Party Food + Hidden Vegies!!

It is birthday party season in these here parts, and when a tray of food is requested or required to assist the party hostess, I always make these - Pizza Rolls.

I love them! They meet all my essential kids' party food requirements:

- they are easy to prepare beforehand, freeze, and then reheat

- you are always left with an empty plate (adults like them too!)

- they are low in fat (provided you use reduced fat ingredients, of course!)

and, best of all in my mind,

they contain Hidden Vegies!!!

In the 5 years I have been making these I haven't been following a recipe but an idea a friend gave me. These amounts of ingredients are what work for me - by experimenting with amounts and different fillings, you can adapt this to work for you too. One piece of advice about the cheese, though - don't put in too much or it just melts out of the roll and onto your baking sheet or oven floor! Trust me!! 

Pizza Rolls

makes 24 rolls

3 sheets reduced fat puff pastry
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup tomato sauce/ketchup*
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrot
1 1/2 cups finely grated zucchini
2/3 cup grated mushrooms
1 1/2 cups grated reduced fat cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan forced. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Without removing the plastic backing, thaw the pastry just enough so it is no longer solid - you will need to roll it up, so the pastry can't be too hard or too soft. Place one of the pastry sheets on a chopping board.

Combine the tomato paste and sauce in a small bowl. Spread the pastry sheet with 1 heaped tablespoon of the tomato sauce mix, leaving about 2-3 cm of the upper edge of the pastry free of sauce, and 1cm on the lower edge, as can be seen in the photo below.

Take about 1/2 cup of grated carrot and spread it evenly over the tomato sauce.

Take about 1/2 cup of the grated zucchini, squeeze out the excess liquid into a spare bowl, and then spread it over the carrot. Follow this with some of the grated mushroom.

Finish with about 1/2 cup of the grated cheddar cheese and use your hand to flatten it all down, still leaving the upper and lower edges of the pastry free from filling, as in the photo below.

Now it's time to start rolling your pastry. I use the backing paper to help me, removing it as I roll. It takes a bit of practice but it is possible!

Once the roll is complete, pinch along the edge to stick it to the wall of the roll so the whole thing doesn't come apart in the oven and spill out every where! You could also use a pastry brush to apply lightly beaten egg along the join to stick the pastry but, given the number of children with food allergies, I prefer just to pinch it together.

Using a serrated knife, cut the roll in half, cut these pieces in half again, and then once more. You should end up with 8 pieces. Place these on their sides evenly spaced on the lined baking sheet.

Repeat these steps for the second and third pieces of pastry.

Once all the pieces are placed on the baking sheet, bake in the oven for about 14 minutes or until golden and cooked.

Remove from the oven and cool for about 10 minutes before eating. Yum!!

Now, if you want to freeze them for a later date, only bake them for 11 or 12 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature, place in an airtight container and freeze for up to two months. When you want to reheat, remove them from your freezer and thaw to room temperature before placing in a 200°C fan forced oven for about 6 minutes or so.

Yum Yum Yum!!!

Pizza Rolls, anyone?

Sam xx

 * I like to use my homemade spicy tomato sauce