR COMPOSING THE PIZZA ROLL SANDWICHES:

1. When the pizza is not hot anymore, place it flat on a plate.
2. Spread the cream cheese.  
3. Distribute the rucola, covering the cream cheese.
4. Put the salami on top, covering all the space.
5. Roll tightly then slice in the middle to divide.