For many years now Totinos' frozen Pizza Rolls have been a regular presence in my freezer. In case you're not familiar, these are little bite-sized dough pockets filled with a savory mixture of pizza sauce, cheese, meats, and peppers. While very convenient, tasty, easy to eat, and non-messy, they are not a very classy, sophisticated, or visually appealing food.

I would like to combine the great qualities of bite- sized pizza snacks with the sophisticated environment and other great qualities of a sushi bar. While sitting at the Pizza Bar one would view a neverending procession of pizza, masterfully rolled and crafted into beautiful sushi style rolls.

I believe this is a good idea, first of all, because there are so many different possible flavor combinations (pepperoni and mozzerella, kalamata olive and feta, tomato, basil, and goat cheese, proscuitto and provolone, italian sausage, peppers, and fontina, etc). Second, because they are bite-sized little rolls you can try many different flavors without becoming stuffed and without wasting uneaten slices-- something you can't do with one big single recipe pizza pie. Third (and my favorite), you get to eat pizza with chopsticks while dipping it into little bowls of marinara sauce, garlic butter sauce, cheese sauce, etc.
-- tchaikovsky, Oct 23 2003

Baked. They're called "tapes" (pronounced with two syllables), "pintxo", or "tapas" in Catalan, Spanish and Euskara respectively and they are regular fair all over Spain, Catalonia and Euskadi (the Basque Country). But, to be fair, although they can be made of just about anything as long as it's nibbly and served at a bar, not often are they like those delicious little pizza pockets we know and love. But they could be easily enough.
-- Buckyboy, Oct 23 2003


Yeah [Buckyboy]. It's baked in sushi bars too then, by your reasoning. But, to be fair, although sushi can be made of just about anything as long as it's nibbly, fishy and served at a bar, not often are they like those delicious little pizza pockets we know and love. But they could be easily enough.

i.e: Not baked.
-- squeak, Oct 23 2003


How right you are, squeak. I take it back: unbaked!

But, to be fair, I've seen/smelt/tasted some pretty pizzaroll-esque tapas, just not the kind straight out of a plastic bag.
-- Buckyboy, Oct 23 2003


Don't fancy them out of a placcy bag either. Freshly prepared please, cut into a diamond shape, presented on a square, black plate and decorated with a sprig of basil. 30 of them should do for now. You could also serve foccaccia and bruscheta (is that italien?).
-- squeak, Oct 23 2003


I've been at plenty of bars where pizza is served as finger food (usually sliced into small squares), usually to the detriment of my shirt and tie. But the joy of a sushi bar is watching the chef prepare the food. You can already get the same joy in a pizza parlor, where you can also already get slices in different flavors (which I generally do). But finally, I think this is doomed by the economics: each sushi roll costs at least as much as a slice of pie - what is the point of cutting a slice up further, except maybe as samplers?

And if there is something special about small servings of rolled up pizza, I do agree that it's already captured by tapas bars.
-- DrCurry, Oct 23 2003


How about doing other italien food as well like Frico or Fettunta.

Name suggestion: Ciao, Spuntino ! (Yo! Italien snack)
-- squeak, Oct 23 2003


I don't think this is like a tapas bar at all. It's already been pointed out that these places serve a wide variety of "little dishes," but I've looked at several online tapas bar menus and I don't see anything that looks like sushi-style pizza. By this, I mean pizza toppings rolled up inside pizza dough and cut into bite sized pieces that are colorful, eyecatching, and served with chopsticks and dipping sauces. True, I've had small pizzas at tapas bars, but that's all it was--just a smaller version of a big pizza. And I don't want anything like emanadas either, even though they are similar to the frozen pizza rolls. The pocket/pouch style is what I'm trying to get away from. I also don't think the economics would be that bad. Sushi is expensive because sushi-grade fish is expensive and it's damn hard to roll up all that rice and seaweed. I would think pizza ingredients are less expensive and easier to assemble.
-- tchaikovsky, Oct 23 2003


I'd love to love this, being a pizza lover, as well a a Russian music lover. (Are you Prokofiev in another forum?) But there is an intrinsic problem.

Pizza needs to be exposed to the flame, or you have a calzone, and if I'm remembering correctly, the totino's product are sort of teeny tiny calzones, no?
-- grecosartre, Oct 23 2003


One reason sushi bars prepare the food immediately in front of you is because sushi is a food that demands freshness. I don't see that as being important for pizza-rolls.

But I'm all in favor of a new type of restaurant.
-- grip, Oct 23 2003


What??? I want fresh pizza! Not the slices in pizza shops which come off the counter shelf, go in the oven to heat, and come back out re-warmed on your plate.
-- tchaikovsky, Oct 23 2003


oh come on, not remotely baked - or will we start saying that because speed humps are baked, and custard is baked etc etc

+ for you tchaikovsky (even if you've made me hungry at the thought)
-- seedy em, Oct 23 2003



random, halfbakery