BBQ Chicken Pizza

Have you ever been to a California Pizza Kitchen and had their signature BBQ Chicken pizza? Isn't it the best?? So, when I found this recipe online I had to try it!

How yummy is this...grilled chicken, gooey cheese, red onion and sweet BBQ sauce on a PIZZA. This recipe is a great copycat version but feel free to swap out the Parmesan for smoked Gouda which is on the original.


This BBQ sauce was perfect for the pizza. It has just the right amount of sweetness. I don't buy BBQ sauce that often but I easily found this one at my local Super Target.


Above: homemade BBQ chicken pizza
Below: CPK's original BBQ chicken pizza



Ingredients:

1 batch of pizza dough (store bought or homemade)
1 cup grilled chicken strips, chopped
3/4 cup Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup red onion, sliced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Place a pizza stone in the oven and turn on to 475 degrees.
2. Roll out your pizza dough onto a pizza peel.
3. Pour the Sweet Baby Ray's over the top of the crust.
4. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the top of the sauce.
5. Then the chicken...
6. Then the onions...
7. Then the rest of the mozzarella and all of the Parmesan cheese.
8. Dot the top with a little bit more of the Sweet Baby Ray's.
9. Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and the underside of the crust is golden.
10. Sprinkle the cilantro over the top and enjoy.

Source: JamieCooksItUp

Homemade Bagel Bites

If you've got kids, chances are you probably have a box of Bagel Bites in your freezer right now. It's one of those quintessential foods, like frozen chicken nuggets, that all kids seem to love. I've never been a fan myself, but my kiddos will happily eat these puppies for lunch, snack or dinner.

I've been buying bags of mini bagels a lot lately and decided to make up a batch of homemade bagel bites for lunch earlier this week. Of course, this version is pretty easy to make and honestly tastes soooooo much better than the frozen kind...heck, I even had a few!

We ate all of ours, but you could easily freeze these before baking and then just add 2-4 additional minutes to the cooking time. See...almost like the ones from the box...only tastier!!



Ingredients:

6 mini bagels, split
4-6 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded or diced
4 oz pepperoni, chopped (I love the Hormel mini pepperoni)
1/2 cup pizza sauce, your favorite ( I used homemade)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with oil for easy clean-up. Place split bagels on baking sheet. Spoon pizza sauce on each half bagel. Top with cheese, pepperoni and add a pinch of Italian seasoning (if using). Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and a little bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

Source: Inspired by Bagel Bites

White Pizza with Broccoli & Mushrooms

I recently discovered this great cooking blog called Culinary Covers. The author takes recipes that grace the cover of magazines and books and recreates them at home. Then she shares her tips plus if she thought the dish deserved the honor of being on the cover...pretty neat, huh?

While I was looking through the site, I came across a picture of this delicious pizza. I read over the list of ingredients (very simple) and read over her comments (she gave it a big thumbs up). I knew I had to add it to our weekly menu.


This pizza really did turn out great and I would definitely made it again. The creamy white sauce was a nice change from our usual tomato and I loved the fact that it had fresh broccoli and mushrooms. This one is a keeper!!


Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. nonhydrogenated margarine or butter, divided (I used butter)
6 ounces mushrooms, sliced (2 cups)
8 ounces broccoli florets (3 cups)
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 cup low fat milk (I used 2%)
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, divided
1 (13.8 ounce) package refrigerated pizza dough (I used homemade)

Directions:

1. Place pizza stone or baking sheet in center of oven, and heat to 425 degrees F.
2. Melt 1 1/2 tsp. margarine in skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook 4 to 7 minutes, or until beginning to brown, stirring frequently. Add broccoli and 1/3 cup water. Cover tightly, and steam broccoli in skillet 3 to 4 minutes, or until tender.
3. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. margarine in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour, and cook 2 minutes, or until pale golden, stirring constantly. Stir in milk, garlic and salt. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until mixture thickens and begins to boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/4 cup mozzarella and 2 Tbsp. Parmesan until sauce is smooth and cheese is melted.
4. Shape pizza dough according to package directions. Remove pizza stone from oven, and place dough on hot stone.
5. Spread white sauce over dough to within 1/2-inch of edge, and top with broccoli mixture. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over top. Return to oven, and bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until edges of pizza are golden and center is hot and bubbly. Cool slightly before slicing and serving.

WW Points= 6 (per slice, pie yields 6 slices)

Source: Culinary Covers, originally from Vegetarian Times, April 2010

Homemade Pizza- Assembling and Baking the Pizza

OK, now the fun part...assembling and cooking the pizza. Here is a basic veggie pizza...so yummy!

