Barbecue Chicken Pizza with Blue Cheese

I absolutely love barbecue chicken pizza, and when I saw that there was a rendition of it in a recent issue of Cooking Light, I couldn't resist giving it a try. This was a version that I had never seen before, because instead of being smothered in lots and lots of gooey cheese, this one just has a fair sprinkling of blue cheese. I happened to have a bit of fancy schmancy blue cheese that needed to be used up, so I seized the opportunity.



I did change the veggies on the pie slightly, as the recipe called for yellow pepper and plum tomatoes but I had none at the time. Instead, I used the recommended red onion, plus some scallions for a bit of green. Rather than using tomatoes, I combined the barbecue sauce with some pizza sauce so we would still get both flavors. I used a pizza crust that I had made a long time ago and frozen. I figured if I don't remember how long ago I made it, it had better come out and get used up!

We loved this pizza. It was a fantastic balance of sweet (from the barbecue sauce and red onion) and savory (from the pizza sauce and chicken). Plus, the blue cheese was a nice, assertive kind, so it really shone through despite the fact that I didn't use all that much of it. For a pizza that came from the pages of a healthy eating magazine, it really delivered!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza with Blue Cheese
adapted from Cooking Light
makes 4 servings

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) prebaked pizza crust, preferably whole wheat
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup pizza sauce or marinara sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded, cooked boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place pizza crust on a baking sheet. Combine the barbecue sauce with the pizza sauce, then spread it evenly over the pizza crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border.

2. Top evenly with the chicken, red onion, scallions, and blue cheese. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust is crisp. Cut into 8 wedges and serve.

Pepperoni Deep-Dish Pizza

After making a pizza last week for my Craving Ellie group, and failing pretty miserably at making my crust from scratch, I wanted to show everybody that I actually am capable of making a knockout pizza! I actually made this Pepperoni Deep-Dish Pizza about two weeks ago, but for some reason I'm just now getting around to posting about it. Please don't think for a second that I forgot about this recipe, because it's been quite the opposite. We're all still thinking about that pie, and my son keeps wanting to know when I am making "that really yummy pizza" again. I'm hoping the answer is soon!

I keep my back issues of Cooking Light magazine for at least six months, if not longer. I remembered recently that they had done a special feature on pizza back in their May issue, and there were several things that had caught my eye. Plus, I really had been wanting to graduate from pizza dough made in my bread machine to a more complicated, from-scratch dough that required a bit more from me. So I decided to try my hand at deep-dish dough, just to get my feet wet.

The dough was actually much easier to assemble than I thought it would be. In fact, the most challenging thing about it was the fact that you need to refrigerate the dough for 24 hours before using. Just add warm water and flour to a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, mix together, then add a mixture of water and yeast, along with some olive oil and salt. Allow all of this to mix together for about 5 minutes, then it can be covered and kept until the following day.

Once the dough has come to room temperature, it can be pressed into a 9x13-inch baking pan. In this particular recipe, the secret to a perfect crust with no soggy middle is the cheese. You divide the cheese so that most of it is layered underneath the sauce, thus protecting the dough from coming into direct contact with the liquid. The pepperoni covers the sauce, then the cheese tops it off. The pie is baked all the way on a rack in the very lowest part of the oven, further ensuring that the crust will be baked through completely and evenly.

This pizza tastes like heaven. It's an amazing blend of creamy, tangy, spicy, and savory, all on an abundant crust that tastes too good to be homemade. I think if I served this to company, they would have a hard time believing it came out of Cooking Light. It just tastes way too good to be healthy (but it totally is!). I think part of the reason is because I swapped out the recipe's basic pizza sauce, and subbed in a tried-and-true sauce that has been a winner here every time. My son thought the sauce was really pretty spicy, and it is. But it can always be toned down to please more sensitive palates, and in the end it didn't stop him from gobbling down two big pieces! Oh, one more thing: I used turkey pepperoni instead of the recommended "regular" pepperoni, and we didn't miss a thing. Dare I say, I actually made the recipe even healthier than Cooking Light did?

