Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Mini Muffins

This recipe came from Everyday with Rachel Ray and has circulated around Pinterest. My kids have been complaining about their almost daily lunch of PB&J so I decided to give these a try, with my own changes, to give them a lunchtime variety. One great thing is they freeze so you can make them whenever and then just pop them in the microwave or toaster oven when you're ready to use them!

This recipe makes 48 mini muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
pinch of salt (my addition, optional)
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1 1/2 cups 1% milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten (can use egg substitute)
2 cups part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup turkey pepperoni, diced into small pieces
1 cup store-bought pizza sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes (if using) ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

To Freeze
Arrange pizza muffins on a cookie sheet. After they are completely cooled, freeze for 1 hour. Then place in air tight freezer safe container or zip-lock bags.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza with Gorgonzola

We are huge pizza eaters around these parts. I always make my own pizza crust, which you can find here, and then I vary the toppings. Tonight I wanted something a little more 'grown up' than the cheese pizza topped with broccoli that I usually make. I have always loved barbecue chicken pizza so I threw this together and it was DE-LISH. I highly recommend using the Gorgonzola cheese but you could substitute sharp cheddar and sit on the lame side of the table. Enjoy!

This recipe makes 1 medium sized pizza. If you follow the whole wheat pizza recipe above, cut it in half.

1 pre-made or homemade pizza dough
1/2 cup barbecue sauce of your choice. I used Kraft Original.
1 medium red onion, sliced thin and caramelized
1 cup of shredded chicken
1 5oz container of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Spread dough on a well greased baking pan or pizza pan. Top with barbecue sauce, chicken, onions and cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes on 425 until the sauce is bubbly. The cheese will not melt so don't wait for that to happen!

Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread

I am having a blast making new pizza recipes to bring a little pizazz to our mundane Friday night pizza nights. A few weeks ago I made this pizza monkey bread and we all loved it! I used my homemade whole wheat pizza dough and it turned out delicious! I will say that it was very time consuming but it's a mindless task and drinking a glass of wine helps the time go by faster.

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 Tbsp butter
2 lbs pizza dough
6 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes (you'll need ~48 pieces)
48 slices of Turkey pepperoni (from 1 package)
2-3 cups pizza sauce, warmed, for serving

Instructions
Heat garlic and butter over medium heat just until the garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat and let sit.
Lightly brush the inside of a bundt pan (or other oven-safe dish) with garlic butter.
Pull off large marble-sized balls of dough and flatten (~2/3 of an ounce, a kitchen scale makes this very easy). Top with a slice of pepperoni and a cube of mozzarella.
Wrap the dough around the pepperoni and cheese, pinching well to seal.
Very lightly brush the pizza ball with garlic butter and place into the bundt pan (I dabbed the pizza balls on a butter-dipped silicon brush to keep butter use low - there will be 1+ Tbsp leftover - and my hands butter free. Buttery hands make it hard to get the pizza balls to seal).
Repeat until all of the dough is used.
Cover and let sit for 30 minutes, while preheating the oven to 400.
Bake for ~35 minutes, until the top is very brown.
Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes.
Turn out onto a platter and serve with warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

recipe from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Grilled Pizza

Ok, this pizza seriously rocked! My husband came up with the recipe. Grilling the pizza definitely changed the flavor. Turned our ordinary pizza night into something new. You can make this any way you want. We like the fresh mozzarella & basil version but we made plain cheese & sauce for the kids. The most important part is to preheat your grill to medium heat and keep an eye on the pizza as it cooks so you don't burn the crust too much.

Fresh Mozzarella & Basil Grilled Pizza (with onion & pepper):
Sliced Fresh mozzarella (Cut into thin slices. Best to slice your cheese a few hours before you use it, place on a paper towel and lay another paper towel on top to absorb all the extra moisture. Refrigerate for several hours.)Fresh basil (remove stem, wash & dry well)
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)2 Tomatoes sliced thin
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 green pepper
Pizza Crust (we love the 8" whole wheat Boboli Crust - everyone got their own personal pizza.)
Chop onion & pepper. Place in foil, splash with a little EVOO.
Grill onion & pepper in foil until tender. You can do it on stove also if you prefer.
Lightly brush 1/2 teaspoon EVOO onto top of the pizza crust.
Add tomatoe slices, then basil, then sprinkle the onion & pepper. Add the sliced cheese on top.
Place on grill and cook until crust is browned.

