Armello's Pizza Crust and Fontana's Pizza Sauce - Vandergrift, PA

We went to the Whitehall Farmers Market on Monday and stopped by the Callifonte Foods booth to buy a jar of Fontana's Pizza Sauce and a package of two Armello's Italian Bakery pizza crusts.  (I also bought cookies from Happy Jack Bakery and some incredible blueberries - I'm going to get there early next week so I can be sure to get a double batch!)

Fontana's sauce is thick and rich, deep red in color and slightly sweet.  Armello's pizza crust comes in a package of two.  They are charmingly uneven, and when cooked are chewy in the center and crisp on the edges - just the way I like it.  Armello's pizza crust now comes in whole wheat - I can't wait to try that next week!

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!

Italian Pot Roast with Pizza Gravy

Italian Pot Roast

1 2-3 lb. beef roast (we used a rump roast)
1 tsp. pizza seasoning
1 tsp. garlic pepper seasoning (we used a McCormick's "grinder")
1 tsp. paprika
1 cup low sodium beef broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together pizza seasoning, garlic pepper seasoning and paprika. Rub seasoning mixture on roast. Place roast in an oven proof pan or roaster with lid. Pour beef broth over roast. Add water as necessary to bring the level of liquid so that it covers 3/4 of the roast. Cover and cook for approximately 3 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove from oven and let rest for several minutes. Remove to platter and slice. Serve with Pizza Gravy.

Pizza Gravy

1/2 cup prepared beef gravy (freshly prepared gravy from pan juices or bottled gravy)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tsp. pizza seasoning

Mix gravy, tomato sauce and pizza seasoning in a small saucepan. Bring to simmer and stir. Serve hot with slices of roast.

Note: We used our own salt free pizza seasoning mixture to season the roast, but used Penzey's pizza seasoning for the gravy as it is a ground seasoning and blends into the sauce.

Super Easy Hot & Creamy Pizza Dip Recipe

8 ounces cream cheese, softened (we used low fat cream cheese)
1 cup prepared pizza sauce
red pepper flakes (optional)
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Fold pizza sauce into softened cream cheese. Pour mixture into a microwave safe bowl and heat for approximately 2 minutes, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds.

Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese if desired.

Serve with warm bread sticks, pita chips, crackers, or strips of fresh green pepper.

Heirloom Tomato Pizza Sauce Recipe

We grew Brandywine tomatoes this year - they are large and luscious with a sweet, old fashioned tomato flavor. You can use any type of fresh tomatoes that you have on hand and adjust the cooking time and seasoning to suit the variety that you use. Roma tomatoes will make a thicker, meatier sauce and are perfect for pizza sauce and other Italian sauces.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs. fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped (approximately 4 large)
1 teaspoon sugar

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano

To Taste: Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes

Optional: Chopped Parsley, Chopped Basil

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring frequently so that it doesn't stick. Add tomatoes and sugar, plus the amounts of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to suit your personal taste.

(Hint: proceed slowly when adding the red pepper flakes so that you get the right amount of heat! You can always add more if you'd like the sauce a little spicier, but it's hard to tone down the heat.)

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until the sauce is very thick. Stir frequently! When the sauce is almost done, stir in the chopped oregano, along with parsley and basil, if desired.

Serve on the prepared pizza crust of your choice.