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.

Little Chicago's Pizzeria - South Side

1728 E Carson St
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
412-431-1450

In April, we tried a pizza from the Blue Grotto - when we were leaving, a man sidled up to us and told us that, while Blue Grotto is good, Little Chicago's makes the best pizza on the South Side!

He might have been right.

Some pizzas we love at first bite, then are less enchanted after a slice.  With Little Chicago's it was the opposite - we weren't sure, but the more we ate, the more we liked it.  By the time we finished the entire pizza - yes, the entire pizza - we were considering Little Chicagos for a new addition to our top ten.

Even though I'm sure they are best known for their Chicago style pizza, we decided to order a medium pizza with red sauce and a traditional crust.  The pizza had a wonderful aroma and we couldn't wait to try it.  The sauce was sweet with a slight taste of garlic, and small chunks of tomato.   We loved the chewy crust, which managed to be thin yet light and airy.  The crust was dusted with cornmeal and, according to one taster, had a "buttery" taste.  Another taster only managed to say "Good!" in between bites.

In addition to the traditional crust pizza, Little Chicago's offers Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza, White Pizza, an Ultra Huge 30" pizza, Calzones, Wedgies, Garlic Pepperoni Stix, a 16" Square Sicilian, French Bread Pizza, Hoagies, Fish Sandwishes and Hamburgers, wings, salads, and 12 varieties of specialty pizzas.  The specialty pizzas include a Philly Ranch and Margarita Chicken, among others.  Some of the sides include Jalapeno Poppers, Broccoli and Cheese Poppers, Provolone Stix an dmore. 

And FYI there is a half off coupon for Little Chicago's in the 2010 Enjoy coupon book.  We forgot to use it!

My Pizza Garden - After the Storm

We've had a week of rain and huge thunderstorms, with flooding and even hail!  I was worried about my garden, but it has fared pretty well.  On the left, I have sweet green peppers, hot and sweet banana peppers and eggplant.  On the right ... I don't exactly remember!  My markers blew away in one of the storms.  I know I planted fennel, onions, basil and parsley, but I don't even remember which one is the fennel!  If anything on the righthand side looks like fennel to you, please let me know!  I have tomatoes planted in another bed, and they also weathered the storms very well.

Amy's Organic Cheese Pizza

As usual, Amy's did not disappoint us!

In March, we tried Amy's Organic Spinach Pizza.  Last night, we needed a little late evening snack and found an Amy's Organic Cheese Pizza tucked away in the freezer.   We heated up the toaster oven, and soon had a pleasant, fresh tasting pizza that was very enjoyable.  The sauce had nice flavor, with small chunks of tomato, and the crust was crisp.  

We haven't found a frozen pizza yet that beats our pizzeria favorites, but we know we can rely on Amy's to provide a decent, fresh tasting frozen pizza.  Thank you, Amy's!

WalMart Marketside Traditional Five Cheese and Pepperoni Pizzas

Carol and family moved into their beautiful new home yesterday and Margie offered to buy pizza to feed the hungry "moving crew".  She made a quick run to WalMart and picked up two varieties of take-and-bake Marketside pizzas - the Five Cheese Traditional Crust Pizza and the Pepperoni Traditional Crust Pizza.   The packaging and the pizzas were both very attractive and they were loaded with a tasty mixture of cheeses. 

Lexi said she loved the mild, family-friendly pizza sauce, but thought that the crust was a little hard.  In all fairness, I think the hard crust was a result of being slightly overbaked, rather than an issue with the pizza itself. 

For me personally, it will never replace a handmade pizzeria pizza, but for a quick inexpensive meal to feed a hungry crowd, it was an acceptable alternative and I was happy to have the opportunity to try it.

Congratulations on your new house, Carol!  I know that you all will have many happy times there!

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.

Fox's Pizza Den, Pleasant Hills - Mini Review

This is a mini review because we only had one bite!  We went to an estate sale run by Estate Liquidation Services (Mark Dlugos) estate sale in Whitehall.  We were checking out just as Mary Ann rushed in with a pizza, and Mark was kind enough to offer us a slice.  Our one bite impression was that we loved the sauce, but need to try a larger portion to judge the crust and cheese.   We're been wanting to try one of Fox's famous "Wedgies", so we'll make a visit there soon!