Cheesy Bits

I was browsing through this cookbook a few weeks ago at the library, and I found a recipe that I thought my ultra-picky stepson might like. Using refrigerated breadstick dough, string cheese and bottled marinara sauce, it was called "mini-calzones". Basically, you wrap the dough around halved string cheese, and bake, then serve with the sauce for dipping.

I've blogged about my opinions of convenience foods before, so of course you know, I'd have to put my own twist on this one. I looked briefly for "pop'n'fresh" breadstick dough in the store, but couldn't find any here locally. So I made my own dough with the following ingredients (my breadmaking process is here)

• 3/4 cup very warm water
• 1 TBSP active dry yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 2 or 3 cups all purpose or unbleached flour
• 1 TBSP olive oil

In addition to the bread dough, you'll need  7 mozzarella string cheese sticks cut in half length wise and your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce. You might also like to add some other pizza toppings. I made about half of mine with pepperoni in addition to the cheese.

This recipe made about 14 cheesy bits.
 
 After your dough is mixed and has risen once, roll into snake-like strips and wrap around each half slice of cheese

Squeeze the dough around the cheese stick (and a piece of pepperoni, mushroom, pepper or other topping if you like) and seal the ends. Try to seal it well, so the cheese won't ooze out as it melts. It won't ruin the experience if it does ooze a bit, but it will make a bit of a mess.

Place on lightly greased baking sheet or pizza stone, and let rise briefly.

Bake at 400°F for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with hot marinara sauce for dipping.

We LOVED this. I made it for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, and the 14 little cheese-filled bread sticks was just barely enough for the three of us. When I make it again, I'll make a few more (using a full cup of water for the dough) or serve it as an appetizer or with a dinner salad.

Bon appetit!

Lorie