Chilli Pesto Scrolls

We love our savoury dishes here at Chew Town. I think it comes from growing up in an Italian household where the end of our family meal always consisted of either cheese or fresh fruit rather than dessert. It is why I feel much more at home when creating savoury recipes for Chew Town rather than sweet ones. When creating savoury recipes I start with a great idea and throw together a little of this and that writing it all down as I go – et voila! For sweet dishes a great idea is just the start… then I have to do a tonne of research, read a few books and try the dish a couple of times till I get it right.

So, when I was recently asked by Saclà to create a couple of unique recipes using the Saclà brand pesto and pasta sauces, I jumped at the opportunity. Not only would I be in my savoury comfort zone… but the flavour profile was Italian and that I’ve got covered.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be bringing you a couple of recipes using the Saclà pesto products, but not in ways that you expect! You’ll see no stir through pastas or pizza toppings here. Instead, we’ll bring you a couple of ways you can use store bought pesto to create spectacular dishes that will be sure to impress your friends.

But it all helps if you start with a great product. There are many great things about the Saclà brand – It was founded 70 years ago in Piemonte Italy and is still run by the founding family (the Ercole family) three generations on. Also, all their products are made in Italy from the freshest ingredients and using traditional recipes then are shipped to you.

When I popped the lid of the chilli pesto jar open, the fragrance of the chillies and roasted capsicums immediately hit me. A little spoonful in the mouth and the unmistakable chilli hit is perfectly balanced with roasted capsicums, parmigiano reggiano cheese and parsley – but you definitely have to have a love of chilli. It packs a punch and that’s exactly what I look for in my chilli pesto.

Straight after tasting the pesto the idea for the first recipe hit – Chilli Pesto Scrolls. Putting together the recipe was easy, halve my family pizza dough recipe then fill with the chilli pesto, basil and mozzarella and bake… well, its a little more complicated than that and does require making fresh dough but the results are completely worth it.

And if you haven’t tried a savoury scroll before, then you are in for a treat. The perfect picnic food, or afternoon snack, even if you aren’t a fan of chilli, these could easily be made with Saclà’s basil pesto instead.

Chew Town would like to acknowledge that this post was sponsored by Sacla. You can read Chew Town’s disclosure statement here for more information on brands that Chew Town chooses to work with and why. The recipe above was created, developed and photographed by Chew Town.