Week 62, Recipe 5: Taco Pizza

NOTES

• Recipe modified from Kiddies Corner Deals
• Buy pizza crust or make your own (and freeze extra dough while you're at it)

INGREDIENTS

• Pizza doug (see link above to make your own)
• 3/4 lb lean ground beef
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning (make your own, it's so easy and no preservatives!)
• ¼ cup water
• 4 tablespoon sour cream
• hot sauce -a  few drops
• 1 cup chunky mild salsa
• 1 tablespoon diced jalapenos (optional)
• 2.25 oz black olive rings-drained (optional)
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1½ cups shredded Mexican taco cheese or Monterrey Jack or whatever you have on hand
• lettuce to garnish

Sauce for drizzling - 

• ⅓ cup sour cream
• hot sauce (optional)
• 1 tbsp salsa or taco sauce

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425 (or whatever you normally cook your pizza at).
2. Brown ground beef, drain. Add water, taco seasoning and 4 tablespoon sour cream to ground beef, cook for a few minutes.
3. Top the crust with salsa then add ground beef mixture, jalapenos (if using), olives (if using), onions, tomatoes and cheese. Bake according to pizza crust directions (see my link above in NOTES for cooking instructions).
4. While pizza bakes, mix ⅓ cup sour cream, a few drops of hot sauce and salsa or taco sauce in a small bowl. 
5. Remove pizza from oven and top with lettuce and drizzle with the sour cream mixture.

Week 50, Recipe 3: Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Pizza

NOTES

• Recipe from a relative's website. Thanks Sarah!
• This recipe comes together quick. Especially if you've remembered to put your frozen pizza dough in the fridge to thaw the night before!

INGREDIENTS

• Two medium eggplants (I didn't have enough so I used zucchini as well but next time I'll just use eggplant), sliced 1/4-inch thick and cut in half or into fourths (depending on how large your eggplant is)
• 2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 oz shredded mozzarella (or use thin slices of fresh mozzarella)
• 1/2 freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven broiler and set pizza stone on bottom rack to preheat (if using). Toss halved tomatoes with salt and minced garlic. Set aside.

2. Toss eggplant with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Arrange on a greased baking sheet 8 inches under broiler. Broil for 3 minutes then toss and broil another 3-5 minutes.

3. Remove eggplant to a bowl and then broil tomatoes with garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add to eggplant and preheat oven to 450 degrees.

4. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and place on a greased baking sheet. Top crust with mozzarella then eggplant and tomatoes and Parmesan. Bake for 10-15 minutes, sliding onto the pizza stone after the first 5-6 minutes if using.

Week 49, Recipe 1: Roasted Veggie Pizza

NOTES

• Roasting the veggies adds so much flavor!
• Modified from Cooking Light
• See my notes in Recipe 5 about freezing pizza dough and thawing in the fridge for an easy weeknight meal.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pizza dough
• 2 cups sliced white mushrooms
• 1 small to medium size zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 medium yellow bell pepper, sliced and 1/2 medium red or orange bell pepper, sliced
• 1 medium red onion, cut into thick slices
• Olive oil, divided
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1 - 1 1/2  cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/3 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons small fresh basil leaves

DIRECTIONS

1. Position an oven rack in the lowest setting; place a pizza stone on rack if you have one. Preheat oven to 500°.

2. Combine mushrooms and next 4 ingredients (through onion) in a large bowl; drizzle with approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Toss. Arrange vegetables on baking or cookie sheet with sides. Bake at 500° for 15 minutes, stirring once.
3. Roll out pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface and place on an oiled pizza pan. Spread sauce over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella over sauce; top with vegetables. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella and red pepper over zucchini mixture. Dollop with ricotta.
4. Cook (you can place your pizza pan right on the stone if using) for about 5 minutes or until dry then slide pizza off pan onto pizza stone (or continue baking on pizza pan if not using stone). Bake at 500° for about 11 minutes or until crust is golden. Sprinkle with basil.

