16-19 oz. pizza dough 

8 mozzarella string cheese sticks

½ tbsp milk OR 1 egg

One Slice of Provolone or Mozzarella for decoration

4 tbsp unsalted butter melted & cooled slightly

¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese

2 small cloves of garlic minced (or 1 large clove)

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp chopped basil

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a knife, cut cheese sticks into 1 inch pieces (each cheese stick should yield about 4 pieces, and 32 in total).  Then, use a knife or pizza cutter to divide the dough into 32 pieces (if your dough is 16oz, you will probably only get 30 pieces out of it). If you want to be precise, you can use a scale to make sure each is the same weight!  You may need to use some extra flour if your dough is too sticky to work with.

Use your fingers to press each piece of pizza dough into small rectangles. Then, add a chunk of cheese in the middle and wrap the dough around it. Pinch the dough closed and roll it into a ball.

Place dough balls seam side down on the prepared baking sheet in the shape of a football. The outer rim of the football should use about 16 dough balls, and the remaining will go in the middle. Make sure they are touching but not too cramped.

Brush milk (or whisked egg) over the top of the dough balls.  Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 18 minutes. Then, switch the oven to broil and broil for 2-3 minutes until the tops of the rolls are golden. Let the rolls cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, parmesan, garlic, parsley, basil, salt & pepper. Then, brush this mixture over the top of the rolls.

Cut the slice of cheese into 7 thin rectangles. Arrange them on top of the rolls to mimic the look of football laces.

Serve with some warm marinara.