Hot Italian hoagie pinwheels are jammed packed with iconic flavors. If you’re an Italian hoagie sandwich lover, these are for you. My love for Italian hoagies runs deep, but my all time favorite is a grilled Italian hoagie with all of the condiments and toppings available. Nothing beats a bunch of cured meats and cheese.
These hot Italian hoagie pinwheels wrap up provolone cheese, traditional Italian meats, crushed cherry peppers, pickled onions and fresh tomatoes. Baked to perfection, the provolone cheese become melty and crispy on the sheet pan. The meats are warmed to deliciousness, condiments and toppings are plentiful. The pinwheels are nothing short of absolutely amazing. And super easy to make and bake.
Iconic Italian Meats
Italian hoagies come with a pile of cured meats. The internet has a long list of options, this is my all time favorite match up: salami, capicola, deli thinly sliced ham, pepperoni, mortadella.
Provolone cheese is my favorite. I get the regular provolone cheese slices (not smoked). Provolone cheese melts like a dream and the mild creamy flavor pairs so well with these meats and toppings. 12/10 recommend.
Red Wine Vinegar Pickled Onions
Onions are a common topping for Italian hoagies and in my opinion, red wine vinegar always belongs on a hoagie. In order to capture that in the hot Italian hoagie pinwheels I decided to quickly pickle a white onion.
Quick pickling is so easy and it takes very little time. In a sauce pan, heat up the red wine vinegar, water, garlic, sugar and salt. Add in thinly sliced onions and let them cook down until they are submerged under the pickling liquid and let them cook and cool while you roll out the dough and prepare the pinwheels.
Hot Italian Hoagie Pinwheels
A few notes about this recipe.
I recommend my pizza dough recipe. It’s basic, simple and so easy to make (make it one hour or 72 hours in advance). The recipe makes two pizza doughs in one, so you can split it in half and freeze one for next time. My pizza dough recipe makes a thin pizza crust, with very little poof or rise while it bakes which makes these pinwheels picture perfect. I am not a stranger to store-bought pizza dough and if you want to grab a bag of dough, I just wanted to note that some store-made pizza doughs have additional ingredients added in for extra leavening or rise when baked. This may make it less picture perfect, but still very very yummy.
Rolling out the dough – When the pizza dough is rolled out, it will need to be thin, but not too thin that it tears or shrinks. If you ever made homemade cinnamon rolls, the process is the same. The dough will be rolled out into a large rectangle and then topped with the hoagie cheese and meats. Then it will need to be tightly rolled into a hoagie pinwheel-roll and cut into 1 inch pinwheels. They are going to be stuffed! After they are cut into their 1 inch pinwheel, you may need to double pinch them closed.
Cornmeal – the secret ingredient to sturdy pizza dough and for a non-stick sheet pan. Sprinkle cornmeal on the counter when rolling out the dough and sprinkle some on the sheet pan to prevent sticking, even melted provolone cheese will pop right up.
Hot Italian Hoagie Pinwheels
Ingredients
Red Wine Vinegar Pickled Onions
- ½ Medium White Onion - thinly sliced
- 3 Garlic Cloves - peeled and smashed
- ½ cup Red Wine Vinegar
- ½ cup Water
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
Hot Italian Hoagie Pinwheels
- 1 Pizza Dough see blog notes
- ¼ cup Corn Meal
- 2 TBSP Olive Oil
- ¼ cup Cherry Pepper Hoagie Spread
- 8 oz Provolone Slices
- 4 oz Pepperoni
- 4 oz Capicola
- 3 oz Salami
- 2 oz Mortadella
- 4 oz Deli Ham - thinly sliced
- 1 Tomato
- Red Wine Vinegar Pickled Onions
- Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Pickle the onions. In a sauce pan, add all of the ingredients. Heat on high until the liquid starts to boil, turn the heat down to medium and allow the onions to become soft and translucent. As the onions cooks down they will become submerged into the pickling liquid. Once onions are submerged, simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit while you prepare the hoagie pinwheels.½ Medium White Onion - thinly sliced, 3 Garlic Cloves - peeled and smashed, ½ cup Red Wine Vinegar, ½ cup Water, 1 tsp Sugar, 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- Preheat the oven to 450F and sprinkle 2 TBSP of corn meal on the bottom of a sheet pan (with edges).
- On the counter, sprinkle with 1-2 TBSP of corn meal and roll out the pizza dough so that it is in a 12 inch x 12 inch square.¼ cup Corn Meal
- Brush the top of the pizza dough with a thin layer of olive oil, out to the edges of the dough.1 Pizza Dough, 2 TBSP Olive Oil
- Spread on the Cherry Pepper Hoagie Spread. It can be spicy, use to your liking.¼ cup Cherry Pepper Hoagie Spread
- Place a layer of provolone cheese slices, overlapping on the edges.8 oz Provolone Slices
- Layer the Italian meats, overlapping edges.4 oz Pepperoni, 4 oz Capicola, 3 oz Salami, 2 oz Mortadella
- Keep layering the Italian meats.4 oz Deli Ham - thinly sliced
- Dice a tomato. The key is to cut out the liquid and seeds, set them aside and do not use, they have too much liquid. Top the Italian meats with the diced tomatoes and pickled onions.1 Tomato, Red Wine Vinegar Pickled Onions
- Tightly roll up the dough. Starting with the side away from you, pull the dough toward you, pick it up a little underneath so that it can be rolled tightly without pushing the Italian meats out of the pinwheel.
- It will be stuffed, pinch it closed.
- With a sharp knife, cut 1 inch pinwheels.
- Add them to the prepared sheet pan and pinch close any dough edges that popped open.
- Sprinkle on the Italian seasoning.Italian Seasoning
- Bake at 450F for 12-15 minutes.