Week 49, Recipe 5: Grilled Pepper & Sausage Calzones

NOTES:

• We do a lot of pizza/calzones in the summer. Mainly because you can use it to fill/top with whatever veggies you've got from the garden or were on sale/in season at the farmer's market or grocery store.
• For weeknight meals, make your pizza dough ahead of time (see link to my recipe below) and freeze extras. I pull out a dough and place in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap the night before we want to eat so the dough has about 24 hours to thaw in the fridge. Let set at room temp about 30 minutes before rolling out. It works great!
• This recipe is modified from Cooking Light Magazine, July 2009.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pizza dough
• 1 sweet onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick round slices
• 1 red bell pepper, quartered
• 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, quartered
• 1 lb hot Italian sausage links (turkey or pork)
• Pizza sauce
• 1-2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat grill to medium high and oven to 500.
2. Coat veggies with oil and place them, along with sausage links, on a grill rack or grill pan coated with cooking spray. Grill veggies about 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Grill sausages until cooked through, turning occasionally.
3. Remove veggies and sausages and cool slightly. Cut onion slices in half and peppers into 1/2-inch wide strips. Cut sausages diagonally into thin slices.
4. Place dough on a lightly floured surface; divide dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into an approximate 9x5-inch rectangle. Spread one half (leaving a 1/4-inch border) with pizza suace and top with peppers, sausage and cheese. Fold other half of dough over filling. Press edges together with a fork to seal.
5. Place calzones on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat calzones with cooking spray and bake at 500 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before cutting in half. Serve with remaining pizza sauce for dipping.

Week 47, Recipe 1: Grilled Summer Veggie Pizza

NOTES

• Modified from Annie's Eats
• Delicious! I thought for sure that without an actual pizza sauce, the pizza would be dry but the veggies were soft and full of flavor. The feta cheese and fresh basil really add a lot!
• A thick crust works best for grilled pizza. The refrigerated kind will not work well. Either make your own recipe, try mine (double it to make four personal sized thick pizzas), or buy some dough at you local pizzeria. Making personal-sized pizzas works best on the grill.

INGREDIENTS

• Thinly sliced zucchini and yellow squash
• Thinly sliced cherry tomatoes or medium tomatoes
• Salt
• Pizza dough (see my NOTE above)
• Olive oil
• Thinly sliced red onion
• Fresh basil, cut into thin strips with a scissors
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the slices of zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes in a colander set over the sink or a large bowl. Toss with ¾ teaspoon kosher salt. Let sit 20-30 minutes to drain excess liquid.
2. Heat grill to medium. Meanwhile, transfer the pizza dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into four equal portions. Let rest 10 minutes.
3. Shape each piece of dough into a flattened round. Generously oil the grates of the grill (you can use a wad of paper towels dipped in olive oil and hold it with tongs). Carefully place the shaped dough rounds onto the grill and cover. Let cook until nicely browned on the bottom surface, and large bubbles appear on the top surface, about 2-4 minutes. Prick bubbles if necessary to let air escape. Watch carefully so the bottoms don't burn!
4. Carefully remove the partly cooked dough rounds from the grill for topping and transfer to a plate or work so that the cooked side is facing up. Brush with olive oil then top evenly with layer of feta and parmesan (save some cheese to put over veggies), sliced zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, and red onion. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and minced basil, and freshly ground black pepper.
5. Carefully return the topped pizzas to the grill, cover, and let cook until the bottom surface is nicely browned and the cheeses are melted, about 2-6 minutes. Remove from the grill. Serve warm.  

