Tomato and Chicken Pizza

My boyfriend and I ordered Pizza from Papa John's. I usually only go for cheese, but he ordered their tomato and chicken pizza and I must say it was delicious! It was full of flavor and I think I'll definitely have it again sometime!

English Pancakes: Pizza Style!

Since we didn't make pizza last night, I decided to do pizza tonight. Yesterday, I had been thinking of a conversation we were having on the Leftover Food Queen's forum about breakfast around the world. I had told my story about Shrove Tuesday and it reminded me that I learned pancakes can have fillings and don't have to just have the lemon and sugar topping. Yesterday morning I decided that I would make pizza pancakes. I was really excited about trying it, but I didn't want to tell my boyfriend about it since I wasn't sure of his reaction.

Well, on our way home from me picking him up from work, I told Lee that I thought I'd try making pizza English pancakes. He immediately started getting that smile people have when they're trying not to laugh. I called him on it and he said, "Well, I can see how you got to that idea since we've had calzones, but I really don't know how it'll work with the tomato sauce..." He said I could give it a try, but he was very skeptical. He just did not think it would work. at. all. I started to worry about trying it, and almost didn't, but I really wanted to and he felt bad and said to go ahead and try it....still trying to keep a straight face.

I found a new pizza sauce recipe to try on Recipezaar. I wasn't too sure about it because it said to serve immediately and the last quick sauce I made didn't have much flavour until the next day. I thought I'd give it a go anyway since I was reading Mexican cookbooks all day and forgot to start the sauce earlier. I then brought out the English pancake recipe I used on Shrove Tuesday and put that to work.

After cooking the first one, Lee tried it and he was shocked to find out he really liked it!!! He thought it was so strange that it would taste so good. He said he was thinking that we would also put the dusting of sugar and lemon on it and that's part of why he didn't think it would taste good. For someone so convinced it would fail, he really did love it! He said it's not fair at all that it turned out so good.

The important thing for this is to put just a thin layer of sauce and cheese on the pancake. Since it gets rolled up, a little really does go a long way. Lee put too much sauce on his and said that the sauce needed to be a bit more balanced. I had him try a bite of mine, and he agreed that he just put on too much and it was better with less sauce.

Pizza Flavor English Pancakes

1 recipe English pancakes
2 cups pizza sauce
1 cup Italian style shredded cheese

1. Cook English pancakes according to recipe instructions.
2. Transfer to a plate to be the "rolling plate."
   
3. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce to within ¼-½ inch of the edge. Sprinkle a thin layer of Italian blend shredded cheese. Add in desired toppings, such as pepperoni.

4. Roll and place in oven on "warm" or lowest setting while the rest of the pancakes cook. Doing this also allows the sauce to warm up and the cheese to melt.

Pizza Pockets

a.k.a. calzones.

I can't remember how, but one day last week my boyfriend and I had started talking about calzones. He had never had one before, only a pizza flavored Hot Pocket®. I was remembering my experiences with a place in college that had calzones that never tasted as good without a few drinks beforehand, they were just way too greasy. I don't remember liking calzones because of that, but I thought I'd try to make some for my boyfriend.

I found some recipes that called for bread flour, but I'm almost out of that from making the crescent rolls yesterday. I found a recipe that did not call for bread flour and went for that one.

I ended up having an impromptu dinner party when a couple of friends popped in while I was making the calzones. It's a good thing the recipe makes two large calzones that easily serve four people because I felt kind of rude making dinner and not offering them any. They both loved the calzones and thought the basil was a very nice addition. They both asked about the filling and were surprised to learn I had made the crust too. One friend even commented that I'm becoming quite the Suzy Homemaker. The other commented about how she's happy to help us finish off dinners any time. I think I can live with a reputation of being a good cook!

My boyfriend has a larger than average appetite, so he could use one whole calzone on his own. For the rest of us, a regular calzone can feed two. This was a really simple recipe to make and I'll definitely make it again. I left out the olives.

Real Italian Calzones

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2½ cups flour
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ cup mozzarella cheese
1½ cups extra-sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup diced pepperoni
½ cup sliced black olives
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 egg, beaten

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the water. Add 1 tablespoon oil, the sugar, and salt.
   
2. Mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour until thoroughly mixed and a soft dough forms.
   
3. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes or until elastic and no longer sticky. Coat a bowl with the rest of the oil, place in dough, coat, cover and allow to rise for about 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.
   
4. While the dough is rising, beat the egg in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate until needed.
   
5. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
6. Punch dough down and divide in half. Roll into two circles.
7. Fill half of each circle with half of filling mixture. Fold in half and seal edges by pressing with a fork.
8. Brush the top of each calzone with the beaten egg and place on a greased cookie sheet.
   
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and heated through.
   
10. Serve with warm tomato sauce.
    

The Pizza Without a Crust

I hate to say it, but I'm kind of becoming tired of our weekly pizza night and we're only two months into it. I needed something different and was glad to find the recipe for Pizza Casserole.

I must admit, we were both somewhat skeptical of the idea of pizza casserole. First of all, it called for bowtie pasta instead of any crust. Second of all, the sauce is a regular pasta sauce instead of pizza sauce. I wanted to try it, and I tagged it for a Recipezaar game, so I did have to make it. We soldiered on.

It wasn't very difficult to make at all, not really any more difficult than making a real pizza. It ended up being like an interesting cross between a lasagna and a pizza. It tasted like a pizza, but the texture was more like a lasagna. It felt more pizza-like the next day for leftovers.

Despite being so skeptical about trying it, we both ended up loving it and the leftovers of a huge pan only lasted us two days! I'll definitely make this again.

The only change I made to the recipe is that I left out the ham. I didn't have any and I don't really like ham much anyway.

Tomato Basil Pizza Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 large can tomato sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons basil

1. Heat oil in sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds or until fragrant.
3. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, and pepper. cook for about 15-20 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring and mashing tomatoes with potato masher to crush.
   
4. Add basil, stir to blend.

Pizza Casserole
1 lb. bowtie pasta
1 lb sausage
1 large onion chopped
sauce (2- 26 oz. jars of spaghetti sauce if not using homemade)
½ lb. cubed cooked ham
½ lb. pepperoni (more or less depending on how far you spread)
24 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano

1. Cook pasta until al-dente.
2. Meanwhile, cook sausage, garlic powder, and oregano in a sauté pan until cooked and juices run clear.
3. In a slightly greased 9"x13" baking dish, coat the bottom with a thin layer of sauce.
4. Layer ingredients as follows:
   
5. Layer 1: 1/3 pasta, 1/3 sauce, 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, sausage, and onions.
6. Layer 2: 1/2 remaining pasta, 1/2 remaining sauce, 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, ham.
7. Layer 3: remaining pasta, remaining sauce, 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.
8. Cover top layer with pepperoni.
9. Bake in 375°F oven for 40 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbling.
   
10. Let sit for approximately 5 minutes before serving.
    

Pizza Night with a Twist....Tandoori Chicken Pizza

When I think pizza, I think of a lovely crust with a delightful marinara sauce...nice, soothing, and comforting. There are some pizzas that are completely different and having decided to join the recipe tag game on Recipezaar, I found one that uses a curry sauce! Since my boyfriend loves curry, I thought it would be a nice treat for him to try. I figured I'd try it for him.

One fun part of the curry pizza experience was going to the Indian import store. On one hand, it's nice to get the curry things so close and for cheaper than at the supermarket, but it's frustrating that the British Import store is about 45 minutes away! We'd get so much more from there. I was very excited to find okra at the Indian import store!!! I haven't really had fried okra much since we moved back up north, and I have never found them anywhere. I saw some really interesting vegetables at the import store too that I might want to try sometime. My boyfriend wants to try some Indian tea, so we may take a trip back there for that.

Anyway, back to the topic. This recipe is from the California Pizza Kitchen®. It's not very difficult to make, but it was a little time consuming to prep. I think the best way to do this is to combine each group of ingredients ahead of time so they can just be dumped in the pans quickly since the stages of the cooking process move fast.

My boyfriend really liked this pizza, but doesn't think he'll want it every week; he feels it's more of a treat pizza than an everyday pizza. I thought it was ok, but I didn't eat much of it. I'd eat it once in a while for him, but wouldn't order it or make it for myself.

I did a method slightly different from the way it's written, so I'll post it here. One more thing to add, this seemed to make enough for one extra-large pizza, so if making a regular pizza, you may want to halve the ingredients. I will halve the recipe next time.

