Eggplant Pizzas

Sorry for the picture quality, and lack of picture directions. I was on vacation when I made these guys for our Meatless Monday. So all I got was a picture of the finished product. These were delish. The kids loved making them- and wished I had brought more toppings than just the cheese. Next time I'll let them pick from a variety of veggie toppings.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large firm eggplant
• 1-2 cups prepared tomato sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• olive oil
• italian seasoning
• salt and pepper 

Slice the eggplant into about 3/4 inch thick slices. Arrange on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. This will extract some of the moisture and bitterness from the eggplant. 

After about 30 minutes you can blot the eggplant slices dry with paper towels. This will remove the bitterness and excess salt.

Arrange eggplant slices on a baking sheet, brush each slice with olive oil and sprinkle with italian seasoning.

Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes. Don't bake to long that they become to mushy.

Remove from the oven and top with sauce and a generous amount of shredded cheese.

Place back in oven under the broiler for about 3 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

I will for sure be making these again. This was the "cheat" version of the recipe I read. The original (see below), gives directions on how to make your own tomato sauce and what not. Since I was on vacation when I made these I took the easy way out. Check out both and see which one you'd like to try. Cheers!

Adapted from: Eggplant Pizzas

Pulled Pork Pizza with Red Onion and Cilantro

                               

So last night I made my super easy BBQ pulled pork. Tonight I used the leftover pork to make this really simple delicious pizza. Even simpler that I used a pre-made "personal" sized crust.

INGREDIENTS:

• BBQ pulled pork
• Thin sliced red onion
• Baby portabello mushrooms
• Shredded Cheddar cheese 
• Fresh cilantro for garnish

Your choice of pizza crust (I used pre-made thin crust personal sized)

Assemble pizza with pulled pork on the bottom, then onion, mushrooms and cheese. The crust I used only needed to be baked at 425 for about 8 minutes. Time will vary depending on the crust you use. 

I love using leftovers to make pizzas. It makes for great combinations you wouldn't normally think of... And an easy dinner night on top of it! Cheers!

Pizza Lunch For Me and the Kiddos

 Ollie (the already terrible almost 2 year old) got into the drawer that contains our take out menus this morning. Threw all menus aside except for a big flyer for Domino's. Then proceeded to run around the house with it repeating "pizza" over and over. So what else were we to do, but make some pizza's for lunch. 

I had some pizza dough that I bought at the store a few days ago and a half can of pizza sauce already in the fridge, it was perfect. I cut the dough in half to do 2 pizzas, a mommy one and a kiddo one.  The mommy pizza is my all time favorite pizza to make, my broccoli, fig and goat cheese pizza. I had this once at Uno's a few years ago and I fell in love with it. Never saw it again, so had to start making it by myself.

INGREDIENTS:
(Kiddo Pepperoni Pizza)

• Half ball of refrigerated pizza dough (We used garlic flavored)
• 1/4 cup pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• sliced pepperonis

Preheat oven to 425, roll dough out into desired shape/ size. Mine always come out a little funky, and not quite round. PLace dough on baking sheet. Spread sauce over dough. Top with cheese. Arrange pepperonis on top. Bake 15-20 minutes until crust is golden brown.

INGREDIENTS:

(Broccoli, Fig and Goat Cheese Pizza)

• Half ball of refrigerated pizza dough (used the other half of the garlic dough from above)
• 3-4 tablespoons pesto
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 1/4 cup broccoli chopped
• 1/4 cup dried figs sliced 
• goat cheese
• shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 425. In a small sauté pan melt a little butter and add the tomato, broccoli and figs. Sauté 2-3 minutes until the broccoli is tender and turns a bright green. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and remove from heat. 

Roll out pizza dough and place on a baking sheet. Spread the pesto onto the dough. Evenly spread the sautéed veggies onto the pizza. Dollop little balls of goat cheese over the pizza and lightly sprinkle the whole pizza with a little mozzarella. Bake 15-20 minutes until crust is golden brown. 

It always pays to keep stuff to make pizza on hand. Wether you make your own dough (which I hate doing) or sauce. Having cheese and the basics to make pizza at home is such a good idea. You can make your own pizza at home in less time it will take you to order one and have it delivered. The kids will love you for it. You might love yourself a little more for it too, when you can eat a hot fresh lunch you'll enjoy and not feel guilty about. Cheers!

Beef, Broccoli & Mushroom Pizza with Feta and Pesto

A fun saturday night meal, using left overs to make a pizza. Last night I made a fake out take out beef and broccoli dish in the crock pot- so we made a pizza tonight using some of the left overs. As long as you have a pizza dough hanging out in the fridge, you can pretty much make a home made pizza out of anything.

INGREDIENTS:

• Broccoli
• Mushrooms
• Shredded beef
• Red onion
• Pesto
• Olive oil
• Feta cheese
• Pizza cheese

Preheat the oven to 400, press the dough out on the pizza pan or cookie sheet you're using. Layer ingredients, and drizzle olive oil on top. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the crust is brown.

Super easy meal to make, and an awesome way to use up some of the left overs hanging out in the fridge. I spent $2.19 for the ball of pizza dough, and everything else I used was stuff I already had in the kitchen.

Broccoli, Fig & Goat Cheese Pizza

My absolute favorite pizza to make at home. I first had this as a deep dish artisan pizza at UNO’s, but was craving it so much during my second pregnancy I discovered it was much easier on the wallet to do my own version at home. Those UNOs pizzas are pricey!

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1 pre made ball of pizza dough (usually found near the deli section of the store)
• 1/2 cup of your favorite pesto
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 1 1/2 cups of cut, cooked broccoli
•  1 1/2 cups dried figs cut into discs (found in the produce section)
•  Goat cheese
• Honey balsamic dressing

Press dough down on a pizza pan or stone or cookie sheet, whatever you have handy to use, layer ingredients in this order: 

1. Pesto
2. Broccoli
3. Goat cheese
4. Tomatoes
5. Figs
6. Goat cheese
7. Drizzle honey balsamic dressing over pizza

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until you see that the crust has gotten brown and is cooked.

Enjoy!!