Week 46, Recipe 3: Pepperoni & Broccoli Calzones

NOTES

• Recipe modified from allrecipes.com
• This is the second recipe with broccoli this week - I finally got some from our garden!
• These freeze well so double the recipe if you want! Stuff and freeze calzones on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes - 1 hour. Remove, place in ziplock and freeze until ready to use. To cook, remove from freezer and thaw for a day in the fridge or at room temp for several hours then bake as directed below.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 head fresh broccoli, cut into large pieces
• 1 c. Italian blend cheese or a mixture of shredded provolone and mozzarella
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 - 1 c. Pepperoni, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 recipe pizza dough (1 of my pizza dough recipes will make 4-6 calzones, depending on the size you want)
• Marinara or Ranch sauce, for dipping

DIRECTIONS
1. Cook or steam broccoli for about 5 minutes or until tender but not mushy. Drain and chop into smaller pieces. Place in a large bowl with cheeses, garlic, pepperoni, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a  large rectangle. Divide into 4 or 6 equal rectangular pieces.
3. Place filling in a strip on one side of each rectangle and flatten with a spoon. Fold dough over filing and seal by pressing the tines of a fork around the seam. Prick top of cazlones with the tines of the fork to allow for the steam to escape.
4. Bake on a greased baking sheet at 425 for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with dipping sauce.

Week 44, Recipe 1: Pesto (Chicken) Pizza

NOTES

• We had some leftover rotisserie chicken so we threw it on the pizza but feel free to leave off. It would be equally as good.
• Homemade pesto is very easy to make (see below the pizza recipe) if you have access to basil. In order to make enough pesto for one pizza, I used two cups of lightly packed basil.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pizza dough (please note that my pizza dough recipe makes 2 really thin crusts or 1 thick crust. I like to double the recipe and make three thin-ish crusts and freeze 1 or 2 of them before letting them rise).
• 1/2 c. basil pesto
• A mixture of provolone (I used deli slices), Parmesan, and Italian cheeses (I used the pre-shredded Italian Style cheese)
• Shredded chicken (optional)
• Grape tomatoes, halved

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and if using a pizza stone, make sure it's preheated for at least 15-20 minutes on the lower rack.
2. Roll out pizza dough and place on a greased pizza pan (start out on the pan even if switching to the stone - see step 4).
3. Cook for 5ish minutes on the pizza pan at 500 degrees until the crust is starting to dry.
4. Remove and spread basil on top, chicken, tomatoes and cheeses
5. Slide pizza back into the oven off the pizza pan and onto the pizza stone (if using). Cook another 10-15 minutes.

Homemade Pesto

NOTES

• Pesto freezes really well. Leave out the Parmesan cheese if freezing to add later when preparing your food.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 2 c. lightly packed fresh basil
• 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 c. pine nuts or walnuts (I use walnuts because they're so much cheaper!)
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Toast the unpeeled garlic in an 8-inch skillet over medium heat, turning the cloves occasionally until fragrant and spotty brown, about 7 minutes. Let cool before peeling.
2. Toast the nuts in the same skillet, shaking the skillet occasionally until they are lightly browned, 3 to 8 minutes.
2. Process the peeled garlic, basil, oil, nuts, Parmesan and salt and pepper in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Week 44, Recipe 3: Spinach and Sausage Calzones

NOTES

• Original recipe modified from Simple and Delicious, suggested by a relative (thanks April!)
• These were really tasty and froze so easily. I made four to eat right away and froze four for later (used two pizza crusts). To eat the frozen ones, remove and thaw at room temp for 2 hours or so or put in the fridge and thaw overnight. Bake as directed below.
• The recipe below makes 8 calzones (some to freeze!)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage (I like the spicy kind)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Pizza crust - enough to make 2 pizzas. Keep in mind my recipe makes two very thin crusts or one thick. I like to double the recipe and make 3 crusts, freezing one or two of them before letting them rise.
• 1 1/2 cup shredded \mozzarella cheese
• Approximately 4 c. cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh basil (optional)
• Pizza or marinara sauce for dipping

