Make-Your-Own-Pizza Night

I love make-your-own-pizza night! I love getting the kids involved in the preparation of their food, and what's more fun than shaping your own pizza crust and topping it to your specifications? We did this often when I was growing up, especially during slumber parties, and always had a blast with it.

Tonight was kind of a "clean out the fridge" theme, so it served dual purpose. Lydia chose the classic Hawaiian pizza, canadian bacon and pineapple, which oddly enough, few people here in Syracuse have ever heard of. Meg opted for a meat lover's pizza of sorts, with pepperoni, sausage, canadian bacon and bell pepper. I went with a more grown up palate. A few days ago my neighbor gave me a huge tray of greek olives, hummus, roasted red peppers, spicy marinated peppers and pita bread left over from her husband's law school grad party. I used a bunch of the olives and peppers on my pizza, as well as pepperoni, bell pepper, fresh spinach and goat cheese.





I used my go-to pizza dough recipe tonight. It's quick and easy and always turns out great. I'm getting better at stretching the dough in my hands instead of rolling it or patting it out, but still have to break out the rolling pin at times. I haven't quite graduated to tossing it up in the air yet. ;)

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

(gratuitous picture of my cute kid)

Breakfast Pizza

I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen awhile back, and have been dying to try it ever since. Pizza is one of those things I'm reluctant to make unless there's someone else to help me eat it, and with Brad gone...well, that just doesn't happen too often. On pizza night, I typically make a double batch of dough...enough to make one full-sized pizza and two or three mini pizzas for the kiddos, but when Brad's deployed, that's just too much pizza for the three of us. Perhaps I could solve that problem by not making a double batch, but I'm one of those people who tends to get stuck in the "this is the way we do it because it's the way we've always done it" kind of ruts, and this is what it gets me.

But lucky me! My friend Cheryl (yes, we have the same name) is visiting this week, and this gives me the perfect opportunity to have pizza tonight while still sticking to my double-the-recipe pizza night formula. The kiddos had one mini pizza with canadian bacon and pineapple and one with pepperoni, which left half the batch of dough for The Cheryls to try out Smitten Kitchen's breakfast pizza! Hooray!

I used my favorite go-to pizza dough recipe, then glazed it with olive oil, then topped it with mozzarella cheese, canadian bacon, mushroom, red bell pepper and 4 eggs. It baked at 420 for 30 minutes.

Were I to do this again, I would only bake it for the standard 20 minutes that I usually bake pizza, because the eggs didn't have runny yolks like I had hoped, they were more like hard boiled eggs. I checked it after 20 minutes, however, and was afraid that the eggs were still raw, but next time I think 20 minutes would have done it. 25 minutes, tops. I'll definitely try this recipe again, and give the whole single batch recipe thing a try. What can I say? I'm still learning to cook for 3, not 4. I'll get it right next time.

Breakfast Pizza

1 batch pizza dough
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
4 slices canadian bacon, coarsely diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
4 large eggs
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 420. Prepare pizza dough and pat onto pizza pan. Drizzle with olive oil and spread to coat evenly. Cover with cheese, and evenly distribute bacon, mushrooms and bell pepper, leaving room for 4 eggs. Crack eggs directly onto pizza, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 420 for 20-25 minutes, or until egg whites are just set and yolks are still slightly runny. Serve warm.

Yield: 1 large pizza

Football Food!

Because the weather is crummy, and we don't have a babysitter, and it's not supposed to be the most exciting game, we decided to stay home and watch today's LSU game vs. North Texas at home today. We're having some friends over to watch the game here, and are making yummy football food to munch on. Should be fun!

I made a few tried and true recipes: Pineapple Habanero Salsa, Monterey Nacho Snack Mix, and a BBQ Chicken Pizza (minus the chicken).

The salsa was inspired by a salsa of the same name that we had in Hawaii the last time we were there. It was almost painfully spicy (just the way I like it), and sweet and tangy. This recipe calls for fresh pineapple, but some time I'd like to try roasting the pineapple first, which I think would add a nice smoky depth to the salsa. We loaned our propane tank to the in-laws after our power came back on last Sunday, so maybe next time!

The Monterey Nacho Snack Mix is something I've made at least a half dozen times over the past several years. I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com awhile back, and have tweaked it somewhat to make it much spicier. I use about 10 times as much Tabasco Sauce as the original recipe calls for, as well as several tablespoons of crushed red pepper.

I've blogged about BBQ Chicken Pizza before. It's one of my favorite ways to eat pizza, and is good with chicken, seitan, or grilled tofu, or just minus all of those, as I made it today. Red onion, cilantro and BBQ sauce are the key ingredients that make this recipe awesome, so adding a meat or meat alternative is just extra. I love this pizza!

I also made a plain cheese pizza for the kids, because come on...who doesn't love a cheese pizza?

Hooray for football food!