Ingredients:

1 batch basic pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (store bought, homemade, simple tomato or marinara)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup green peppers, chopped
1/3 cup canned mushroom pieces and stems, drained
1/4 cup onions, chopped
cornmeal
olive oil

Directions:

1. Begin by cutting a piece of parchment paper slightly smaller than your pizza stone and set aside.
Place the pizza stone in a cold oven, then preheat at 500 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.

2. On a floured surface, begin by gently stretching the dough with your hands. Then use a rolling pin to stretch it out to 3/4 of the diameter desired.

3. Place the parchment paper on the pizza peel and sprinkle with corn meal. Transfer the dough to the parchment paper and using the rolling pin finish rolling out the dough. Brush the edge of the pizza dough with olive oil.

4. Gather your pizza sauce and shredded cheese. Freshly shredded mozzarella is best but I also like the convenience of pre-shredded cheese.

5. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce.

6. Sprinkle all of the cheese on top.

7. Add the toppings to the pizza. I used green peppers, onions and mushrooms on this pizza. I really like to use canned mushrooms because they are packed in water and retain a lot of the moisture while cooking.

8. Then carefully slide the pizza onto the hot pizza stone.

9. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven (use heavy duty oven gloves) and cut with a pizza cutter. I also like to sprinkle a little dried oregano, garlic powder and a pinch of red pepper flakes on my slice.


ENJOY!!!

Homemade Pizza- Making the Pizza Dough

A great pizza dough recipe is key to a great pizza. I have tried many different recipes but this one from Cook's Illustrated is the best one I have found.

Ingredients:

½ cup warm water (about 110°)
1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast
1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups bread flour, plus (about 1/3 cup) more for dusting and as needed
1 ½ tsp. salt
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Step by Step Directions:

1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes.

2. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed.

3. Add the room temperature water and oil to the yeast water and stir to combine.

4. Slowly add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms.

5. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes.

6. Spray a bowl with oil. I like this spray from Crisco.

7. After 5-8 minutes in the mixer, get ready to remove the dough. Your dough should be a little sticky and springy. If it is too sticky and messy add more flour and mix to combine ingredients. It helps to weigh out the flour but I don't have a kitchen scale and go by feel alone.

8. Once the dough is the right consistency, shape it into a ball and put it in the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 1 ½ to 2 hours.

9. The dough should double in size. At this point, you'll want to punch down the dough to deflate it.

10. Then transfer it to a lightly floured work surface and knead it slightly. Divide the dough in half. If you are not using right away, wrap it in plastic wrap and place in a gallon size freezer bag and place in the freezer. If you are using right away, cover it with plastic and let it rest for 10-20 minutes.

After the dough rests, you may use it to make your pizza.

Homemade Pizza- Tools You May Need

I know the thought of making a pizza from scratch might sound like a lot of work to some but it's really a lot easier than it seems. I believe once you find the right recipe for the dough, the process of making it is totally worth the effort.

I don't usually do step by step instructions on this blog but I think this time it might be really helpful. Since there are a lot of pictures and info here, I've divided the topic into three posts:

1. Tools you need to make the dough and bake the pizza.
2. How to make the dough.
3. How to assembly and bake your pizza.

OK, let's get started...

TOOLS YOU MAY NEED

Heavy Duty Stand Mixer ( with a dough attachment)
You can certainly make a pizza dough by hand but a heavy duty stand mixer makes the job much, much, much easier. A dough hook is essential for properly kneading the dough.


Pizza Stone
A pizza stone is a flat stone (either round or square) that gets heated at a very high tempoerture (500 degrees for 30-45 min). This allows for the pizza crust to get nice and crispy. Over time the stone will become seasoned and stained like mine. This is because the stones are porous and absorb any fluid with which it comes into contact. For this reason, you should also never wash the stone with a dish detergent. They should only be cleaned with a dry brush or plain water.
You can find pizza stones almost anywhere that sells kitchen appliances. Prices for these range from about $9 to high end stones. I bought mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond for about $25.


Pizza Peel and Parchment Paper
A pizza peel is a large flat wooden utensil with a long handle that is used to place and remove pizzas from the oven.
You need to sprinkle semolina or cornmeal on the peel so the dough does not stick to it and you can transfer your pizza to the stone. Now, I've had problems in the past with my pizza not transferring easily (even after sprinkling extra cornmeal) and find it much, much easier to just have a piece of parchment paper under the assembled pizza.



Wooden Rolling Pin
My son always wants me to flip the pizza dough in the air and stretch it out that way....this I have not yet mastered and that is why I use a rolling pin. The rolling pin lets me evenly stretch out the dough.

Pizza Cutter
I think we all already know this one. A pizza cutter makes cutting slices easy once the pizza is cooked.

