English Muffin Pizzas

This is something I started making FOREVER ago, maybe when I was a Weight Watchers Points counter (this is LOW!), or maybe some other time - but regardless, with the large number of really high fiber, whole wheat english muffins on the market now at a pretty affordable cost, this "crust" is so super easy the kids can do it without you! (really, they could if they are toaster or oven savvy).

Four English Muffins
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 breakfast sausage links, cooked and cut into small pieces
1/2 red pepper, diced

Open the four english muffins to make eight halves - place on a dark baking sheet.  Put 1 tbsp pizza sauce on each half - then the sausage and pepper, finally 2 tbsp mozzarella cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until desired crispiness is acheived (they won't crisp appropriately on an air-bake pan!)

Load up on the veggies - usually I use alot more veggies like mushrooms, zucchini, onions, and other peppers - but I kept it simple today because the kids playdates were showing up in 15 about 25 mintues from when I started, and I wanted the kids to eat with no complaints!  (and they did!).

Pepperoni Pizza on a Cornmeal Crust

Cornmeal Crust!! I have this 5 lb bag of cornmeal that I have used twice to make polenta. However, cornmeal seems to grow when cooked, so although I have so far only used 2 cups of cornmeal, Ive served 8 entres with it. I have decided to make it my mission to keep coming up with cornmeal ideas. The pizza is a no brainer, but it did cause me some stress because my absolute favorite Pizza Place where I live called Barnabys is famous for its signature cornmeal crust. I have never worked with cornmeal before , so I wasnt too confident, but Im happy with the results. I had to add a decent amount of flour to my hands when kneading because the dough was sticky, but it all worked out.
When I make this crust again(I still have cornmeal left) I am going to make some unique pizzas with proscuitto, funky cheeses like fontina, veggies like peas......just kicking around some ideas, cant wait to try!!

ingredients

2 tsp active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
2/3 cup warm water
1 2/3 cup flour (and a handful of extra for kneading the dough)
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoon olive oil

In small bowl sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm water
let stand til yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes

in separate bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, salt and create a well
pour in yeast combo and start to need dough, flour hands because dough will be sticky
when dough is all worked together, separate it into 2 separate balls and let sit for another hour until dough grows atleast to double size
in bowl, pour olive oil and roll the balls in olive oil before flattening into pizza crust in the pans
dough should form into 2 12-14 inch round pizza crusts
place on pizza stone or cookie sheets

preheat oven to 500

For the sauce and topping
1 cup marinara
2 tsp oregano
2 oz bags of pepperoni
16 oz shredded mozarella

spread dough evenly with sauce, pepperoni and mozarella
bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and slightly golden

Grands Rolls Pizzas

My coupon shopping machine husband bought a bunch of Pillsbury Grands rolls for next to nothin a few weeks ago.  This week I used them to form a pizza crust in a deep dish.  The kids, who like almost all cooking kids, love the sound of that poppin' can, thought this dish was fun because they got to pop the can, smash dough, decorate their own pizzas.  Hmmm... all good things in a kids mind.

Here's what we used:

4 Pillsbury Grands rolls (8 regular size biscuits, which are loads cheaper if you're paying full price)

pizza sauce

sausage or pepperoni

red peppers

cheese

anything else you desire in your pizza.

spray the sides and bottom of what ever bowl or pan you are going to make your pizza in.  I have a few five or six inch round corningware crock type bowls that we used - they were PERFECT!  with the pads of your fingers smash the dough to the edges of the bowls - try not to poke holes in the dough (the tricky part!).  Once the dough touches the edges, put about 1 tbsp of sauce on your dough, 2 tbsp cheese, your toppings of choice, another 2 tbsp cheese, then bake for about 12 minutes until the pizza is done.

Cool 3-5 minutes, remove from bowls or from pan, then EAT!

If you didn't get your Pillsbury Grands for free from coupons/sales/and Catalina rebates, then use the cheaper biscuits that are 1/2 the size - and use two.  Smashing them together will be even more fun for the youngsters in your family!

Portabella Mushroom Pizza (crustless) $4,22

No crust on your pizza you gluten intolerant person
No carbs in your pizza you low carb eater
Veggie lover
Food Adventurer

whatever the reason for trying this crustless, portabella mushroom based pizza, CONGRATULATIONS for breaking out of the norm!

