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Festive Tomato Rolls Recipe

One day we made these tomato rolls, and a few hours after we took them out of the oven, we received a somewhat unexpected reaction. We saw one of our teenagers, walking by with two rolls in hand, saying “These rolls hit the spot.”

tomato rolls

Festive Tomato Rolls

Tomato rolls?!? Apparently they’re so good they’re crave-worthy. Teen crave-worthy. As in, teens who would otherwise be eating chips or pizza or cheeseburgers.

Anyway, aside from being delicious, these tomato rolls also happen to be adorable. The dough is pinkish-orange because it has tomato puree in it. Plus, each roll is also topped with a cherry tomato. (Or two, or three, depending on what suits your fancy.) They’re great for snacking (see above) but they would also look lovely on any holiday table.

 

We made these rolls through a partnership with Carmelina ‘e… San Marzano® Italian tomatoes, a division of Mangia Inc. These tomatoes (Pomodoro pelato di Napoli) are sourced from the San Marzano region of Italy, the world’s premier landscape for tomatoes. The company uses traditional artisan, fresh-pack preserving methods that have been in place for generations. These Old World processes eliminate the need or use of chemical preservatives, or additives in any of their products. They also contain no added salt our sugars and are Non-GMO Project Verified. So all you get is the taste of pure, fresh tomatoes.

For this recipe, we used Carmelina Brand’s Italian cherry tomatoes (pomodorini) in tomato puree. By using these tomatoes, you get a two-for-one with this recipe. You have the tomato puree and also the whole cherry tomatoes that go on top of the roll. (We separated them before baking.)

Also – please don’t be intimidated by baking a yeast roll. It’s easy and straightforward. You just have to budget in the time to let it rise two times.

Tomato Rolls Recipe

Festive Tomato Rolls

These festive tomato rolls made with canned Italian cherry tomatos in puree, with a cherry tomato on top of each.

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword cherry tomatoes, Italian tomatoes
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Rising Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 16

Ingredients

  • 4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 package active dry yeast (equivalent to 2 1/2 tsp)
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 1 14.2-ounce can Italian cherry tomatoes in tomato puree
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • sea salt to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups of the flour, sugar, salt, and undissolved yeast. Cut the butter into pieces and add it to the dry ingredient mixture.

  2. Open the can of cherry tomatoes and carefully drain the tomato puree from the cherry tomatoes. Set the cherry tomatoes aside. Add water to the tomato puree so that you have 1 cup of liquid. Heat the liquid (in a microwave or over the stove) until it is very warm, about 120 degrees.

  3. Gradually add the warm water/tomato mixture to the dry ingredients and beat for two minutes at medium speed with an electric mixer, scraping the bowl occasionally.

  4. Add three of the eggs plus one egg white (reserve the yolk for later), and 1/2 cup additional flour. Beat at medium speed for two minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough.

  5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead it until it is smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl (we coat ours with olive oil) and turn the dough so that all sides are greased. Cover, put in a warm place free from drafts, and let rise until doubled in bulk, about one hour.

  6. Remove the dough from the bowl and bring it back to the floured board. Cut it into 16 even pieces. Twist and stretch each piece of dough into a rope approximately 1 1/2 inches wide by 18 inches long.

  7. Tie each rope into a loose simple knot with at least two inches loose on each end of the knot. Take the loose end on the left and tuck it into the hole in the center of the knot. Take the loose end on the right and bring it down outside the knot and up through the center. Press the two ends together in the center and roll and squeeze the roll into a rounded shape. Place the knots on a greased baking sheet.

  8. Combine the remaining egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water and mix thoroughly. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg yolk mixture over each roll. Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm place for one hour.

  9. Remove tomato rolls from warming spot and place a cherry tomato in the center of each knot. Sprinkle the knots with sea salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Here’s a short video on how to shape the rolls

Tips on Making Tomato Rolls

When you make these rolls, the first few will look a little weird and then you’ll get the hang of it. After having made dozens of these rolls, we’ve learned a few things:

1) Try to keep the ropes of dough a consistent width – not too skinny.

2) The dough is easiest to work with when the board is greased and you also have oil on your hands.

3) If the knot doesn’t look so good, flip it over. Sometimes the bottom is the “good” side.

4) Keep at it! Practice makes perfect.

One other note: In a can of cherry tomatoes, you will have enough tomatoes to put at least one on each roll. We experimented with different numbers of tomatoes and we decided they looked best with just one tomato. But you can put on any number you like. After all, the “worst” thing that could happen is that you could end up with leftover tomatoes that you need to just eat.

Enjoy!

P.S. It’s the season of giving and Mangia, Inc. (@CarmelinaBrands) wants to spread some good while offering up savings. Use the code JOLLYTOMATO to save 10% sitewide on Carmelina ‘e…San Marzano® Italian Tomatoes or Carmelina Brands® Italian Beans and they’ll donate $5 to @nokidhungry for every case sold! No Kid Hungry is a national campaign working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. The offer ends 12/17/21.

Blogger disclosure: Carmelina e … San Marzano and Mangia Inc. gifted us with tomatoes to create this recipe. We did not otherwise receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are our own.

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