Pepperoni Deep-Dish Pizza
adapted from Cooking Light
makes 6 servings

Ingredients
1 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees F), divided
12 oz. bread flour (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp.)
4 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Cooking spray
1 1/4 cups (5 oz.) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 1/2 cups pizza sauce
2 oz. turkey pepperoni slices
2 Tbsp. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions
1. Pour 3/4 cup warm water in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flour to 3/4 cup water; mix until combined. Cover and let stand 20 minutes. Combine remaining water and yeast in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes or until bubbly. Add yeast mixture, oil, and salt to flour mixture; mix 5 minutes or until a soft dough forms. Place dough in a large bowl coated in cooking spray; cover surface of dough with plastic wrap lightly coated in cooking spray. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

2. Remove dough from refrigerator. Let stand, covered, 1 hour or until the dough comes to room temperature. Punch dough down. Roll dough out to a 14x11-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Press dough into bottom and partially up sides of a 9x13-inch metal baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap.

3. Place a baking sheet in the oven on the bottom rack. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

4. Arrange 3/4 cup mozzarella evenly over dough; top with pizza sauce, pepperoni, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella. Place pan on baking sheet in oven; bake at 450 for 25 minutes or until crust is golden. Cut pizza into 6 rectangles and serve.

CEIMB: Mushroom, Onion, and Basil Pizza

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was chosen by Joanne of Apple Crumbles. It was the Mushroom, Onion, and Basil Pizza from Ellie's The Food You Crave book. It's funny; I don't think I ever realized this recipe was in there! It was kind of a nice surprise, discovering it for the first time.

This is a very simple, very tasty pizza. And, like so many of Ellie's dishes, it can be adapted to suit your family's preferences. I happened to have plenty of green bell peppers on hand, so I added some to the veggies on the pizza. Also, I had some leftover turkey pepperoni in my fridge, so I just used one servings' worth on this. I knew the pepperoni would go over well, and frankly I don't know if my oldest son would have even tried the pizza if it hadn't been for the fact that he knew there was pepperoni! I'm glad he did try it, though, because he ended up liking it, and he even declared that he loved mushrooms. Thanks for that, Ellie!

I decided to use a pizza crust that I made myself, and I wish I could say we loved that, too. Unfortunately, I messed it up. I guess this particular crust should have been cooked at a higher temperature than Ellie's pizza, or cooked for much longer, because the center of the dough was pretty much completely raw the first time I removed it from the oven. I had even already cut two slices before realizing that it wasn't merely cheese stringing and stretching between the pieces; it was raw dough! Ugh. So back in went the pizza. Finally I was able to salvage the rest of the pizza, although I did kinda burn the basil, having already scattered it over top the first time I removed the pie from the oven. I think you can tell from a couple of the pictures. It was fine, though; we still thorougly enjoyed it. Next time I know to use a different crust recipe, or just buy one at the store!

Thank you for the pick, Joanne! This was a really yummy pizza and I even learned that my son likes mushrooms because of it! That is victory to me. Be sure to check out the other members' pizzas by stopping by the blogroll. The original recipe can be found here.

Fennel, Onion, and Pepper Pizza

I came up with the idea for this pizza one day when I was trying to decide on a meatless dinner. I like the idea of doing Meatless Mondays, which is a non-profit initiative with a goal of reducing meat consumption by 15%. We do go meatless at least once a week already, I believe, so it definitely would not be difficult to manage. I haven't officially signed up to be a part of the Meatless Mondays movement, but as of right now I'm giving it a trial run on my own! This is my first blog post about my efforts.

I had some very attractive red onions and sweet green peppers on hand, and when I ran by the grocery store, I saw that fennel was only 99 cents a pound. Score! The idea for this pizza was born then. I went home and got to work. I sauteed the veggies together in a skillet until they were all soft and sweet. Meanwhile, I had set up a basic whole-wheat pizza dough to form in the bread machine. When that was ready, I spread it out to fill a round pizza pan. The next step, I admit, is a strange one, but bear with me here!

