Broccoli Rolls

Broccoli rolls, or broccoli stromboli, are a New York pizzeria-style classic made by rolling pizza dough around a stuffing of garlicky broccoli, mozzarella cheese, and Pecorino Romano.  They’re topped with sesame seeds and baked until golden and perfect with a side of marinara for dipping.

Walk into any pizzeria on Long Island, or around the tristate NY area, and you’ll likely find some type of rolled pizza dough, or stromboli, stuffed with veggies, meat, or cheese.

In fact, pizzerias that don’t make heroes will likely make rolls since they use the same dough as the pizza.

These broccoli rolls are just one of the many varieties of pizza dough rolls and one of our favorites.

The combination of the garlicky broccoli, melted mozzarella, and sesame seed-topped pizza dough is superb and while we love it with a side of marinara, it’s so good by itself!

While you can certainly use store-bought dough for this broccoli stromboli, we provide instructions below to make your own pizza dough if you’re so inclined.

How to make New York-style broccoli rolls

First, make the dough

Note: you can skip this step and use store-bought pizza dough.

1. To a very large bowl, add 9 ounces (260g) of water.  In a different bowl, add 3 1/4 cups (406g) of bread flour, 1/2 teaspoon (2g) of instant yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoons (8g) of fine sea salt, and 1 teaspoon (4g) of sugar, and stir until combined.
2. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the water a little at a time, mixing to form a dry, rough mass.

3. Drizzle 1 tablespoon (14g) of olive oil over the dough and mix again to remove any residue stuck to the bowl. Move the shaggy dough to a clean work surface and knead for 5-7 minutes.  If the dough feels too sticky, place an inverted bowl over the dough and let it sit for 30 minutes before continuing.
4. Return to kneading (total kneading time should be at least 5 minutes) and place the bowl over the dough one more time.  Allow it to sit for 30-40 minutes, then form a dough ball and pinch the seam side, placing the ball seam-side down into an oiled bowl.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, but preferably 1 full day prior to making the broccoli rolls.

Next, make the broccoli rolls

1. 2 hours before starting your broccoli rolls, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.  Shred 12 ounces of block mozzarella cheese, grate 1/4 cup of Pecorino Romano, and mince 8 cloves of garlic.  Discard the bottom 2 inches from 1 head of broccoli and give it a rough chop. Preheat the oven to 425f and set the rack to the middle level.  Heat a large pan to medium-low heat and add 1/4 cup of olive oil and the garlic.  Saute the garlic for 2-3 minutes, or until golden, then add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
2. Add the chopped broccoli to the pan and turn the heat to medium. 

3. Saute for 2 minutes, then add a 1/4 cup of water and cover the pan.  Allow the broccoli to steam for about 5 minutes or until soft, then uncover it and cook until the water has evaporated (about 2-3 more minutes).
4. Remove from the heat and season the broccoli with salt and pepper to taste, then set aside to cool.
5. On a floured work surface, open the dough ball with your hands, or roll it out to a 1/4″ thick circle about 17-18 inches in size.  
6. Cut the circle into 4 equal-sized pie slices.

7. Place a piece of dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and lay 1/4 of the broccoli perpendicular to the point in the center of the dough.  Leave at least 1 inch of dough without broccoli on either side.  Repeat for all 4 pieces of dough and the remaining broccoli. 
8. Sprinkle 1/4 of the mozzarella and 1/4 of the Pecorino on top of the broccoli.  Note: Balling the shredded mozzarella and placing it in the center can help some of the cheese from oozing out while cooking.
9. Grab the point of the dough and wrap it over the filling, then tuck it underneath leaving the seam side down, and repeat the cheese and folding process for the other 3 rolls.  Note: It’s best to use 2 sheets for the 4 rolls.
10. Place all 4 broccoli rolls seam-side down on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.  Beat together 2 teaspoons of water with 1 large egg to create an egg wash, then brush the mixture on top of each roll.

11. Using a sharp knife, cut a few slits on top of each roll to aid with venting, then sprinkle each roll with sesame seeds (about 1 tablespoon total). 
12. Bake the rolls on the middle rack for 18-22 minutes at 425f or until golden brown.  When done, allow the rolls to rest for at least 5 minutes then cut them in half and serve with a side of marinara for dipping.  Enjoy!

Top tips

• Dough. We provide instructions here to make your own dough at home, but you can use store-bought dough, or dough from a local pizzeria, as a shortcut. If you are making your own dough, be sure to allow it to cold ferment in the fridge for at least 12 hours, but ideally 24-48 hours for even better taste.
• Cheese.  The combination of mozzarella and Pecorino will contribute to the New York pizzeria flavor.  We recommend using a drier mozzarella here.  Galbani brand is a great choice as it tends to be lower-moisture than Polly-O.  
• Broccoli. We recommend using fresh broccoli as frozen broccoli tends to be waterlogged and won’t be as good here. If you’re looking for a recipe using broccoli rabe, check out our broccoli rabe and sausage roll recipe.

More pizzeria-style recipes

Here are just a few more of our favorite pizzeria-style recipes.  For more recipes, check out our pizza recipe category.

• Pepperoni pinwheels – mozzarella, pepperoni, ham, and marinara rolled up with pizza dough and baked until golden.
• Cheese calzone – ricotta, mozzarella, and Pecorino filled pocket of pizza dough.
• Garlic knots – garlic, parsley, and cheese-covered knots of pizza dough.

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