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Meanwhile, roll out pizza crusts and pat into two 15-in. x 11-in. rectangles. Cut each rectangle into four smaller rectangles. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over half of each rectangle to within 1 in. of edges.
2. Drain sausage. Add spinach and garlic and stir over medium heat until spinach is wilted. Remove from the heat. Stir in the ricotta cheese, salt and pepper and fresh basil if using.
3. Spread meat/spinach mixture over mozzarella cheese. Fold dough over filling; press edges with a fork to seal.
4. Transfer to a greased baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Week 43, Recipe 5: Ranch Chicken Pizza

NOTES

• This was delicious and definitely a kid pleaser!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pizza dough
• Ranch salad dressing, about 1/4 -1/2 c.
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese 
• Shredded or chopped cooked chicken (feel free to buy a rotisserie chicken for convenience and use for several meals!)
• Jalapeno slices (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Roll out pizza dough onto a floured counter top.
2. Place dough on an oiled pizza pan.
3. Bake pizza dough in a preheated 500 degree oven for 5-7 minutes or until starting to dry. 
4. Remove pizza from oven, spread ranch sauce over dough, sprinkle with mozzarella, tomato, jalapeno (if using), green onion, chicken and cheddar cheese. Return to oven and bake for another 8-15 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese in melted.

Week 40, Recipe 2: Sausage & Pepper Calzones

Photo by Randy Mayor

NOTES

• Original recipe modified from Cooking Light.
• If your kids baulk at "chunky" things like veggies and sliced sausage, do what I did and pulse the filling in a food processor until you've reached the desired consistency. That way you're not leaving any of the good stuff out!
• The original recipe called for apple chicken sausage so we tried it and liked it but thought a regular Italian sausage would have been better.
• The recipe below makes 2 large calzones and 1 smaller one. Double it if you want more or want to freeze extras (freezing directions in step 6 below).

INGREDIENTS

• Pizza dough (either homemade, store bought or pick some up at your favorite pizzeria)
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1 c. thinly sliced red bell pepper (about 1)
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 pound chicken apple sausage or other favorite kind (see NOTE above), cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 c pizza sauce
• 1/4 c. cottage cheese
• 1 tbsp grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Pinch of crushed red pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. To prepare filling, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add bell pepper, onion, garlic, and sausage; saute 10 minutes or until tender. Spoon mixture into a bowl; cool slightly. Add mozzarella and remaining ingredients to sausage mixture; stir well.

2. Preheat oven to 450°.
3. Divide dough into the number of calzones you are making and roll into circles on a lightly floured surface.
4. Spoon about 1/2 cup sausage mixture onto half of each circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Fold dough over filling; crimp edges of dough with fingers to seal.
5. Place calzones on a large baking sheet lined with foil and coated with cooking spray. Pierce the tops of the dough once with a fork. Lightly coat the calzones with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 14 minutes or until browned. Remove from oven. Cool for a few minutes before serving.
6. To freeze: Cool calzones completely. Coat a sheet of foil with cooking spray. Place 1 calzone on coated side of foil; seal. Repeat procedure with remaining calzones and cooking spray. Place calzones in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; freeze. To cook frozen calzones: Preheat oven to 450°. Place foil-wrapped, frozen calzones on a large baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 40 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Week 33, Recipe 5: Nacho Pizza

NOTES

• A delicious change from your regular pizza!
• You could brown beef with onions ahead of time to cut down on prep time but this comes together pretty quickly regardless.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pizza crust (see my recipe here)
• 3/4 lb ground beef
• 1/2 packet taco seasoning (or make your own!) and use 2 tbsp
• 1/3 c. chopped onion (I like red for this recipe)
• 1 c. salsa
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped ripe black olives (optional)
• 8 oz shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
• Crushed tortilla chips
• Optional toppings: tomatoes, sour cream, avocado, salsa.