Pizza Margherita

Pizza, pizza, pizza...who doesn't love it, right? I know we sure do. It's probably the number one food enjoyed in my house. Like many American families we have pizza almost every week. So, I try to mix things up by making different types. This time of year, pizza margherita is in heavy rotation around here since we always have an abundance of fresh tomatoes and basil. If there is such a thing a summertime pizza, this is it!

Just a thin coating of the tomato sauce...too much here makes for a messy pizza.


Add the cheese and tomatoes on top. My husband actually prefers this without the fresh tomato slices, so feel free to omit.


Fresh out of the oven...how good does that look?


Mmmmmmmm....pizza!


Ingredients:

1 batch of your favorite pizza dough

1 14-ounce can peeled whole San Marzano (such as Cento or Muri Glen) tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon dried or fresh oregano, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
8 - 10oz fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 tomato, sliced (optional)
large basil leaves, torn into pieces

Directions:

Set a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 500°, allowing at least 30 minutes for the stone to heat. Pulse the canned tomatoes in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Stir in the oregano and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, sugar and season with salt and pepper.
On a lightly floured surface, stretch out ball of dough and transfer to a floured pizza peel, adding flour where the dough sticks. Brush olive oil all around the edge of the dough.

Spread the tomato sauce over the dough to within 1 inch of the edge. Lay the cheese slices over the pizza and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the fresh tomato slices on top of the cheese and slide the pizza onto the stone. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 8-10 minutes. Scatter the basil on top and let stand for 3 minutes before serving.

Source: adapted from Food and Wine

Pizza Sauce

My family loves pizza. I usually make it about 3-4 times a month and for the longest time, I was using jarred pizza sauce. To tell you the truth, I never really liked it. So one day, I decided to make my own sauce and since then I have not bought another jar from the grocery store.

This sauce is so easy to make. It only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish. The hardest part is mincing the garlic...and we know that's not really hard. This recipe makes about 1 1/4 cups, which is just enough for two large pizza pies. I usually only make one pie at a time and freeze the remaining sauce for later use. However, if you need more sauce, just use a 28oz can of crushed tomatos and double the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients:
Makes about 1 1/4 cups of sauce.

15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt or to taste

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat add the oil. Then add the garlic and cook till fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a gently boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 15-18 minutes. Once finished cooking, remove from the heat and let cool.

Store extra sauce in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or freezer.


Source: Chef Mommy's Kitchen

Hawaiian Pizza

A couple of weeks ago, when we were at Wegman's for the Paula Deen book signing, my son had Hawaiian pizza for the first time and LOVED it! I wasn't surprised since he is a huge fan of pizza (what kid isn't?)and also likes ham and pineapple. So, the combination was a big hit with him and I was happy to replace his usual (greasy) topping of pepperoni with something a bit healthier (lean ham and pineapples). I told him we could make this at home too and he was one happy camper.

I had intended this to be totally from scratch, so the night before I made the pizza dough (recipe below)but I never got a chance to make the homemade pizza sauce. Instead I just used a good quality jarred pasta sauce and pureed it for a smoother texture. The pizza dough was make with both regular and whole wheat flour. It would normally yield enough for a large pie. However, I divided into four equal parts to make individual size pizzas...a very kid friendly size!

My son had so much fun making the pizza and was so proud of himself for doing all the assembly. Needless to say, he also loved how it tasted and quickly ate it all up!

Crucial to any kid's cooking project...all the ingredients and tools are at hand!

Step 1: roll out the dough

Step 2: spread on sauce

Step 3: add toppings

Step 4: top with cheese


The finished product!

And the best part...eating it of course :)


Ingredients
pizza dough (either store bought or homemade)*Click HERE for the recipe **see note below**
pizza or marinara sauce (either store bought or homemade)
mozzarella cheese, shredded
lean, low-sodium ham, diced
fresh pineapple, cut into small chunks
Italian seasoning, dried
olive oil

**The pizza dough recipe calls for 2 cups of bread flour. When I did this it left my dough still too sticky, so I added another 3/4 of flour (whole wheat this time) and it was perfect**
Preheat oven to 385 degrees.
Start by dividing the pizza dough into four equal parts (about the size of a tennis ball each). Then on a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough, till it is about 1/3 inch thick. Then roll about 1/2 inch of dough to form the outer crust. Transfer the rolled out dough to a cookie sheet. Lightly brush entire pizza dough with oil and spread sauce so all of the surface is evenly covered.
Add the topping and sprinkle with a generous amount of cheese. Add a small amount of Italian seasoning on top. Place prepared pizzas in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until all the cheese is melted and it looks hot and bubbly.