Pepperoni Rolls: West Virginia’s Official Food, Not a Hot Pocket

Em Carpenter

Em was one of those argumentative children who was sarcastically encouraged to become a lawyer, so she did. She is a proud life-long West Virginian, and, paradoxically, a liberal. In addition to writing about society, politics and culture, she enjoys cooking, podcasts, reading, and pretending to be a runner. She will correct your grammar. You can find her on Twitter.

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15 Responses

  1. Sheetz has a perfectly serviceable version of the pepperoni roll–excuse me while I duck to avoid Em’s incoming swing.Report

  2. “It is not a damned Hot Pocket, Tod!” I love it! I enjoyed this whole piece enormously!Report

  3. jason says:

    “It’s not a Hot Pocket!”
    Isn’t it though?

    Damn, it does look good. We’ve made pepperoni quesadillas before and they’re the bomb. Use the broiler until the pepperoni grease starts to flow and the pieces get a little bit crisp.Report

    • Em Carpenter in reply to jason says:

      No, my God no, it is not a hot pocket. I can’t even with this.
      Hot pockets are shitty, hard little “pastry” type crusts with shitty pepperoni and gross sauce and “cheese” inside, that you microwave until they are molten lava in some parts while still frozen in others. Also they are disgusting.
      ONCE AGAIN FOR THOSE IN THE BACK:
      THE BREAD IS KEY.
      No quesadilla, no pastry shell. Big, soft, fluffy, bread rolls.
      (Thanks for reading!)Report

  4. Burt Likko says:

    Is it acceptable to DIP the roll in some kind of sauce? If so, must it be a marinara-with-ground-pepperoni sauce?Report

  5. I would *love* to try a pepperoni roll someday. As I imagine it, I would like sliced pepperoni with cheese. I’d also want to add, say, onions and black olives (maybe that makes it an almost stromboli or calzone?….I apologize for not knowing the difference.)Report

  6. DW Dalrymple says:

    Both my girls ate pepperoni rolls in their lunch all the time growing up. We kept them around the house pretty much all the time back then. Now they are just a special treat. Sometimes homemade, sometimes store bought. Wife makes them for road trips. Every Myrtle Beach 12 hr odyssey was fueled by her pepperoni rolls. Great piece Em.Report