Pizza Pretzels

I have a love hate thing with Rachel Ray, but despite her sometimes overly perky persona, the girl has some great ideas. On one of my very high-profile evenings spent clicking and flipping, I caught an old episode of RR. I thought the pizza pretzel was pretty damn ingenious. You can make it as gourmet or basic as you like. But it's handheld, homemade and scrumptious. Great addition to your next cocktail party or serve with a side salad for the main event.
Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 ball pizza dough (make yourself or go to your fav pizza joint and buy the dough)
• 1 1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 C basil leaves, torn
• 1 C pepperoni, chopped
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Coarse salt as needed
• 1 C of your favorite tomato sauce

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Cut pizza dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each into a rectangle
• Scatter the cheese, torn basil and pepperoni over the dough.
• Brush one of the long sides with a little egg wash
• Starting with the opposite side, roll the dough up into a log, enclosing the toppings inside
• Shape the log into a pretzel and transfer to a baking sheet
• Brush the top of the pizza pretzel with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt
• Bake until golden brown - about 25 min.
• While the pizza pretzel is baking, place a medium pot over medium-high heat to heat up tomato sauce, until hot.
• Serve the pizza pretzel with the tomato sauce dipper alongside.