Grilled Cheese & Tomato Flatbread

This can be an appetizer or a main dish. It looks fancy so it's great for entertaining and it's pretty easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened (I used low fat and that worked just fine)
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
2 TBS minced fresh parsley, divided (I used dried parsley)
1 TBS minced chives
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme (I used dried thyme)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tube (13.8oz) refrigerated pizza crust
3 TBS olive oil
3 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced (I used 2 red tomatoes and one yellow to make it bright.)


1. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, 1 TBS parsley, chives, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper until blended in a large bowl.

2. Unroll pizza crust and cut in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each portion into a 12x6 inch rectangle. Brush each side with olive oil.

3. Grill uncovered over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from grill.

4. Spread grilled sides with cheese mixture. Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese and top with tomatoes. Return to the grill. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes or until crust is slightly browned and cheese is melted, rotating halfway through cooking to ensure an even crust. Remove from grill and sprinkle with remaining parsley. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.


*recipe courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine

White Pizza with Tomato & Basil

One of the best pizzas we've ever made! Only 352 calories per serving (2 slices per serving).

Ingredients:
1 (10oz) thin pizza crust (or you can make your own if you are talented like Holly) :)
1 teaspoon cornmeal
cooking spray
3 TBS pesto with basil
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sliced small tomatoes (we used Campari)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup small basil leaves (dried basil is ok too)
crushed red pepper (optional)

1. Preheat broiler to high.
2. Place a baking sheet in the oven; heat for 10 minutes.
3. While baking sheet heats, place crust on another baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Lightly coat crust with cooking spray. Spread pesto evenly over crust, leaving a 1" border. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over pesto. Dollop ricotta by teaspoonfuls over the mozzarella.
4. Slide crust onto preheated baking sheet.
5. Broil 5 inches from heat for 5 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt. Remove from oven.
6. Top evenly with tomatoes, black pepper and basil. Add crushed red pepper if desired.

White Sauce for Pizza (or whatever you want to slather it on)

I made a whole wheat white pizza with swiss cheese topped with shrimp and tomatoes tossed in  balsamic vinegar (say that 9 times fast) the other day for lunch and it was HEAVENLY.

Here is the white sauce I made that was adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter - I used a light "cardio spread"
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk  - I used fat free
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 an onion diced
2 tablespoons italian seasoning


Directions:

In a small skillet sautee onion, garlic & italian seasoning with evoo until onion is tender.

Heat butter in a small saucepan. Add flour and stir until thoroughly mixed.

Slowly whisk in milk, adding gradually, whisk until it thickens. Mix in the onion, garlic & italian seasoning.

Spread on top of your favorite pizza crust. Top with cheese of your choice and any other toppings. The sauce makes enough for 2 large pizzas or 1 large if you want it a little thicker.

Whole Wheat Pizza

This dough is really simple and can be altered to your liking. I often add different spices to change the flavor. I use 3 cups for a LARGE pizza pan. If you pans are smaller you will want to decrease the amount or make 2 pizzas. Make sure to spread the dough thin because it does rise a lot when baking.

Ingredients:
3 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of warm water + more (about 1/2 cup)
1 packet of dry active yeast
1 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tbsp of italian seasoning
1 to 2 tsp of EVOO


Pizza Sauce
Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
Favorite pizza toppings
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Dissolve yeast in warm water for 10 minutes add EVOO. Slowly add the flour, garlic powder and italian seasoning mixture. Knead dough in bowl gradually adding more water until well blended and soft. Place dough in a well oiled bowl. Cover and let the dough rise for about 20 minutes. Spread onto a well greased pizza pan. Spread pizza sauce and top with cheese and favorite toppings. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly and edges of crust are brown and crispy.