Pizza Pinwheels — Game Day Bites for the Sundays That Matter Most

Packers season is in full swing and Sunday dinners at my parents' have taken on their full ritual form. Same every week: game at noon, food at halftime or whenever Mom decides it's ready, second half on the couch, mostly dad and me yelling at the TV while Mom and Megan have what sounds like a completely different and more interesting conversation at the kitchen table.

This Sunday I brought food for the first time in a few weeks. Made żurek — sour rye soup — which is a little unusual for a game day spread but I'd been wanting to make it all week and I wasn't going to let a Packers game stop me. Żurek is one of those soups that sounds weird until you try it: fermented rye flour base, white sausage, hard-boiled egg, maybe some potato. It's tangy and filling and deeply, fundamentally Polish. Dad looked at it skeptically, then ate two bowls.

Packers lost. I try not to let sports affect my mood too much anymore — I'm thirty-seven days away from thirty-seven, Danny used to say that watching guys get rich playing a game and then being upset about it was a waste of a Tuesday. He was seventeen when he said that, which tells you something about Danny. But I still yelled at the TV. Some habits.

At the brewery this week we started development on a winter porter. I love porter season. Dark beer, chocolate and coffee notes, made for drinking when it's cold outside. I've been thinking about doing a limited run with a Polish twist — maybe adding some smoked kielbasa wood chips to the conditioning tank for a hint of smoke. Marcus thinks I'm either a genius or completely out of my mind, possibly both, which is the most encouraging feedback I've gotten about a brewing idea in a while.

Wedding planning continues. We finally started looking at invitations. Megan wants something elegant with a small botanical illustration. I want something that doesn't cost as much as a car payment. We're going to find the middle ground. That is what engagement is, I've learned — finding the middle ground with someone you love on approximately four hundred decisions you never knew needed to be made.

Look, the żurek was the main event — but you can’t show up to a Packers Sunday with just one thing and expect everyone to pace themselves before halftime. I tucked a tray of pizza pinwheels into the bag alongside the soup, and honestly they disappeared before Dad even got skeptical about the żurek. There’s something about a warm, cheesy, roll-and-slice situation that just belongs on a Sunday table full of people half-watching a game and half-not — no fork required, no drama, just something everyone reaches for without thinking about it.

Pizza Pinwheels

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 8 (about 3 pinwheels each)

Ingredients

• 1 tube (13.8 oz) refrigerated pizza dough
• 1/3 cup pizza sauce, plus extra for dipping
• 1 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella
• 3 oz sliced pepperoni
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan
• 1 egg, beaten (optional, for egg wash)

Instructions

1. Preheat. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roll out dough. Unroll pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface and stretch or roll into a roughly 12×9-inch rectangle.
3. Add toppings. Spread pizza sauce evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border along one long edge. Sprinkle mozzarella, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder evenly over the sauce, then layer pepperoni in a single layer on top.
4. Roll and seal. Starting from the long side opposite your bare border, roll the dough up tightly into a log. Pinch the seam firmly to seal.
5. Slice. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log into rounds about 3/4-inch thick — you should get roughly 24 pieces. Place cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart.
6. Finish. Brush tops with beaten egg if using, then sprinkle with grated Parmesan.
7. Bake. Bake 12–15 minutes until the dough is golden and the cheese is bubbly. Let rest 3 minutes before serving.
8. Serve. Arrange on a platter with warm marinara or extra pizza sauce alongside for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 215 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 510mg