Easy Italian Pinwheels

Italian pinwheels are the perfect savory quick and easy appetizer for a party, lunch or even snack. Layered with a creamy, flavorful cream cheese spread, crisp lettuce, buttery provolone cheese and all of the favorite Italian meats- ham, salami and pepperoni!

 

Why We Love Italian Pinwheels

• Delicious Appetizer For Parties – Perfect for baby showers, potlucks, game day or other parties, these Italian pinwheels make great finger foods and a great appetizer for a party.
• Extremely Flexible Recipe– You can easily customize this recipe to you and your family’s own tastes by swapping in and out ingredients. You can also easily adjust only one of the three wraps for one person, while the other two wraps still have all the flavors.
• Make A Great Lunch – These pinwheels are quick enough to put together that they make a great lunch.

Ingredients For Italian Pinwheels

• cream cheese softened, about 1 cup
• roasted red peppers jarred, diced
• parmesan cheese grated
• pepperoncini peppers pickled, diced – these are found already jarred
• Italian seasoning – you can use your favorite Italian seasoning mix for great Italian flavor
• flour tortillas burrito-sized, 10 inch across, you can also use a flavored tortilla wrap like spinach or sundried tomato.
• ham I used black forest, thin sliced
• salami thin sliced I like genoa salami a lot, but you can use any hard salami
• pepperoni thin sliced
• provolone cheese – sliced mozzarella cheese can also be used
• romaine lettuce leaves

How To Make Italian Pinwheels

1. In a medium sized bowl add softened cream cheese, roasted red bell peppers, parmesan, pepperoncini peppers, and Italian seasoning. Mix together until combined.

2. Spread about one-third of the cream cheese mixture onto each tortilla across the entire surface.

3. Layer six slices of ham and six slices of salami across the tortilla.

4. Place sixteen slices of pepperoni per tortilla evenly across the tortilla.

5. Add three slices of provolone per tortilla in the center.

6. Top each tortilla with a lettuce leaf.

7. Roll up the tortilla tightly and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Keep in mind the provolone and lettuce will be the center of the pinwheel. Refrigerate for about an hour to help the pinwheels to stay rolled tightly.

8. Slice each roll into about 1 inch slices, 8 pinwheels each. Then enjoy!

Variation Ideas

Make It a Sub- Swap out a sub or roll to make amazing Italian subs, or try a Grinder Salad Recipe.

Drizzle with Italian Dressing – I like these wraps drizzled with Italian dressing, but it does make them go soggy a little faster. I only use the dressing if we are planning on eating the pinwheels pretty quickly after I slice them.

Swap The Meats – Use your favorite meats on this pinwheel. You can swap in turkey or chicken for one of the meats. If their is a particular meat you dislike, you can also leave it off.

Add Black Olives– Sweet black olives give this wrap a sweet and salty bite that is delicious.

Slice Fresh Tomatoes– Slices of tomato can be added into the rolls, of if using smaller tomatoes like cherry tomatoes you can mix small diced tomato pieces into the cream cheese. Only use tomatoes if you will be consuming these wraps quickly after assembling them.

Try Fresh Bell Pepper– Bell pepper slices can be delicious on this wrap either in place of the roasted pepper, or in addition to the roasted bell pepper.

Add Sliced Onion– Red onion is my favorite to add to these rollups, but sweet onion or yellow onion also work well. I would either add thin slices or dice the onion small and add it to the cream cheese mixture.

Are Pepperoncini Peppers and Banana Peppers The Same Thing?

People often mix up pepperoncini peppers and banana peppers, they look really similar in the jar, have similar flavors, and are both sweet peppers.

The pepperoncini peppers do have a slight bite to them that helps cut through the creaminess and goes well with the meats. If you prefer you can easily swap in banana peppers which tend to be slightly more sweet. Check out more info about the difference between pepperoncini pepper sand banana peppers here.

How Do You Keep The Pinwheels Together?

• By refrigerating the pinwheels before slicing, you’re giving the cream cheese a chance to bind the rolls together to keep them rolled more tightly.
• Rolling the tortillas tightly in the beginning before refrigerating also helps. You can use the plastic wrap to help you get a nice tight roll.
• Heating the tortillas for a few seconds in the microwave will make them more flexible and easier to get a tighter roll on the pinwheels.
• If the stem on the lettuce is really thick it can sometimes keep you from getting a tight rolled pinwheel. You can remove the center stem with a knife to help the lettuce lay flatter and roll tighter.
• Use a toothpick to secure each pinwheel if your sandwiches are still unrolling.

How Long Does This Italian Pinwheels Recipe Last?

Expect these Italian roll-ups will taste best for about 24 hours. Working to blot away the moisture from the lettuce ham and other ingredients can help them taste fresh and delicious a little longer.

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.