Pizza Sliders Recipe

This is based on a recipe that appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review in January.  The recipe as it appeared in the paper called for a loaf of frozen pizza dough, thawed, rolled and cut into tiny rounds.  Although I think that is a great idea, I found it easier and a lot less time consuming to use Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust.

• 1 can Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust
• olive oil
• pizza sauce
• shredded cheese - we use a "pizza mix"
• toppings of your choice
• pizza seasoning
• parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450.

Open the can of refrigerated pizza crust and place on a large cookie sheet or board that has been lightly floured.  Use a 2" round biscuit cutter, or the rim of a juice glass, to cut small circles in the dough.  Place the dough circles on a cookie sheet that has been brushed with a little olive oil.  Top each round with about 2 tsps. of pizza sauce, about 1 Tbsp. of shedded pizza cheese and the toppings of your choice (we like ours plain and did not add toppings).  Lightly dust the tops with pizza seasoning and a smidgen of parmesan cheese.

Bake for approximately 6-8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Pizza Cone Update

I just read on Hilton Head's Blog a la Carte that Pino Gelato and their fabulous Pizza Cone will be featured on the Food Network's Unwrapped on February 22 at 9:00.  Don't miss it!

Sunseri's Pizza - Pizza Boat

We love Sunseri's in Carrick and never tire of their pizza and other pizza snacks!  This is a "pizza boat" - a large Italian bun, sliced and cooked with pizza sauce and loads of cheese.  They are also happy to add whatever toppings you like - we ordered ours plain.  The pizza boat is similar to a French Bread Pizza ... but we like this version best.

Lexi's Pizza of Awesomeness

Vocelli Pizza

617 Brownsville Road
Carrick, PA
412-697-0888

Vocelli's Pizza was a pleasant surprise on a cold, rainy January day!

We ordered a traditional crust pizza with extra sauce - I opted to go easy on the cheese, because it made me feel like I am trying to stay on my diet.  Because of the nasty weather, we also opted for delivery, and were glad we did.  The pizza arrived about 10 minutes earlier than we expected and it was the perfect temperature - not too hot and not too cold.

The traditional crust was chewy and enjoyable.  The flavorful sauce had a bright tomato flavor, with small pieces of tomato and flecks of Italian seasoning.  The cheese was the perfect amount for our taste.  All in all, we were very happy with the pizza and would definitely order again - next time I might try one of the gourmet pizzas, and definitely would like to try the thin crust.

The non-dieting pizza taster ordered Vocelli's cheese sticks.  We were expecting an order of traditional fried mozzarella or provolone fingers, so were surprised to find a pizza shaped round, topped with lots of cheese and fried, then cut into fingers.  I tried a nibble and it was very garlicy; the others loved it and also enjoyed the marinara sauce that came with it.

Vocelli's is very generous with their coupons - a current offer that came with our order is for a free grande one topping pizza when you buy a grande one topping pizza at regular price.  We also received coupons for a Grande Gourmet for $14.99 and one for two Grande 2 Topping pizzas for $19.99.

Super Sized Pizza Hoagie Recipe

1 loaf Italian bread
1/4 lb. sliced roasted turkey breast
1/8 lb. sliced ham
1/8 lb. sliced hot ham or capicolla
1/8 lb. sliced provolone cheese
1/8 lb. sliced salami or pepperoni
1/4 cup pizza sauce
olive oil
pizza seasoning
hot banana pepper rings

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Slice loaf of bread lengthwise, so that it looks like a huge sandwich bun when sliced.

3.  Brush or spritz both cut sides with olive oil.

4.  Layer meats, cheese and pizza sauce:

• turkey breast
• hot ham
• provolone
• pizza sauce (brushed evenly over layer of cheese - use more if desired)
• banana pepper rings (quantity to taste)
• salami or pepperoni
• ham

5.  Sprinkle top layer liberally with pizza seasoning.

6.  Put top crust in place and press firmly to "pack" sandwich.

7.  Wrap entire sandwich in aluminum foil and place on cookie sheet, then put in oven.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and contents of sandwich is heated through.

8.  Remove from foil and slice into individual portions - we usually slice into 8 portions.


Products we used:

We purchased the bread and all of the meats from McGinnis Sisters.  We used "hot ham" this time instead of capicolla, very thinly sliced hard salami, and purchased their own fresh Slow Roasted Turkey Breast and Smokehouse Ham.  We used Mancini's Twist Bread as the base; normally we use Giant Eagle's Tuscany Bread.  We also used Mid's pizza sauce (one of our favorites) and Mt. Olive banana pepper rings.

Pizza Hut - Townesquare Way, Brentwood, PA

70 Townesquare Way
Pittsburgh PA 15227
Phone: (412) 885-4404

A flyer appeared in the mail this week from Pizza Hut advertising an online deal - any size pizza, any number of toppings, any style crust (well, almost any) for $10 - that sounded like a deal worth trying!  An even better deal is the extra 20% you can save with your first online order, using the coupon code "IG".  We ordered a hand tossed traditional crust pizza with sliced banana peppers on half and an order of cheese sticks. 

The crust was very bready, with a cardboard-like bottom layer; it was loaded with a red pizza sauce and a decent amount of cheese.  We were glad to have ordered the banana peppers as a topping - they added a welcome zing.  The bright spot was the "Wing Street Fried Cheese Sticks" which we enjoyed - they were small and manageable, and the side of marinara dipping sauce was tasty.

In the long ago past, we used to order a Mexican or Taco pizza from Pizza Hut.  If I do go back again, I think I'll try their Fiesta Taco specialty pizza - beans, cheese, choice of beef or chicken, tomatoes, and onions with a side of Tostito's salsa..