Turkey and Mashed Potatoes Pizza Recipe

1 12" prepared pizza crust

These measurements are approximate - use your leftovers in whatever proportions you like!
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup chopped cooked turkey
1/2 cup stuffing (optional)
1/2 cup grated cheese - I like provolone, but chunks of feta can also be good.

Spread mashed potatoes evenly on pizza crust.  Sprinkle turkey evenly over top.  Dot with spoonfuls of stuffing (if desired).  Top with cheese.  Bake according to the directions on the pizza crust that you used, or until the toppings are warm and cheese is melted.

Serve with cranberry sauce on the side.

Muffin Tin Pizzas - Every Day Food Magazine

The September issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine has some great pizza ideas - including making mini pizzas in mini muffin tins.  I would have never thought of that!!!   You should buy the magazine to see the photos in gorgeous full color and read the instructions, but basically the idea is using your mini muffin tins to make mini deep dish pizzas.  I love it!

Garlic and Basil Pizza Recipe

I finally had a few small bits of produce from my garden!  Today I used some fresh garlic and basil from my garden to make a very simple garlic and basil pizza.  Actually, it's so simple that it doesn't even deserve to be called a "recipe", but it was really fantastic.   Here's how I made it:

I used a premade crust from Armello's Italian Bakery in Vandergrift, PA.  I put the crust on a large cookie sheet, then spritzed it with about a tablespoon of olive oil.  I then spread about 3/4 cup of pizza sauce on top of the crust.  I cleaned two cloves of fresh garlic and sliced the garlic into very thin slices - I used a sharp knife, but I think a microplane or peeler would work better.  I picked some fresh basil, cleaned and julienned it and then sprinkled it on top.  (Next time I'll use a lot more basil.)  I then topped the pizza with about 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella cheese and about 1/4 cup of grated parmesan, and slid it into a 450 degree oven where it baked for about 8 minutes.

It was wonderful!

Weight Watchers Pizza Cheat Sheet and Recipe on KDKA.com

An article today on the KDKA website gives Weight Watchers' hints for  healthier, low fat pizza ... plus includes a recipe for Grilled Pizza with Crispy Mushrooms and Shallots.   Some of their suggestions are to go for a thin crust pizza, order red sauce instead of white, and to pile on the veggie toppings.   They also suggest using a tortilla as a pizza base, which is something I haven't tried. 

I have my own suggestion for ordering a lower fat / lower calorie pizza - when you order, ask them to only use half the cheese that they normally would!

Grilled Pizza Recipes from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Sunday's edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review had a huge article in the Magazine section, with loads of hints and recipes  for grilled pizza.  The printed article had several recipes, but you can check out two of them online  - Eggplant and Goat Cheese and Cherry Tomato, Mozzarella and Sausage.   I can't wait to try them!

Pizza Recipes in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

I really look forward to the days that my copy of Everyday Food arrives in the mailbox - it was especially sweet yesterday, when I opened the July/August issue to find a whole section devoted to pizza.  (Page 90!)   Pizza recipes include Tomato and Basil, Grilled Asparagus and Ricotta, Fontina Fennel and Onion, Shrimp and Pesto, 3 Cheese, and Sausage and Olives, as well as recipes for the crust and toppings.  Gorgeous illustrations, too, of course - and the pizzas have a charmingly imperfect look which makes me feel like I can make them myself.

Pillsbury Refrigerated Thin Crust Pizza Dough ... With Hot Peppers

I always keep a tube of Pillsbury's refrigerated pizza dough in the refrigerator for a quick and easy pizza.  I usually buy the Classic crust, but this time opted for Thin Crust - it had good flavor, except that ... yes, I burnt it again.   Just as I was about to take the pizza out of the oven, the dog jumped over the fence and ran off down the street.  By the time we got back to the house, it was overdone.  (The photo is from the "good end".)

I had another little mishap with it, too - when I was unrolling it, one side of the crust stuck to my hand and I ended up sticking my fingers through it, which made a huge hole.  I patched it back together, but it was not as beautiful as I wanted it to be.

What I was really excited about was that I used the first banana pepper from my Pizza Garden to use as a topping!

For what it's worth, here's the recipe:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
One Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust (we used the Thin Crust)
1 cup of pizza sauce, or to taste (we used Mid's)
1 hot banana pepper, cleaned and sliced very thinly
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese, or a pizza blend (we used Organic Valley)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheet or pizza pan with a layer of olive oil.  Unroll crust and place on cookie sheet.  Spread pizza sauce over crust, decorate with sliced pepper, and top with grated cheese.  Bake for approximately 14 minutes and try to prevent your dog from running away while cooking.

Remove from oven and let cool for several minutes.  Slice and enjoy!

Caramelized Onion, Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Pizza Recipe on Voila! With Emily

Voila! With Emily is one of my favorite recipe blogs - her recipes are down to earth, but easy to prepare and just really, really good.  Today's blog post is a recipe for Caramelized Onion, Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Pizza.   And, wow.  It sounds fantastic!  When I find all of the ingredients, I'm going to try it.