Ingredients - SERVES ONE

1 lg. portabella mushroom cap $2.99

1/4 cup pasta sauce .20
1/4 cup part-skim mozzarella .25
1 cup cooked spinach(frozen or fresh) .60
1 clove garlic.08
1.tbsp dried basil .10
fat-free cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Wipe the cap clean of any dirt. Trim mushroom stem flat with cap.
Place mushroom cap on foil and bake for 5-10 minutes before proceeding with toppings. Remove from oven.
Spray both sides of mushroom cap with cooking spray. Place on baking dish, gill side up (that's the fancy, official name for the black feathery side).
Cover generously with garlic and sauce, then top with spinach, cheese and basil. Place in oven and bake for 6-8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Broil for the last minute or two if you want your cheese browned on top.

Serve immediately.

I've listed this as an appetizer because it would be a fun party food cut into little wedges!

Here's a picture of another of those nights where my dish and Barbara's look EXACTLY the same.  we really do think alike on these projects so frequently!  YUMMY

Pizza Quiche (yeap, really!) $2.07-yeap, really cheap!

Crustless Pizza topping Quiche

1 medium onion, diced .20
4 oz mushrooms .70
10 black olives .10
4 oz sausage (4 links - cut into small pieces) OR 2 oz turkey pepperoni, cut coins into wedges
2 large eggs .15
1/2 cup egg whites (4 egg whites?).30
1/2 cup flour .20
1/2 tsp baking powder.05
1/4 tsp salt.02
pinch cayenne pepper
1 1/3 cup non-fat or 1% milk.30
1 tsp pizza spice or italian seasoning .05

1/2 cup mozzarella .50
1 tbsp grated parmesan .10

1/4 cup pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Lightly spray a 10 inch pie plate (or quiche pan)

in a medium frying pan, cook diced onion with a bit of cooking spray over medium high heat until transparent and tender. Add in olives, mushrooms and meat heat thoroughly. Set aside

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in milk, then meat/veg mixture.

Pour quiche into prepared pan, top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake 20 minutes, or until center is almost set and the outside edge is golden brown - sprinkle with parm and bake another 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to set for 5 minutes, slice, and serve with 1 tbsp of pizza sauce on top.

good luck!

Pita Pizzas!

Pita Pizzas
Made by Joe! 

YUM.  I think the made by Joe makes anything taste better.

Pita crust
layer with whatever you want on your pizza
  Ellie's was three cheese- with jarred pizza sauce
  Jacob & Jenna both had sausage, bacon, and cheese - with jarred pizza sauce
  Joe and I had bbq sauce with chicken, onion, blue cheese, mozzarella and YUM!
BEST PART...

COOK ON THE GRILL! he turned on the furthest left burner and put the pizzas on the right side - closed the cover and waited patiently for them to be done.  I think it took about 7 minutes on the grill.  The kids LOVED that their pizzas had grill marks on the bottom.  Now, these kids won't eat a hot dog that has grill marks on it, but on their pizza, YEAP, they loved it.  Go try to figure them out!

Homemade Spinach Pizza

Every once in a while I get a super big taste for this pizza, and I have to have it. I call it my "special" pizza, because I made up the recipe for the "crust", which is more like a cracker, and its, super healthy and can be mixed and matched with many, many diferent toppings, or eaten alone.(its that good)
2 cups soy flour(if you can find, otherwise, whole wheat or white)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
1 tsp salt

mix ingredients together, forms kind of a paste. using your hands,(floured if necessary) flatten evenly onto a cookie sheet
bake at 300 for 20 minutes, until crisp and golden brown
can be topped with any kind of vegetble or cheese. Im going to do mine white tonight, with no tomato sauce
1 lb frozen or fresh spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove fresh garlic minced
salt
heat skillet on medium, add olive oil and garlic, saute for five minutes, add spianch cover with lid, stir occasionally until spinach is completely wilted, add salt remove from heat
top pizza with spinach, and 1 1/2 cup grated mozarella cheese
bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted
let stand for 5 mintues and cut peices with sharp knife or scissors

Bacon, Pineapple, Ham Pizza

So here's a true favorite of our family's. Like most people we love pizza, but I can really grow tired of sausage pizza, cheese pizza, even deluxe pizza... so then it's time to get gourmet! That's just what I needed to do last night after a great weekend of camping with my parents and my Mom's side of the family - and a long drive!

So, this is a 'za you can find on menu at all sorts of pizza restaurants, AND, we made our own crust...

Crust $1.10
3/4 cup whole wheat flour .20
1 cup white flour .20
1 packet yeast 40
1/2 cup beer (room temperature - NOT straight from the frig) .30
1/2 cup water

in a medium/large mixing bowl combine flours and yeast. In a one cup measuring cup, measure approximately 1/2 cup beer and 1/2 cup water. You'll be trying to achieve about 110 degrees for this cup of liquid, so use appropriately temperatured tap water to achieve this 110 degrees to activate the yeast. 110 is approximate. It should feel warm to your touch, but not hot. Hot will kill the yeast from the start. Add the water and stir to mix - knead mixture with a spoon in the bowl for about 2 minutes

this is a sticky dough!! Let sit for 5 to 30 minutes.

