Take-out Tuesday, Italian Spirals

the Painted Apron

1 year ago

To celebrate my birthday last Sunday

I invited family and a few special friends over

for a Birthday Christmas Cocktail Party

We chatted and exchanged birthday and Christmas gifts

One of our friends is a very talented musician

and he played Christmas songs on the piano and his fiddle

Gingerbread house decorating stations were set up in the kitchen

for CC and Charlie Brown

The kids had fun creating the houses while the adults sipped and noshed

We had some of our very favorite apps,

a Snow Pea Tree

{Instead of splitting the peas and filling them,

I spread one pea pod with the cheese Aloutte spread

and topped it with another pea~quicker and easier!}

The cheese spread is from Trader Joe’s,

cake bites from a local pastry shop, and cookies from a guest

Click on the highlighted recipe titles for

Pork Belly Bites and Coconut Shrimp

Italian Spirals are a new app

Spiral type appetizers are one of my go to appetizers

I made this Italian version for a party we had several weeks ago

Everyone brought food and we had so much

that I decided not to bake the spirals

I wrapped up the dough log and put it in the freezer,

fingers crossed this would work for a gathering during the holidays

Saturday I put the frozen log into the refrigerator to thaw overnight

Right before the party I sliced the thawed log

The dough was very sticky and the spirals were not perfect shapes 😬

but I hoped baking would take care of that 🤞

They baked fine and tasted great!

Have you ever frozen raw crescent roll dough?

I would love to hear your thoughts~

I’m thinking Puff pastry would be a better choice

for freezing something like this since it’s freezer friendly

I’ve also read similar recipes that say to bake them

and then freeze them and reheat as needed,

but I haven’t tried that…

These Italian spirals are made with a crescent roll dough sheet,

marinara sauce, prosciutto, pesto, Mozzarella and Parmesan

First spread the dough with marinara,

I used Rao’s Italian Sausage and Mushroom

because I had a partially used jar in the fridge

Top marinara with prosciutto slices

Dab pesto over prosciutto and spread it around with the back of a spoon

Top with cheeses

Roll into a long log* and wrap and stick the log in the refrigerator

or freezer for 20-30 minutes to make slicing easier

*You can also roll up from the shorter side for larger spirals,

see notes at the bottom of the printable recipe

Italian Spirals

These rolls are full of Italian flavors of marinara sauce, pesto, prosciutto and cheese

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword crescent roll spirals, easy party appetizer, Italian spiral rolls, prosciutto rolls,

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Servings 20 spirals

Equipment

parchment paper

Ingredients

1 can crescent roll dough sheet*
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup pesto sauce
4 oz prosciutto slices
1/2 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

Instructions

Place dough onto a large piece of parchment paper forming a rectangle
Spread with a thin layer of marinara sauce
Top with prosciutto slices
Dab pesto on prosciutto and spread it into a layer with the back of a spoon
Sprinkle with cheeses
Starting with a long side roll dough into a long log, using the paper to help roll if necessary***
Wrap dough in the parchment paper and place log in the freezer for 20 minutes to make slicing easier**
Cut log into 1/2 inch slices and place on a parchment lined baking sheet
Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, check and continue baking for 5-10 more minutes until dough is cooked and golden. Baking time can vary due to ingredients amounts and type of dough used
Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 18-20 appetizer slices or 8-10 larger slices for main dish servings, see ***note below

Notes

*you can also use crescent roll dough triangles pinched together into a large rectangle, or pizza dough, or puff pastry and adjust baking time depending on dough

Ingredient amounts do not have to be exact, adjust to taste

**you can also refrigerate the log up to 24 hours ahead before baking, or wrap the log tightly and freeze for 3 months. If frozen, dough will be very sticky when thawed but will still bake fine

***you can also roll the dough up from the short side to make larger slices for main dish servings