During my formative years in northern West Virginia (WVU area) a major staple snack waspepperoni rolls. There were a few brands available and you could get them at almost any convenience store/beer garden/gas station. They were delivered from local bakeries.
A pepperoni roll is pretty much what it sounds like: a small loaf of bread with pepperoni baked into the middle of it. They were created as an easy lunch for coal miners. It could be complemented with cheese or peppers or both. You could slice it down the middle and add whatever compliment you wanted.
My favorite were the yeasty lightweight, almost like white bread-like rolls with pepperoni and cheese. Some preferred the heavier, more biscuit like loaves.
I still make them today for occasional snacks with the standard bread dough from my bread maker.
My wife makes pepperoni and sausage rolls. Usually at Xmastime, but occasionally for other occasions. She’s used a variety of doughs including pizza dough.
A calzone is a folded pizza (to make a half moon shape). It gets crispy on the outside. A pizza roll could be a long roll, a loaf, or really any bread-like shape and could be anywhere on the soft-hard spectrum.
Hmmm… I guess the easiest way to say this is that a pepperoni roll would be like a loaf of Wonderbread with a pepperoni core vice a pizza crust folded over some toppings.
Checking in from Western PA. My wife makes pepperoni rolls. Not very often because they are really bad for you but we have them as we watch the Super Bowl and a couple times during the year as well. When her friends invite us to parties they always request some as well. You can buy them in some places around here but home made is always better.
I’ve eaten them many times over the years but never heard anything about them being a “West Virginia coal miner food”. Usually they are sold as pepperoni bread, not exclusively rolls. I usually buy them at the Super WalMart or in the Corbo’s Italian Food section of the local market. I always figured they were an Italian thing. The dough is just regular bread dough, which is very different from a calzone. And they are different from the strombolis I’ve gotten at pizza places. No sauce, for one thing, and very little cheese, if any. Basically just bread dough with pepperoni rolled inside it.
Oh good lord. How did I not know about these? Found a recipe online using frozen bread dough. I know what I’m doing tomorrow.
I took a year off college and worked full-time+ in a pizza restaurant. We served breadsticks with pepperoni rolled inside and I occasionally still have dreams bout those. I think this will be right up my alley.
This thread explains so much about First Strike rations. One of the sandiches in them is a Pepperoni Sticksandwich, and I could just not figure out where they got that idea from. Now I know.
Cook’s Country had a recipe a few months back. Looked really good so I bought some pepperoni sticks and realized that I was supposed to make dough. Wasnt gonna do that, so I bought the Pillsbury roll up pizza dough, quartered the pepperoni stick, stuck em in the oven for 12 minutes… Perfection!
They are spectacularly bad for you. I would love to find a maker of turkey pepperoni sticks so I can have them again.
I live in North Central WV - I don’t think I could find a grocery store or gas station that doesn’t sell them. I enjoy them, but don’t eat them all that often.
Double Dave’s Pizzaworks hereabouts makes pepperoni rolls, although I think they spell it “Peproni Rolls” for trademark purposes or something. Anyway, they’re mighty tasty. And come to think of it, Tuesday is “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” day; I may have to get some for dinner and leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Same here. A loaf of pepperoni bread was my ultimate go-to junk food when I was going to be crazy bad. Oh and are they bad. So bad, so good. So greasy, so spicy, so bready. Mmmm…
top layer: dough
third layer: cheese
second layer: pepperoni
bottom layer: dough
Now roll 'em up and bake 'em.
Other concoctions are more akin to a dough pouch containing ingredients which often includes sauce and the cooking methods vary and can included frying.