Then, line pan with cooking spray and if available, corn meal. dump the ball of wet sticky dough into the pan and add a tablespoon or so of flour - work into a crust with your finger tips, adding flour as needed to keep your fingers from sticking (you can put flour in the bowl that you mixed the crust in to put on your fingers - that way you aren't sticking your pizza doughy hands into the big bowl or bag of flour). Once a crust is formed, poke many many many times with a fork to prevent it from developing air bubbles under the crust during the initial bake.

bake WITHOUT TOPPINGS for 6-8 minutes at 400 degrees

spread the following ingredients on the pizza:
1/4 cup barbeque sauce .15

1/2 can crushed and well drained or tidbits of pineapple .40
2 oz sliced/diced ham ,20
6 strips crumbled bacon .60
1/2 cup mozarella cheese
(I also added 1/4 cup feta)
black olives optional

bake an additional 12 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Depending on the size of your pan, your crust will be quite thin, but very tasty.

Pizza Stuffed Burgers $3.49

My niece, who is 14 now, and my nephew, who is 16 now, have been making these for themselves for several years now. They are really that simple! I remember having pizza burgers in school as a kid - I didn't like them back then - there was ALWAYs this orangish red grease that came darting out of the burgers whenever I bit into them. It was so gross. I don't think that will be a problem any longer as we're using WAY better ingredients than they did in the Loganville Elementary School 20 plus (and that's a BIG PLUS) years ago.

you'll want to be sure to have fresh ground beef (or turkey) for this masterpiece - previously frozen hamburger WILL NOT work as the tallows don't thaw right, and will not hold together right - a VITAL part of making such a thin burger patty. In this instance you can use the lean or even extra lean ground beef - sometimes it too doesn't stick together, but these super thin patties will require a lot of "working", so the meat will come together and hold it's shape, so feel free to treat yourself to 93% lean ground sirloin!

Pizza Stuffed Burgers:
1 lb to 1 1/2 lbs Extra Lean Fresh Ground Beef (or turkey - I used turkey)$2.29
3/4 cup pizza sauce .40
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella.50
4 -8 slices of pepperoni (optional!).30
buns if desired, I prefer mine open-faced

divide meat into four portions. Divide each portion into two equal portions. now you're dealing with 1/8th of a pound - 2 ounces - of meat. Not alot, so work it well - mash it, pat it, squish it, toss it, do what you need to get it to stay in a ball form - then on a piece of waxed paper, flatten (do NOT punch holes in it) into a patty that is about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Repeat with other 2 ounce portion of meat - set it on the waxed paper next to it's partner. Now you have one burger prepped. Repeat three (or six depending on how you look at it) more times to make 8 super thin burger patties.

On one half of the perfectly matched pair put 1 tbsp pizza sauce and 1 tbsp mozzarella sauce (and if you want, one or two slices of pepperoni). Top with the "cover" and seal the edges by pinching them together and smoothing around the edges. Repeat to make four burger patties.

Place on hot grill, cook four minutes on each side (these are THIN, watch them close) - or pan fry in a hot frying pan sprayed with cookign spray for six minutes per side over medium heat UNTIL DONE. (don't use a George Foreman or Panini Press type grill - these burgers don't need that multi-directional pressure!)

Top each burger patty with another 1 to 2 tbsp sauce and 1 tbsp mozzarella. you can also add any other pizza toppings you want right here - like black olives, put them under the cheese, like pepperoni, throw more on, like peppers, onions, etc... you can see where this is going. Basically, I want you to make a small pizza on top of the pizza burgers - return to pan to melt the cheese, but not much more.

If desired, put on a bun, else Plate and Eat! with a side of steamed veggie of choice - vegetable normandy would be perfect with this!

Summer fav - Cold Veggie Pizza

So when I think of pizza, I don't think of cream cheese/sour cream sauce, and I DO think of cheese - so this "pizza" brings you the first, and none of the second! It's kind of a barbeque favorite for those who are trying to pack as many veggies in as possible. OF COURSE, the cream cheese/sour cream ON A CRUST OF CRESCENT ROLLS means the veggies are kinda "lost" nutritionally, but what the heck, this is the first of three big American Holidays, and that means we gotta endulge a bit, right?