Grilled Pizza Burgers on Ciabatta Bread Recipe

Serves 4

1 lb. ground round
pizza seasoning
4 Tbsp. shredded mozzarella
4 Tbsp. pizza sauce
hot pepper rings
multigrain ciabatta buns

Preheat grill.  While grill is heating, form ground round or ground beef into four patties.  Place on grill and sprinkle with pizza seasoning. 

While burgers are cooking, slice buns (we used Giant Eagle multigrain ciabatta rolls) and toast.

After flipping burgers, sprinkle again with pizza seasoning.

When burgers are cooked through, top each with 1 Tablespoon pizza sauce (we used Mid's), then 1 Tablespoon of shredded mozzarella, with several hot pepper rings on top.

Slide carefully onto toasted buns and serve!

Note:  One of our pizza burger tasters would have liked more pizza sauce on top of the burger but otherwise gave it a "great, I'd eat this again!" rating.

Grilled Pizza Recipe - My First Try!

I know my pizza looks pretty funny - it's okay to laugh!   I read about grilled pizza.  I studied the technique both in books and online.  I watched Chef Annie Burrell's Grilled Pizza segment on the Food Network's "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef".   In the end, I loved it ... but I also made a few mistakes.  Obviously.

For my first try, I decided to go with a simple cheese pizza.

Ingredients:

1 loaf frozen pizza dough

1 cup pizza sauce (we used Mid's)
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan
1/8 cup chopped basil
olive oil

Technique (or lack of):

Thaw dough according to package directions.  When thawed, place between two sheets of parchment paper that has been lightly oiled.  Try to roll into a 12" round.  Remove top sheet of parchment paper and take outside to your grill, that has been preheated.  (For this try, we used a George Foreman outdoor propane grill.)  Lay the pizza dough on top of the grill and lower lid.  Grill/bake for approximately 5 minutes on a low/medium heat.   Using a spatula or pizza peel, peek at the bottom of the crust.

In the meantime, prepare your topping ingredients and have ready to put on the crust as soon as you flip it.

When the bottom of the crust is a pleasant golden brown, use the pizza peel or two spatulas to flip the dough.  Top with a layer of pizza sauce, and sprinkle with cheeses and chopped basil.  Cover and grill/bake for approximately 10 minutes.  Peek at it after 5 minutes to ensure that the bottom of the crust is not burning and make any adjustments in temperature.

When cheese is melted and dough appears to be cooked through, use a pizza peel or two spatulas to carefully remove from heat, turn off the grill.  Slice and serve!

Despite the fact that my pizza was not that attractive, we had a lot of fun making it and we loved the slightly smokey flavor.  I will definitely give this another try sometime soon - next time I will use another type of dough and will try different toppings.

P.S.  Lexi says my pizza looks like an oven mitt.

Deep Dish Broccoli and Cheese Pizza Recipe

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 loaf frozen bread or pizza dough
1 c. shredded low fat mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. pizza sauce
1/2 c. frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 cup diced fire-roasted diced tomatoes, well drained
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1.  Thaw pizza dough overnight, following package directions.  I wrapped the frozen loaf loosely in parchment paper, then put it inside a large zip lock bag.

2.  Preheat oven to 475 d.  Coat an oven proof skillet with olive oil.

3.  Pat or roll dough into a 14" round and place it onto the oiled skillet.  (I messed this part up, but my finished pizza still looked okay!)  Cover loosely and let rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes. 

4.  Spread pizza sauce evenly over dough; sprinkle mozzarella cheese over sauce.  Squeeze the thawed broccoli to remove any excess moisture and layer it on top of the cheese.  Top evenly with chopped tomatoes  Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

5.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is puffy and golden brown.  Be very careful removing it from the oven - the handle will be super hot!   Cut into generous slices and serve.

Note:  My testers were not sure that they would like broccoli on pizza and really complained about it ... loudly.  I made them taste it, though, and the concensus was that it was really pretty good and that they would try it again!

Easy Pizza Recipes by Bobby Flay in Parade Magazine

This past Sunday, Parade Magazine had a three page "Make Your Own Pizza" article by Bobby Flay - not only do the photos make the pizzas look incredible, the recipes look easy!  There are three recipes - pizza dough, easy pizza sauce, and a tomato and cheese pizza recipe that puts the two together.  I don't usually take the time to make my own dough (I think I'm scared!) but Bobby's recipe looks very easy.   The sauce recipe looks very easy, too, and as a bonus is low in fat and cholesterol.  

Pittsburgh Penguins Playoff Pizza Party Menu and Recipe

I love the Pens and I love a theme party!  In honor of tonight's Game 3 against the Ottawa Senators, I am serving:

White Out Pizza Dip

1 container (5.3 oz.) plain Greek style yogurt

2 tsp. (or to taste) pizza seasoning

Mix Greek style yogurt with pizza seasoning.  Serve with blue corn tortilla chips in honor of the colors of the Penguins alternate blue and white jerseys - or serve with baby carrot or celery stick "hockey sticks".

