Stu and I LOVE to make homemade pizza, but sometimes you don't have the traditional "pizza" fixin's. So we started doing "pizza night" on Fridays and we would watch a movie while we ate. (Good date night idea too, for those who are searching) The problem with this set-up is that you will inevitably NOT have one or SEVERAL of the typical ingredients. So here is our version of pizza night!
S&S Homemade Pizza:
1 pizza crust (we head to Winco, Papa John's, or just buy frozen... but if you can get one pre-made from a pizza shop, it's going to be the best)
Assorted Veggies from your fridge, we use any combination of the following :
zucchini
button mushrooms
white, red, or green onions (or all three!)
roasted garlic
bell peppers or any variety
spinach (use fresh baby spinach and but it into strips for best results)
tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes
yellow squash
Meat: This is where it gets fun, you can either use just veggies, or any leftover meat you have. My personal favorite is the pull the leftovers from a deli roasted chicken and use that. Make sure that any meat you use has already been cooked. We love the little ham slices you can get pre-packaged at the store. Try using seafood too!
Cheese: We usually stick with mozzarella, but we've also tried adding cheddar, feta, parmesan, and Swiss.
For the sauce: (either use a canned sauce, or try my variation of a "white sauce")
1/2 package of cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I use the stuff in the jar, OR mince it myself, whatever you have time for)
Ranch dressing
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425 (F).
2) Spread the pizza dough out on a floured pizza stone or a baking sheet; stab it all over with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming when it is baking.
3) For the sauce, combine the cream cheese and garlic in a bowl and stir. Add a few teaspoons of Ranch at a time, stir and taste. Add more until you get your own desired taste.
4) Spread the sauce all over the pizza dough.
5) Sprinkle cheese over the dough, not to thick, you don't need as much as you'd think.
6) Top with any or all of the above veggies and add your choice of meat.
7) Bake for 10-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pizza. Watch it carefully. Pizza is done when the edges are lightly browned and cheese is melted and starting to brown.
Tips for this recipe:
- make sure you slice all of your veggies very thinly so they do not hold in too much water and make your pizza runny on top
- Do not use too many ingredients. Try to pick four or five ingredients to top the pizza with so it is not too thick and the flavors complement each other.
- Let pizza stand for a few minutes before cutting it. It will hold together better this way.
S&S Homemade Pizza:
1 pizza crust (we head to Winco, Papa John's, or just buy frozen... but if you can get one pre-made from a pizza shop, it's going to be the best)
Assorted Veggies from your fridge, we use any combination of the following :
zucchini
button mushrooms
white, red, or green onions (or all three!)
roasted garlic
bell peppers or any variety
spinach (use fresh baby spinach and but it into strips for best results)
tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes
yellow squash
Meat: This is where it gets fun, you can either use just veggies, or any leftover meat you have. My personal favorite is the pull the leftovers from a deli roasted chicken and use that. Make sure that any meat you use has already been cooked. We love the little ham slices you can get pre-packaged at the store. Try using seafood too!
Cheese: We usually stick with mozzarella, but we've also tried adding cheddar, feta, parmesan, and Swiss.
For the sauce: (either use a canned sauce, or try my variation of a "white sauce")
1/2 package of cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I use the stuff in the jar, OR mince it myself, whatever you have time for)
Ranch dressing
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425 (F).
2) Spread the pizza dough out on a floured pizza stone or a baking sheet; stab it all over with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming when it is baking.
3) For the sauce, combine the cream cheese and garlic in a bowl and stir. Add a few teaspoons of Ranch at a time, stir and taste. Add more until you get your own desired taste.
4) Spread the sauce all over the pizza dough.
5) Sprinkle cheese over the dough, not to thick, you don't need as much as you'd think.
6) Top with any or all of the above veggies and add your choice of meat.
7) Bake for 10-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pizza. Watch it carefully. Pizza is done when the edges are lightly browned and cheese is melted and starting to brown.
Tips for this recipe:
- make sure you slice all of your veggies very thinly so they do not hold in too much water and make your pizza runny on top
- Do not use too many ingredients. Try to pick four or five ingredients to top the pizza with so it is not too thick and the flavors complement each other.
- Let pizza stand for a few minutes before cutting it. It will hold together better this way.
- For families with picky eaters, separate the dough into smaller rounds for personal pizzas and let each member top their pizza with their favorites.
- Try doing a half-and-half pizza with different toppings on each side of the pizza. (Or for ML and Jeff, BIG pieces of food on one side, and smaller chopped pieces on the other!)
3 comments:
Your new blog is so freakin cute! Are these pictures ones that you have found or ones that you actually take? I can never tell with you... because the pictures you take are so freakin beautiful, especially the wonderful family!
Thanks! And yeah, some of them are mine and some are the result of a google search when I haven't had the time to take a pic, or didn't make the meal recently. Love love!
Thanks for this recipe....my husband and I like different things so we could definitely do the half and half pizza.
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