I was trying to make this a bit lower in fat, so I decided to try spreading some soft cheese all over the crust of the pizza. I had a bunch of Laughing Cow spreadable cheese that I had been wanting to use up. It's only 2 grams of fat per wedge, but I have found that if I just spread it on crackers or something, it tastes a bit synthetic and fake. I thought perhaps I could mask this by throwing a bunch of delicious vegetables on top of it! I used about 2 wedges to spread on the crust, and then I diced another wedge to scatter across the top.

Crazily enough, this actually worked! I thought the cheese was creamy, tasty, and blended well with the other flavors on the pizza. I had used the French Onion variety of the cheese, but I'm sure any of the other flavors would work just fine.

Fennel, Onion, and Pepper Pizza

recipe by Bri

serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 whole-wheat pizza dough

1 small bulb fennel, sliced thinly (discard the green tops, but reserve some of the fronds)

1 red onion, sliced thinly

1-2 sweet green peppers, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Nonstick cooking spray

Cornmeal, for dusting

3-4 wedges Laughing Cow spreadable cheese, any variety

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat a large skillet to medium heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray and add the fennel, onion, and green pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper as desired, as well as the garlic. Cook for an additional 3 or 4 minutes, until the veggies are softened. Turn the heat off and set the skillet aside.

2. Dust a foil-lined pizza pan with cornmeal, then stretch the pizza dough into a circular shape, to fit the pan. Spread 2 or 3 wedges of the cheese across the surface of the crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Scatter your veggies evenly around the pizza, and then add an additional wedge or so of the cheese, cut into small pieces, across the pizza.

3. Bake the pizza in the oven for about 15 minutes or so, until the pizza dough is cooked through and the cheese has become slightly browned on top. Cut into wedges and serve.

Mexican-Style Pizza

I recently had a hankering for a pizza night, but I am trying to eat healthier and wanted my pizza to reflect that. I immediately thought of making a Mexican pizza, so I decided to sort of invent my own variation. I started out with my favorite bread machine pizza dough recipe, a whole wheat dough that isn't terribly dry and dense like some whole wheat breads can be.

I looked in the fridge for a sauce-type thing that I could spread on the dough as my base. I didn't want to go with tomato sauce; that would be too much like a traditional pizza. I found a little bit of tomatillo salsa that needed to be used up, as well as some medium taco sauce. That would do. I mixed them both together and came up with my pizza base.

Next came the meat. I browned some ground turkey, added taco seasoning to it, and crumbled that over the pizza. Yum. After that, I sprinkled some black beans and spooned on some delicious tomato-less salsa that I had gotten at Trader Joe's not too long ago. This salsa is a corn and chile variety, and I love it. It's mildly sweet, has a bit of a kick, and tastes wonderful. I threw on the rest of a green bell pepper I had laying around, a touch of pepper jack cheese, and some crumpled-up tortilla chips for a crunchy garnish. I was in heaven.

Andy had a dollop of sour cream on the top of each of his slices. He loved it that way. I loved mine with just a sprinkling of Cholula across the top. Either way, we both agreed that this was a great pizza. It was exotic enough to be a departure from the same ol' pizza, but it was still a pizza. It was crazy filling, too. We had leftovers for two days, I think. It definitely wasn't bad, for something I had just made up on the fly. I'd make it again!

Mexican-Style Pizza

Recipe by Bri

makes 3-4 servings

Ingredients

1 whole wheat pizza dough

1/4-1/3 cup salsa or taco sauce, any kind

1/2 lb. lean ground turkey

1 Tbsp. taco seasoning

1/4 cup water

1/2 a green bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/4-1/3 cup corn salsa, or cooked, shucked corn

1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup reduced-fat pepper jack cheese

8-10 tortilla chips, lightly crushed

cornmeal, for dusting

sour cream, to taste

hot sauce, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat a medium-sized skillet to medium-high heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray, then add the ground turkey. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until browned, crumbling up the mixture as it cooks. Add the taco seasoning and water, lower the heat, and simmer for an additional 8-10 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed. Set aside to cool.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly dust a flat surface with cornmeal. Place the dough on the cornmeal and stretch into a 12-inch round. To the dough, add the taco sauce, spreading to just about 1/2-inch from the edges of the circle.

