If you bought into the media hype, you knew winter storm Elliot was going to kill us all. Comparisons to the blizzard of ’78 were flying everywhere, and I understand there was nowhere nearby to get eggs, milk, or bread. In reality, we only got about an inch and a half of snow. But the cold. The cold meant doing everything possible to stay inside! With wind chills approaching -40, traveling any further than the sheep barn was not in the cards for us.
But, Xenia had foraged some winter oyster mushrooms ahead of the storm, and I had some old, leftover Neapolitan style pizza dough. It was really too old to make good pizzas, and since the pizza oven is an outdoor only appliance, I wasn’t going to be making pizzas anyway. But, a savory onion, mushroom, and cheese roll for breakfast? That sounds perfect for a cold day next to the wood stove!
And, these were definitely a hit! I made six rolls, and between the two of us, we ate all of them before lunch time. I might have to make extra pizza dough just to have some get old enough to do this again!
Print Recipe
Savory Onion Mushroom and Cheese Rolls
A great way to use old pizza dough, some cheese, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and whatever else you might have on hand. Really, I just winged these, and they were great. You could easily ad lib all sorts of other options.
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and allow to come to near room temperature. Butter a 9 inch square baking dish.
Put the onions in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add salt to taste, and a splash of water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are a rich deep brown, sticky, and quite soft, about 25 minutes. You may need to add more water to prevent the onions from burning before they get fully carmelized.
Move the onions to one side of the pan. Add a little butter to the open side, let it melt, then add the mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until they begin to carmelize, about 10 minutes. Stir the onions and mushrooms together and remove from the heat.
Stack the two dough balls together on a lightly floured board. Roll them into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
Brush the dough with melted butter, leaving about 1/2" along one short side unbuttered. Spread pepperjack cheese slices across the dough, then top with the onion and mushroom mixture.
Starting on the short end opposite the un-buttered one, tightly roll the dough like a jelly roll. Cut in half cross-wise, then cut each half in thirds. Set the rolls cut-side down in the baking dish.
Cover loosely with a towel and let rise at room temperature for about 45 minutes.
Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, then a pinch of herbs de provence.
Bake until golden brown. Mine took about 18 minutes, but ovens, filling, and dough all vary, so just keep an eye and nose on them.
Let cool just enough not to burn your fingers, which is a pretty difficult wait. Serve however you like. We recommend just grabbing one and eating out of hand.
