The Great Ham Invasion of 2014

 A few months back my husband and I found ourselves with a lot of ham lunch meat that needed to be used before it went bad. When I say a lot, I mean a lot. We probably had about 10 pounds of it, and between two people, you have to get creative. We got to the point where we just couldn't bear to eat any more sandwiches, or omelettes. So in desperate need to eat something else while still using the ham, I hit the recipe books. That's when I found this gem.
 The recipe also calls for broccoli. Now, my husband isn't the biggest fan of broccoli, but in this recipe, he doesn't mind it. This coming from the guy that comes into the kitchen when I'm making vegetable chowder just so he can eat as much broccoli off the cutting board as he can because in his words, "then there will be less in the soup." I sincerely hope that you never find yourself in the same ham predicament that we were in, but in case you have some ham you're needing to use up, you came to the right place.
Also, I would just like it to be known that even after The Great Ham Invasion of 2014, I went out and bought ham, just so I could make these again.

For the dough I always use my favorite pizza dough recipe. It is so easy and so versatile that I end up using this dough in some recipe or another at least once a week. Roll your dough out onto a floured surface into a large rectangle. The more precise the rectangle, the better the rolls. You really don't want to dough to be too thick because once it's stuffed and rolled, it gets pretty bulky. Cream together your cream cheese and butter, then spread evenly on pizza dough.

 Chop up your broccoli very finely. I actually chopped it more than what is pictured here, I just forgot to photograph that. Can you tell the broccoli thief didn't strike this time? Spread the broccoli on top of your cream cheese covered dough, then chop your ham up and spread that on also.

 If you've read any of my other recipe posts, you know I'm a a big fan of cheese, so here comes the fun part. Sprinkle on enough shredded cheese, and grated Parmesan cheese for your liking. The original recipe I used called for 1/4 cup Parmesan, but I'll be honest, I've never bothered to measure it. I just go cheese crazy and sprinkle away until I can hardly see any of the cream cheese below. Notice how pretty and colorful it looks once you add the shredded cheese.

 Once you have your dough sufficiently covered in cheese and other toppings carefully begin to roll it, cinnamon roll style. It helps to have very floury hands during this step to keep the dough from tearing. If this picture were the end result, I'd be embarrassed. Well, that's not entirely true, it's not the end result and I'm still embarrassed. Don't worry, they get prettier.

 The spirals can really fall apart at this point when you cut them up. Use a tall, sharp knife and cut quickly. Place spirals on a greased baking sheet. See? Prettier already. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

 I love the looks of these when they come out of the oven, all that colorful cheesy goodness, hot, fresh and ready to be devoured. I won't even tell you how many of these I ate the other night for dinner. You'd be embarrassed for me.

Ham Spiral Rolls

Dough ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon dry yeast

1 Tablespoon oil

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 to 4 cups flour

Toppings:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup chopped ham
3/4 cup finely chopped broccoli
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dough ingredients together until dough is easy to work with and not too sticky. Roll dough out onto floured surface into large rectangle. Cream together cream cheese and butter, then spread evenly on dough. Top with broccoli and ham. Sprinkle on shredded cheese and grated Parmesan. Roll dough up cinnamon roll style. Pinch seams together. Cut into 1 1/2 inch slices and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Life in the Lofthouse