Noble Pie Parlor is getting into PB&J.
To celebrate Super Bowl 56, both Noble Pie pizzerias, in South Reno and Midtown, are fashioning a Big Game version of their popular pizza rolls.
These special rolls are stuffed with pineapple, basil and jalapeños — that’s the PB&J — plus mozzarella, ricotta, house Brooklyn red sauce and Italian seasonings. To finish, they’re dusted with signature fry mix: Parmesan, smoked paprika, garlic powder, parsley and salt.
The PB&J rolls are being offered only on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 13. The pizza parcels come six to an order for $8.99. Supplies are limited, so order early in house (the restaurants are open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 13), or on the website for takeout or delivery.
Pizza rolls debuted on the Noble Pie menu on Super Bowl Sunday in 2021, so the PB&Js also celebrate the one-year anniversary of a dish that was immediately popular, becoming the second-best selling small plate of 2021. (Garlic knots were No. 1.)
“We’re sold out of pizza rolls all the time,” said Ryan Goldhammer, owner of Noble Pie. “Some days, we can’t keep up. But we’re fixing that. We’re bringing in a ringer to make pizza rolls during power prep.”
Rolling, spreading, slicing, freezing, frying
The other afternoon, I stopped by the kitchen at Noble Pie South to learn how PB&J rolls are made. Think: lotsa labor.
First, pizza dough is rolled thin into a pair of long ovals. Filling ingredients are pulsed in a food processor to produce a consistency similar to forcemeat, then spread across one of the ovals. The second oval is placed atop, gently pressed to remove bubbles, and the halves are pinched to seal.
A ravioli pin is slowly rolled across the filled dough, its teeth producing mounds with about an ounce of stuffing each. A ravioli cutter slices the mounds into individual pizza rolls.
The rolls, on a floured tray, idle in the freezer for about two hours. After that, they’re apportioned into zip-close plastic bags, one order per bag, then returned to the freezer.
The process always yields scraps. The other afternoon, Goldhammer wrapped leftover filling and dough in a fresh pizza skin, then plopped the bundle in the fryer. The staff would snack on the quasi-calzone. “We try not to waste food,” Goldhammer said.
Hot and flavorful, alone or with
When an order hits a kitchen, the rolls go straight from freezer to fryer, then from plating to dusting to table.
The rolls are hot, golden, a bit sweet, a touch spicy, a skosh savory (from the fry mix), a little chewy (that’s the pizza dough). If you like, pull apart the pizza pillows to release their steam. Eat the rolls as is, or dredge them in marinara, housemade ranch or srirancha (a mingling of sriracha and ranch).
Either way, they’re addictive — no matter what team wins.
Johnathan L. Wright is the food and drink editor for Reno News & Review. Follow him on Twitter at @ItsJLW or on Facebook personally or at @FoodNevada.