Pizza with Pepperoni "Pucks"

I am a mostly-terian and rarely eat pepperoni, but this is a special occasion - and besides rounds of zucchini, pepperoni is the most puck-shaped pizza topping I know of!  For tonight, I am going to relax and order pizza from Sunseri's, a family favorite.

Black and Gold Ice Cream

Scoops of French Vanilla ice cream and the darkest chocolate ice cream you can find - I like Ben and Jerry's Super Fudge Chunk.  For an alternate, try lemon and black cherry sherbet (or sherbert, as my dad used to say).

Local Beer and Pop

Pick up a local craft beer or go old school and serve Iron City.   For a non-alcoholic choice, try one of Natrona Bottling Company pops, like Red Ribbon Home Brewed Style Root Beer, or hand bottled seltzer from from the Pittsburgh Selzer Works.

Have fun and GO PENS!

Savory Breakfast Pizza Recipe from the 2010 Pillsbury Bake Off

I recently bought a container of Maison Le Grand's wonderful pesto from McGinnis Sisters and needed to find some recipes using pesto - I came across this recipe for Savory Breakfast Pizza when looking for ways to use it.  Bake-Off finalist Adrienne Davis of Highland, Maryland, calls her recipe a breakfast pizza, but I think it would be good any time!   Adrienne's recipe uses basil pesto, bacon, provolone cheese, eggs and tomatoes to create a pizza that sounds good ... and looks absolutely beautiful in the photo.    The only change I think I might make personally is to use a small amount of my leftover ham from Easter instead of the bacon.

Hawaiian Ham and Pineapple Pizza Recipe

Today I found myself with a lot of leftover ham and decided to experiment with a pizza recipe!

1 prebaked 12" pizza crust (I used a Boboli crust)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup shredded pizza cheese (mixture of mozzarella and provolone)
1 cup cubed baked ham
1 cup pineapple chunks, drained and chopped
1/4 cup minced green pepper
1 green onion, minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees or according to package directions for crust.  Place pizza crust on a pizza pan or cookie sheet and brush it with the olive oil.  Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of crust, the top evenly with ham, pineapple, green onion and green pepper.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and toppings are heated through.

Slice and serve!

Hamburger and Grape Tomato Pizza Recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine

I subscribe to a recipe of the day from Martha Stewart Everyday Food - one of my favorite magazines!  Today's recipe was for Hamburger and Grape Tomato Pizza, which was originally published in 2008 and which I had totally forgotten about.   It looks good ... and easy, too!  They recommend using provolone instead of mozzarella for heightened flavor - I usually use a mixture, but I'll try that.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza Recipe #1

If I hadn't dropped the pizza, I would have a lovely photo for you! 

This recipe is for a personal size pizza, but you can easily double the ingredients for a full size (12") pizza.  We have several recipes for a Buffalo Chicken Pizza, and like the simplicity of this one.

1 prebaked 8" pizza crust
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. buffalo wing sauce
1/3  cup diced cooked chicken breast
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese

Ingredients we used:
Boboli whole wheat pizza crust
Frank's wing sauce
Giant Eagle gorgonzola crumbles

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place pizza crust on a pizza pan or cookie sheet.   Whisk together olive oil and wing sauce - use a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to spread mixture over pizza crust.  Sprinkle with chicken and gorgonzola.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Easter Egg Shaped Brunch Pizza Recipe Link

In yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Sauce column by Margie Shrum mentioned a recipe for "a pizza that looks like an egg" and you know I had to check it out!  The recipe is from Family Fun magazine and is for an Easter Brunch Pizza.   It's a cute and easy idea that you can easily customize to suit your own tastes.

Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Pizza Recipe

This recipe is for a personal size pizza, but you can easily double the ingredients for a full size (12") pizza.

1 prebaked 8" pizza crust
1/4 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
Sprinkle grated lemon peel

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place pizza crust on a pizza pan or cookie sheet.  Spread pizza sauce over pizza.  Wash spinach leaves and lay on top on pizza sauce.  Spoon dollops of ricotta cheese on top of spinach leaves in an attractive pattern.  Sprinkle top with about 1 tsp. of grated lemon peel.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve.

Ingredients we used:
Boboli whole wheat pizza crust, one of two in a 10 oz. package
Mids pizza sauce, from Navarre, OH
Lamagna Lite ricotta cheese (they're from Pittsburgh!)
Penzey's powdered grated lemon peel - it's a good substitute if you don't have a fresh lemon

Emily Harper's Stuffed Pizza Pretzels Recipe from the 2010 Pillsbury Bakeoff

Emily Harper's recipe for Pizza Pretzels is a finalist in the 44th Annual Pillsbury Bake Off to be held in Orlando, Florida, April 11-13, 2010.  Emily's Pizza Pretzels are Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust that is cut into portions, then stuffed with traditional pizza toppings (Emily uses pepperoni, sauce and cheese).  She then shapes the portions into pretzel shaped pieces - and the result is excellent! 

The next time I make the Pizza Pretzels, I plan to stuff them with vegetarian ingredients - I'm thinking of mushrooms and hot banana peppers, which are two of my favorite toppings.

Good luck, Emily!