3. Next, add the cooked turkey, then the green peppers, black beans, corn or corn salsa, and the pepper jack cheese. Sprinkle the tortilla chips over the top. Bake at 400 for about 12-15 minutes. Watch for the cheese to melt, and the chips to brown just slightly. Remove from oven, cut into 6-8 wedges, and serve with sour cream and hot sauce, to taste.

Pizza with Asparagus, Bacon, and Homemade Marinara Sauce

Yum, homemade pizza. We love the stuff around here. If I wasn't always so scared in the past of making the crust, we would probably have it much more often. Well, it's not the crust I am scared of, it's rolling out the crust that frightens me. I know, it seems very silly. I love to bake, and do all those sorts of things which require patience, but I don't know. When it came to pizza crust, I was intimidated. Having to roll it into a circle shape just seemed difficult. It's not like a pie crust, where you get to trim off the ratty edges. This had to actually look like a circle.

Well, I am happy to report that all the fear is now a thing of the past. I have faced the challenge head-on, and I won! I battled the crust, and I was victorious. More on that in a bit, though.

The above photo is a shot of some wild asparagus, brought to us by my mother and father in-law, who pick it out of their very own backyard. It tastes so much better than store-bought asparagus, in my opinion. It's almost sweet, juicier than any other asparagus I've had, and it cooks up so tender despite the thicker spears. It can be purple in color when first picked, but it gradually turns green while it's cooking. It's actually handy; it's got a built-in doneness indicator!

When I found this recipe for a flatbread appetizer topped with asparagus and pancetta in Cooking Light Magazine, I knew I wanted to make a variation of it. Instead of a flatbread, I would do a pizza. I would use bacon in place of the pancetta, and I thought I'd add some homemade marinara sauce (the original recipe doesn't have a sauce).

After searching Recipezaar briefly, I discovered a whole-wheat pizza dough recipe that could be made in the bread machine. We've made pizza dough this way plenty of times, but this was a new recipe and I wanted to give it a try. As it turns out, this may have been the best homemade dough we've ever had! It wasn't as dense or dry as some whole-wheat doughs can be, and a sprinkle of dried herbs made it flavorful and colorful. Best of all, though? It was a dream to work with! By hand, I was able to pull and stretch it into the correct shape, and made it fit the pizza pan just right. It was easy! I wondered then what I had been so worried about; I could totally handle this! I just hoped that the rest of it would be as simple.

Well, it was! I baked some bacon in the oven until it was crisp, and broke it into crumbly pieces. The asparagus was sliced lengthwise thinly, then artfully placed on the pizza. A healthy sprinkle of freshly grated mozzarella topped it off. But wait! I'm forgetting the sauce.

Oh, the sauce. Who knew something so ridiculously simply could be such a showstopper? Seriously, this sauce required absolutely no cooking whatsoever, and contained simple, everyday ingredients. I got this gem from Recipezaar; I chose it mainly because of the ease. I was very pleasantly surprised when I tried it and discovered just how delicious it was. It was thick, tangy, spicy, with a hint of sweetness...just wow. We also used it as a dipping sauce for some ravioli that I served on the side. I could probably just have eaten it straight, with a spoon, but I restrained myself. But next time, who knows?

I'm going to post the pizza recipe, because I took an existing idea and modified it to our liking, as well as the sauce recipe, just because it is so divine.

The recipe for the whole-wheat pizza dough can be found here.

Kittencal's No-Cook Pizza Sauce (or Marinara Dipping Sauce)

adapted from Recipezaar

makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste (original recipe says you can use either 1/2 or a whole can)

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. fresh minced garlic (I believe I used 2 cloves)

1 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. sugar

1 pinch salt (can add to taste)

1 pinch cayenne pepper, to taste (I think my "pinch" was more like a healthy dash; next time I may lighten up on it a bit)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl; mix very well. Taste sauce and adjust seasonings as needed.

2. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours, more if possible, before serving.

Pizza with Asparagus, Bacon, and Homemade Marinara Sauce

Recipe by Bri

serves 4 (maybe)

Ingredients

1 whole-wheat pizza dough

cornmeal, for dusting

6 slices bacon

8-10 spears asparagus, sliced thinly lengthwise

1/2 - 3/4 cup homemade marinara sauce (see above)

3 oz. freshly grated mozzarella cheese (part-skim works well)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange bacon on a cooling rack, then place the cooling rack on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake in oven for at least 20 minutes, until crispy and browned. Set aside to cool.