Tandoori Chicken Pizza
tomato-yogurt curry (for the pizza sauce)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ cup diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
¼ teaspoon minced jalapeño pepper
¼ cup chicken stock
¼ cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon butter

Tandoori chicken
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon miced garlic
½ teaspoon minced jalapeños
2 tablespoons Tandoori paste
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 boneless chicken breasts

pizza
1 pizza dough
½ small zucchini, chopped
½ small yellow squash, chopped
1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup major grey's chutney (optional)

The recipe says to cook the sauce first, then do the chicken and the rest, but I cooked the chicken in the skillet and it would be better to have that cooking while making the sauce.

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
   
2. Combine all the marinade ingredients for the chicken. Cut the chicken breasts into cubes.
3. Put chicken in a skillet over medium heat and add the Tandoori marinade. Cook until done.
4. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside to cool.
5. For the tomato-yogurt curry, put the oil and garlic in a saucepan and heat until the garlic is translucent. Add the remaining curry ingredients except for the cilantro and butter.
   
6. Boil curry ingredients for about 3 minutes. Add butter and cilantro. Set the mixture aside.
7. In the skillet where the chicken was cooked, there should be remaining sauce. Place in the zucchini and squash and cook for a few minutes, just to start the cooking process.
   
8. Use a ladle to spoon the tomato-yogurt curry over the pizza dough. Just use a little, enough to coat a thin layer or it will overflow when the additional ingredients are added.
9. Place the zucchini and squash in a thin layer over the sauce and cover with mozzarella. Place chicken over mozzarella and top with cilantro.
   
10. Cook pizza in oven for about 15-20 minutes or until dough is browned and cheese is melted.
    

Pizza, Pizza

So, my boyfriend said he doesn't want me to mess around with the pizza and mozzarella sticks recipes for our weekly pizza night. I decided to try a new one anyway.

I found a recipe that uses cornmeal in a thin layer on the bottom of the pan, and decided to try that. I noticed a few pizza places do that.

I didn't tell my boyfriend until after we had eaten that the crust was different. He liked it though.

The crust didn't crisp up as much as I would have liked and wasn't brown. The cheese was fully melted and would have been burnt if I left it in longer, maybe it needs a slightly higher temp. I didn't time the pizza, so maybe I didn't leave it in as long as I was supposed to. I have more of the crust left, so I'll try to time it next week to find out for sure.

I'm awful about remembering to take pictures of the pizza! I'll try to remember next week!

Pizza and a Movie

Well, my boyfriend does not want me to mess with the Friday night pizza and mozzarella sticks. I think I'll have to plan different deserts or something on Fridays instead. For now, I'm just trying to perfect the pizza and mozzarella sticks.

This week, I used some mozzarella sticks that had been frozen since last week. Like before, I fried them for a few minutes and then finished them off in the oven. They turned out the best I've made them this week. I have enough mozzarella sticks for next week, but I think after that I'll try frying enough for a month or so, freezing them, and then just heating them in the oven each week. I feel like I'm wasting a lot of oil, and if you buy frozen mozzarella sticks at the store, that's what they are anyway. I've also learned that canola oil tastes better for these than vegetable oil.

Pizza Night!

Friday night is pizza night for us. I decided to try homemade pizza one time and we both had fun making it and thought it would be a great inexpensive date night.

I have been using this recipe for our pizza nights. I hadn't had Pizza Hut pizza in a while, and when we were in England I noticed that their pizza was a bit greasier than ours turns out, the crust a bit thicker, and it was a little more buttery (I don't use the butter flavored Pam the recipe recommends because I don't have it and don't feel like buying it). I would like it to taste as authentic as possible, so I think my mission for the next couple of weeks will be to perfect it! I also used the Ragú pizza sauce instead of the one in the recipe.

I've used a baking sheet for cooking these pizzas. That's not the same type of pan that Pizza Hut uses, and I'm wondering if it makes a difference. Either way, this week I put a little bit of artificial butter flavour (I had that for making cake icing) and it did add a bit of buttery flavour, although it still wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

I also forgot to get some things for the toppings, so my boyfriend had to make do with cheese (my favorite!). Anyway, we both enjoyed the pizza and the mozzarella sticks I made to go with it and I'll try again next week!

I forgot to take pictures again. I'll try to be better, I promise!