DIRECTIONS
1. Coat a pizza pan with oil. Roll out dough and place on pan. Bake at 425 for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned.
2. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add 1/2 of taco seasoning packet (or use about 2 tbsp of your own) and add 1/2 cup water. Stir and simmer until water has evaporated.
3. Combine salsa and sour cream; spread over crust to within 1 inch of the edge. Top with beef, tomatoes, olives and cheese. Bake for 10 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with crusted chips and bake 5-6 minutes longer until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.
5. Serve with extra fresh tomatoes, salsa, sour cream and/or avocado pieces, if desired. 

Recipe 2, Week 32: Roasted Eggplant & Red Pepper Pizza

NOTES
• Pizza can be an easy weeknight meal! I make pizza dough and freeze it in ziplock bags. Before I head to work in the morning, I set a frozen dough in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. It thaws in the fridge and when I get home, I remove it to come to room temp (15-30 min) then roll out on a lightly floured surface and place on a greased pizza pan. Top, bake and enjoy! See here for my homemade thin crust recipe.


INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 med eggplant, peeled and chopped

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
• 1 c pizza sauce
• 1 1/2 c shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 c chopped roasted red peppers (or roast your own by placing a whole red pepper just under the broiler in your oven. Roast and turn until blackened on all sides. Place in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for 5 minutes. Peel off blackened skin, remove seeds and chop)
• 1 c crumbled feta cheese
• 1 pizza crust (see here for how to make your own)


DIRECTIONS
1. Cover a baking sheet with foil and brush with olive oil. Toss chopped eggplant with oiland spread in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 10-12 min or until lightly browned; set aside.
2. In a large pot, melt butter over med heat. Add onion, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to med-high and cook, stirring frequently until caramelized; set aside. See here for how to caramelize onions.
3. Spread pizza sauce over crust; sprinkle with 1 c mozzarella cheese. Top evenly with eggplant, onions, roasted peppers and a little salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and feta cheese.
4. Bake at 425 for 12-15 min.

Homemade Pizza/Calzone Dough

This post is in response to several requests for my homemade pizza dough recipe. Scroll down or click on "Older Post" to see last week's recipes.

When I make this dough, I usually double or triple the recipe and then freeze extra in zip-lock freezer bags. When I want a quick weeknight meal, I take out the dough in the morning (or around noon if you stay at home) and put it in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap. When you get home, roll out dough, spread on some sauce, top and bake!

This recipe makes two very thin crusts or one thick crust. When I want a medium crust, I double the recipe and make 3 crusts (and freeze what I don't need right then). If you make thick crust, you may want to bake it for about 5 minutes before adding sauce and toppings to make sure the crust cooks throughly. Try it once without pre-baking and see if you need to next time. A lot depends on your oven.

I bake my pizzas at 500 degrees on the lowest rack and check after 10 min. They usually take about 15 minutes.

I usually add some whole wheat flour to the dough (up to 1 c. per recipe below). Use this same recipe for calzones as well!

INGREDIENTS
1 c. warm water
1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
2 1/2-3 c. flour (use up to 1 c. whole wheat).
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, combine water, yeast and 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Add oil, salt and rest of flour.
2. Knead for at least 5 min until dough is elastic, soft and smooth (it should still be a little sticky but not sticking to hands). I usually knead my dough in my electric standing mixer with the dough hook. About halfway through, I'll take it out of mixer to check if it needs a tbsp or two more of flour. Remember, it should still be sticky and even sticking a little to the bottom of the mixer. (If freezing dough, divide up and place in zip-lock freezer bags BEFORE letting dough rise).
3. Let dough rest in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap until double (about an hour). If in a hurry, you can let it rest about 20 min and it will still turn out good!
4. Punch dough down, divide into the number of pizzas you're going to make, roll into balls, and let rest 15 minutes.
5. Oil your pizza pan (I use olive oil then sprinkle with a little cornmeal).
6. Either roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin or press out onto pan with fingers. Top pizza with sauce and desired toppings.
7. Bake at 500 degrees for about 15 min.