I did alot of looking for this recipe - well, I looked at a lot of recipes that were all the same - mayo, cream cheese, and a package of Hidden Valley Ranch Ranch dressing mix. OK, I'm NOT going that route. I remember garlic and onion - mostly I remember the creamy goop holding the veggies on - who doesn't want to hang on to crescent rolls for dear life? I hope we like my new version!

Cold Veggie Pizza
2 8 oz packages Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls

8 ounces low fat cream cheese .49
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream .45

1 tsp onion powder.05
1 tsp garlic powder .05
1 tsp Italian Seasoning .05

1/2 to 1 cup EACH tiny broccoli flowerettes, tiny cauliflower flowerettes, diced carrots, diced red (or yellow) peppers, sliced green onions, (halved?) grape tomatoes, sliced black olives (OPTIONAL)

open crescent rolls, but DO NOT seperate into individual rolls, rather, lay two big "sheets" directly from can side by side on a 11 by 13 size baking sheet - press all the seams together to make into one gigantic sheet (covering most of the pan).
Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes until fully cooked (it's not going back in the oven, so it should be done cooking!)
While baking, mix the cream cheese, sour cream, onion pwdr, garlic pw.dr & Italian seasoning together.
When crust is fully cooled (as in an hour later) spread the THICK cream cheese mixture on the crust, then decorate with veggies! You can use whatever veg appeals to you - I've listed the most common above.
Return to refrigerator, and slice into 24 pieces just before serving.

This makes 24 servings, and each is just under 100 calories. Well worth it - if you can stop at one square.

Carmelized Onion, Blue Cheese, Cilantro Pesto Pizza $4..87

Heres an old favorite of mine, that I havent made for years, mainly because cilantro is not something I cook with often or ever have on hand. However, after I made the pesto yesterday, and had about a cup remaining, I started thinking of a bunch of otherways to use he sweet, colorful, and tastey pesto. I realize in calling it a pesto, that makes many think immediately of nuts, whether it be pine, almonds, walnuts, however, I am going to forgo the nuts. Truly, "pesto" just means paste- a bunch of ingredients combined to form not so much a sauce, but a thicker, clumpier topping. I went with a basic recipe, that doesnt require tons of ingredients, nor a long process to make it. A food processor, blender, or morter and pestal(thats how it was done in olden days-yikes) to blend he pesto.

Ingredients:
a big bunch of cilantro(about two cups).89
2 tablespoons olive oil .20
1 garlic clove .05
1 small onion chopped.20
1 tsp honey .10
salt and pepper

I put all ingredients in food processor an pulsed for less then 1 minute.

Ingredients for pizza
2 medium onions sliced in medium slices. .40
1 tablespoon olive oil .10
1 tsp brown sugar .05
10 ounces, goat, feta or blue cheese(I prefer goat, but no one in my family likes, so we went with bluecheese) $1.89
boboli pizza crust, english muffins, tortillas, flatbread, make your own crust-what ever you feel like .99

To carmelize onions:
heat oil in skillet
slowly add onion and sugar
stir constantly for 30-40 minutes, until golden. Its kinda time consuming, but worth it!

When onions are down, spread pesto on pizza crust of choice generously
add onions, cover evenly, and then top with cheese

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted
*if using a boboli pizza crust, you may want to precook first for 1 minutes to get it a little crispy, because once topping is on pizza, the pizza cooks really fast and cook leave the crust tasting raw.

Pizza Panini $2.47

We have not done the Panini to death!!!  There are likely more paninis to come!  We could do a month of Paninis and not repeat.  Tonight's was a perfect way to celebrate 12 years of wonderful married life with my husband - an easy to prepare method of one of his most favorite foods!  The Pizza Panini - like a perfect match!

So, like most Paninis, this one is pretty self explanatory:

Pizza Panini
8 slices bread (we used Whole Grain White Bread).25
1/2 cup pizza sauce .30
4 ounces sausage (a few left over breakfast links or patties!).25
4 ounces cheese .77
1/2 cup red pepper .65
20 slices of mushroom - sliced thiner .25

Saute the red peppers and mushrooms with the sausage for about five minutes - basically rewarming/softening all.
Spread the sauce equally (sparingly) onto the eight slices of bread
Distribute the cheese equally onto the eight slices of bread as well.
Aportion the sausage/veggie mixture onto four of the eight slices of bread.
Place bottom (the one with meat) piece of bread onto panini press, carefully flip top onto bottom - so the cheese is on top of the meat/veg toppings, then close press.
Wait for the light to go out (90 seconds?), open remove panini, repeat until all paninis are done, and serve!

ENJOY, we did!

