Pizza scrolls

Miss Six and I did a bit of kitchen time together today. We made something for lunch that is ideal for lunchboxes, though we're still a month away from school starting. Master Four is the one who is really enthusiastic about spending time in the kitchen but he's down the beach with his grandparents this week. Next week Miss Six will have her grandparent's attention all to herself, so no doubt Master Four and I will have flour up to our elbows then.

Meanwhile, the good old scroll makes an appearance. It seems such an old fashioned item the scroll. Only ever remember coffee scrolls and Vegemite scrolls in my childhood though, neither of which really appealed. These pizza versions I am sure I'd have loved!

The filling for these can be whatever takes your fancy, and perhaps if I were making them for a school lunchbox, I'd try to focus on adding something green to the mix, but it's the holidays, so the pizza trilogy that children everywhere seem to love: ham, cheese and pineapple, is the way we're going. For what it's worth the bought sauce I used is a roasted vegetable one! We're always trying to get those vegetables in, we mums! The recipe (slightly altered) comes from taste.com.au.

Ham and Pineapple Pizza Scrolls

300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
90g butter, cut into cubes
160ml (2/3 cup) buttermilk (original recipe uses regular milk if that's easier)
Plain flour, to dust
60g (1/4 cup) tomato-based sauce (I used a commercial pasta sauce)
80g (1 cup) coarsely grated cheddar
150g sliced ham
1 x 225g can pineapple pieces, drained on paper towel

Preheat your oven to 210C.

Put the flour, butter and salt into a food processor* and process until the ingredients have combined to look like breadcrumbs.

With the motor running, add most of the buttermilk down the funnel, hold some of the milk back in case it's not needed. The dough is pretty much a scone dough, so you don't want to overwork it. As soon as there is enough milk that the dough looks like it's going to form a ball, stop the processor.

Lightly flour the work surface and finish bringing the dough together. Form it into a log shape and then roll it out into a rectangle that is about 30cm x 40cm.

Spread the tomato sauce over the dough, then sprinkle over all the other ingredients evenly.

Roll the dough up carefully along the longer edge. Brush the edge with a little more milk to help seal the edge, unless you forget like we did, and press down (ours held together pretty well regardless).

Using a sharp knife, score the log into twelve equal portions, then cut through being careful not to squash the scrolls too much. Place them on a lined baking sheet, and in need, reshape them into rounds.

Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes (ours took 20). Remove to cool slightly before eating, or completely before storing.

Makes 12

*Why use a processor for such a simple mixture? I cannot stand rubbing butter into flour. I think I would rather iron The Lovely Man's shirts holding the iron between my teeth than rubbing in. Mostly because my hands start to ache (carpel tunnel), but that one step, while easy takes just that much too long the old fashioned way. I can do it, I choose not to, so sue me! I do like to cut the milk into the dough with a round bladed knife, so I lose that pleasurable experience, but I would rather miss out on the cutting in, thank you, than have to rub in. I think I have made myself clear where I stand on this matter!


Miss Six was very pleased with the results, and her baby brother Master Nearly-Two certainly was, he managed to finish two which is no mean feat! Nice to know the leftovers will make a handy snack too.