2. Dust work surface with cornmeal, then place pizza dough on cornmeal. Stretch dough into a 12-inch circle, then place on a 12-inch round pizza pan.

3. Spread marinara sauce on surface of dough. Crumble the reserved bacon over the sauce. Next, lay asparagus across the pizza, and finally cover everything with mozzarella cheese.

4. Crank the oven up to 400. Bake pizza for 10-12 minutes, until cheese is melted and the dough feels and looks fully baked. Serve immediately (preferably with extra marinara on the side for dipping your crusts!).

Pizza Night

We had a great weekend this past week. It was productive, yet relaxing. Fun, yet lazy. Saturday, after we'd gotten some chores and essentials done around the house, we decided to make pizzas for dinner. Usually, we make our pizza dough in our trusty bread machine, and divide the dough into two equal halves. With these, we'll make a "Xander" pizza, which is made with toppings he'll like, and then we'll make a "Mom and Dad" pizza, that we can do fun, experimental things with, knowing Xander would probably never touch it!

This time, we decided to make a Shrimp and Feta Pesto Pizza. I had made some cilantro pesto a few months back, and frozen it for a later date. Then, of course, I never got around to using it, so I figured now was the time to thaw out that bad boy and put it to good use! We sort of made this pizza up as we went along, but I did have a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do, based on my earlier perusal of the internet for pesto pizza recipes. I included our recipe below, but keep in mind that this would be great with other toppings, too. Even just some pesto and cheese on a pizza is never a bad thing!

As for Xander's pizza, he first requested a pepperoni pizza. Then, when Daddy accidentally left the grocery store without the pepperoni, Xander's request became a pizza with "no sauce and no pepperoni." I believe he may have changed his mind at one point to a pizza that was only bread, but we managed to convince him that it wouldn't be a pizza unless it had something on it. Of course, then he wanted to know why a pizza had to have toppings, which turned into another slightly frustrating Q & A session, but that is another rant for another day. In the end, Xander asked for just sauce and "orange" cheese, or cheddar to anyone over 3. We added some turkey bacon and ham, to stand in for the pepperoni. The verdict? He hated it! Sigh.

We constantly struggle to get him to eat new things, and now he has taken a dislike to things he previously ate with no problems. He has suddenly become averse to french fries, of all things. Now pizza is gross to him. Tonight at dinner, he told me he hates milk. What's next? A passionate hatred for fruity snacks? Ha, that'll be the day! We did at least get a picture of him acting happy with his pizza. Too bad it was only an act. Better luck next time, though. Maybe for an upcoming pizza night we really will give him a pizza with no toppings....

Shrimp and Feta Pesto Pizza
serves 4

Ingredients
1 pizza dough (we used whole-wheat dough)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 large sweet onion, such as Vidalia, sliced into long, thin strips
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 head garlic, roasted and smashed into a paste
1/2 - 3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 lb. medium-size shrimp, already cooked and chopped into thirds
1/2 - 3/4 cup cilantro pesto (recipe from Recipezaar, here)
optional toppings: black olives, sliced cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini rings

Directions
Begin by melting 1 tablespoon butter in a medium pan over medium-low to medium heat. Add sliced onion, allowing to soften for 5 minutes with the lid on. Remove lid and continue to cook onions on medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes more, until soft and sweet. Remove pan from heat, add 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, and stir to combine. Set aside.

While onions are cooking, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare pizza dough by stretching and shaping into a 12-inch round pizza shape, or a long rectangular shape. Spread mashed, roasted garlic all over the pizza dough. Top the garlic with the cilantro pesto, leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides of the dough.

Next, scatter the caramelized onions over the dough. Sprinkle feta cheese, and any additional toppings. Bake for about 5-7 minutes, then remove from oven. Add pre-cooked shrimp to the top of the pizza, and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until shrimp are heated through and the cheese has softened. Cut into wedges and serve.