Pizza Bianco and Insalata Caprese $6.49

I Was feeling very ambitious and decided to make homemade pizza instead of frozen to go along with my favorite "non lettuce" salad out there, and also the easiest!!-Insalta Caprese, aka tomato, mozzarella and basil.
Ill start with the pizza- sometime I am in the mood for a pizza sans tomato sauce, and that in Italy is called "pizza en Bianco". The Bianco is olive oil, lightly spread on the pizza crust, and then topped with whatever is of interest. This pizza was made with spinach and onion and light cheese, it was the perfect light combo to accompany the mozzarella salad.
Recipe for Pizza:
Pizza crust mix or frozen(I almost always use Pillsbury Hotroll mix-its awesome!).90
1o ounces frozen spinach.70
3 tablespoon garlic minced .15
1 medium onion sliced thinly .30
1 cup mozarella cheese shredded .40
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt .05

make pizza crust according to direction
heat 1 tblsp oil in small pan
add onions and saute until glassy(about 10 minutes)
add spinach and salt and pepper, cook 10 minutes
spread remaining olive oil on crust
sprinkle with garlic salt
top pizza with onion and spinach evenly
sprinkle on cheese
bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted

For Tomato Mozarella Basil Salad

2 tomatos sliced thinly $1.00
8 ounce ball of mozarella sliced $1.99
2 tablespoon olive oil .20
12-16 leaves fresh basil .80
salt and pepper

On a serving tray lay out tomato, mozarella and basil-rotating each like a sandwhich
dress with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste
some like balsamic vinegar, I prefer without, but either can work very nicely

Sunday's Pizza Pinwheel $5.99

Pizza Pinwheel


Here's a fun alternative to the Sunday night pizza we're treating you to. This rollup idea can be done with so many varieties, like artichoke, red pepper, spinach and provolone, or pepperoni pizza or 4 cheese special - or skip the pizza idea and go with ham and swiss or ... well, the possibilities are endless!



1 refrigerated bread dough in a can (i.e. Pillsbury) $1.99
corn meal (optional)
desired pizza toppings like:

• sauce $1.00
• meat $1.50
• veggies .50
• cheese$1.00

total $5.99

Unroll bread dough to cover as much of a large baking sheet as you can - use rolling pin to flatten to as thin as possible. spread a small amount, no more than a cup, of pizza sauce, then desired toppings in similar, small amounts, on top of entire rolled out bread dough. Top with cheese - no more than a cup!

start rolling from one long edge to other long edge to create the longest "tube" you can from the crust available to you (match short edges as you roll so it's not like a triangle or anything).
Seal edge shut by pinching dough...rub with corn meal if available. Roll the entire tube so seam is at the bottom.

Bake at 400 degree for about 25 minutes until raised and golden brown. Cook for about 3-5 minutes longer than you think so that the center cooks thoroughly. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

Slice into slices about 1 inch thick.
Enjoy the pretty colors of this really fun pizza alternative!

Sunday Night Pizza $5.89

I am a first generation Italian American and was raised "Italian" as much as a person could be, living in America. My parents held on to as many of their Italian traditions as possible. Food, ofcourse is a big tradition, but more importantly mealtime and breaking bread with family is an even bigger tradition. Pasta Lunch has always been our bigger meal on Sunday. My dad worked 6 days a week, and usually took off Sunday, and our family lunch, which often included other extended family members on Sunday, was vey important to him. He came to America when he was 27, and held on to many Italian traditions until he passed away last April, one of them was our Sunday lunch. We have always eaten our big meal of the day, and always pasta, at the lunch on Sunday. Since he passed, we have continued the tradition, in his honor, so consequently, we eat lite Sunday night. I usually make a salad and order pizza for the kids. Well, carryout pizza is never cheap and not always good, so for this year, and maybe for ever, we are making our own pizzas!!

Recipe (easy peasy)
Any kind of crust- frozen, foccacia, enlish muffins, box mix
I use the Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix(it makes the best crust) $2.29
Pasta sauce or tom basil .75
Mozzarella $1.75
Mushroom .50
Black olives .60
Total aprox $5.89

I spead the dough out in two seperate cookie sheets 12 inch, and bake crust.
remove from oven, let cool. Spread generously with sauce.
I am topping one with mushrooms and black olives and cheese and the other with just cheese.

These pizzas are very flexible, I have made them with spinach, , artichokes, tomatos, basil, bacon, pepporoni etc....anything that appeals can be incorporated into this pizza. Be creative! If doing individual foccacia, put out a bunch of toppings and let kids make their own. Have fun, and enjoy the end of the weekend!