Pizza Roll Bread

This yeast bread is basically a rolled-up pizza in loaf form. Homemade dough gets rolled thin, spread with a cooked Italian sausage and tomato paste filling, layered with mozzarella and Romano, then rolled tight and bent into a crescent before baking.

The dough is straightforward: flour, yeast, warm water, a little oil and sugar. It kneads up smooth and elastic, and the rise gives it enough stretch to roll thin without tearing. That thinness matters because you want a high filling-to-bread ratio in every slice.

Cooking the sausage filling first and letting it cool completely before spreading is key. Hot filling on raw dough creates steam pockets that leave gaps and make the roll lose its shape. Cool filling stays put and lets the cheeses melt evenly as the bread bakes.

Kitchen Tips

• Roll the dough into a true rectangle, not an oval. Straight edges mean even filling distribution and a uniform spiral when you cut into it.
• Pinch the seam and tuck the ends under firmly. Any gaps let cheese and sausage leak out onto the baking sheet during the 45-minute bake.
• Let the baked roll cool for a full 30 minutes before slicing. The melted cheese needs time to set, or it pulls out in strings instead of staying in each slice.
• A serrated bread knife gives the cleanest slices through the layered filling.

Variations

• Pepperoni pizza roll: Skip the sausage and layer sliced pepperoni with the tomato paste and cheese for a classic flavor.
• Veggie version: Replace the sausage with sauteed mushrooms, bell peppers, and black olives for a meatless alternative.