Vegan Pizza Rolls

I am a 90’s kid and there’s no reason for me to deny it. I spent many an afternoon in front of a TV watching cartoons with a box of Totino’s pizza rolls. I’m sure most other 90’s kids remember watching shows like Hey Arnold and Rugrats after school, although maybe the pizza rolls were a particular remnant of my own childhood.

I always have fun recreating foods like this and pizza rolls have been on my to-do list for years. I very specifically remember the thin and crispy, oily crust, so I knew a pizza crust wasn’t going to work here. I made a basic pasta dough, but used a bit of vital wheat gluten to firm it up. Alternatively, you could just use bread flour, but it’s not something I usually have on hand.

I didn’t get any pictures of the rolling and filling process, but it’s the same as making ravioli. YouTube is a great help for beginners if you’ve never made ravioli before, but it’s pretty simple. Dough, filling, and dough, and just seal around the edges.

I fried these, but they could possibly be baked on a parchment lined pan. The crispy crust effect won’t be the same so as long as you’re not eating them daily, I recommend a shallow fry. This recipe makes about 12, but you can easily double it and keep the rest refrigerated after cooking until you’re ready to eat them.

Be sure to check out the Vegan Meringue Group on Facebook for more aquafaba recipes and a thorough FAQ.

Recipe adapted from here
Ingredients:
Dough:
4.5 ounces all purpose flour + 1 tsp vital wheat gluten (about 1 cup)
2 tbsp aquafaba
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water

Filling:
1/2 cups vegan cheese, diced finely (store bought or homemade)
4 tbsp marinara sauce

Oil for frying

Directions:
1. Combine flour, vital wheat gluten, salt, and aquafaba in a food processor fitted with a dough hook. Blend until it forms small crumbles, then add water slowly while still processing. Dough will come together into a ball (you may not need all the water.) Knead in food processor for another 15 seconds until smooth.
2. Let dough rest wrapped in plastic wrap for 30 minutes. After resting, divide dough into two portions, and rolling out on a lightly floured work surface. Roll each portion to about 1/8″ thickness, or a little thicker, in a long rectangular shape.
3. Combine filling ingredients and dollop 1 tbsp sized portions along the dough. Wet around the filling, and top with the second portion of rolled dough. Press to seal around each area of filling, and cut with a knife to separate each “pizza roll.” Repeat rolling and filling process with extra dough leftover from cutting.
4. Heat about 1 cup of neutral oil in a large cast iron skillet until lines are moving through the oil (or 350°F.) Fry each roll until brown and flip to cook both sides. Drain on paper towels and serve. Don’t try to avoid burning your mouth, it’s just a consequence of eating pizza rolls.

Tags: appetizer, aquafaba, cheese, copycat recipe, dinner, food, fried, italian, marinara, pizza rolls, plant-based, recipe, snack, vegan, vegan cheese, vegetarian