Heart Shaped Individual Pizza

Hey guys for those of you who don't know it; February is Creative Romance Month so I thought I would post about heart shaped individual pizzas as a creative way to make a pizza for your loved ones. This is one of Pillsburys "20 Minute Recipes for Romance" and I think this is a fun idea for all those thousands of pizza lovers out there. You know your kids would love this for a Valentine's Day supper.  ;)

Recipe: Valentine Pizzas

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust or 1 can (11 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated thin pizza crust
• 1 can (8 oz) pizza sauce
• 24 slices turkey pepperoni with 70% less fat
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (3 oz)

DIRECTIONS
1.If using classic crust: Heat oven to 425°F. Lightly spray or grease large cookie sheet. If using thin crust: Heat oven to 400 F. Spray or grease 15x10-inch or larger dark or nonstick cookie sheet.
2.Unroll dough on work surface. With sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 4 rectangles. Place rectangles on cookie sheet. Cut 1-inch slit in center of wide edge of each dough portion; on opposite wide edge across from slit, pinch dough together to shape point of heart. Slightly separate each cut slit, and gently press dough into a 6x5-inch heart, creating slight rim on edge of dough.
3.Divide pizza sauce evenly onto hearts, spreading to within 1/2 inch of edges. Top each with 6 slices pepperoni and 3 tablespoons cheese.
4.Bake classic crust 13 to 16 minutes, thin crust 9 to 13 minutes, or until crust edges are golden brown and cheese is melted.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake up to 2 minutes longer.

Bistro-Style Onion and Artichoke Galette

For my 7th and last pizza post in honor of National Pizza Week I wanted to pick a recipe I've never made before. I think this was a winning recipe at a bake off contest at pillsbury.com.  When I saw how beautiful the pizza was I knew I had to post it for all to see. I really want to make this.


Bistro-Style Onion and Artichoke Galette

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
• 2 cups thinly sliced sweet onion (such as Maui or Walla Walla; about 1 large)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt-free garlic and herb seasoning blend, if desired
• 1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 4 oz Gruyère cheese, shredded (1 cup)
• 1 jar (6 oz) marinated artichoke hearts, well drained, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped well-drained fire-roasted red bell peppers (from 7.5-oz jar)
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 EGGLAND’S BEST egg white, beaten
• Fresh thyme sprigs

DIRECTIONS
1. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until soft and golden brown. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in vinegar and seasoning blend; cook 3 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat.
2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 375°F. Unroll pie crust on ungreased nonstick cookie sheet. Lightly brush mustard over crust.
3. Sprinkle 2/3 cup of the cheese over center of crust to within 1 1/4 inches of edge of crust. Spread onion evenly over cheese; top with artichokes and red peppers. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon chopped thyme and remaining 1/3 cup cheese. Fold 1 1/4-inch edge of crust over filling, pleating crust as necessary. Brush egg white over crust edge. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.
4. To serve, cut into 8 wedges. Garnish with thyme sprigs. Serve warm.

Tropical Chicken Pizza

Here it is! My husbands favorite pizza. Tropical Chicken Pizza!
If there's one thing my husband is crazy about it's pineapple. He can't get enough of this sweet juicy fruit and he can't eat a pizza without it either. I say.... leave the pineapple off please. So to settle our differences we always end up making 2 pizzas. One without pineapple and one with pineapple. Hubby likes to remind me, it's not tropical chicken pizza if you leave the pineapple off.

Ohhh and check out the other ingredients! It also has coconut in it.  :)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust
• 1 tablespoon Crisco® Light Olive Oil
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup coconut
• 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (thick variety)
• 1 cup chopped deli rotisserie chicken (from 2-lb chicken)
• 1 can (8 oz) pineapple tidbits, drained
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (1 oz)

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 425°F. Spray 15x12-inch cookie sheet with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray.
2. Unroll pizza crust dough on cookie sheet; press dough to edges of cookie sheet. Brush with oil. Sprinkle with garlic, 2 tablespoons of the cilantro and 2 tablespoons of the coconut. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until crust is just beginning to brown.
3. Spread teriyaki sauce over partially baked crust to within 1/2 inch of edges. Top evenly with chicken, pineapple and cheeses. Bake 8 to 10 minutes longer or until cheeses are melted and crust is golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons each cilantro and coconut.

Deep-Dish Sausage Patty Pizza Recipe

A Pillsbury.com recipe

Today I'm posting Pizza #3 in honor of National Pizza Week.

All I can say is thank God for cast-iron skillets. I love them! I cook most everything in a cast-iron skillet and it's always my first choice when I'm making a deep dish pizza too. Now you can use any kind of skillet you want for deep dish pizza but once you've tried cast-iron for pizza you won't go back to a regular skillet again.

Now let's talk about this recipe.
Sausage Patty Pizza: I think this was a winning recipe at a bake off contest at Pillsbury. I don't remember what year but it seems like it was just a couple of years ago.  My siter-in-law makes this exactly by the recipe because her kids really love sausage and since this pizza has a big sausage patty layer it's perfect for die-hard sausage lovers. For me.... I love deep-dish pizza made this way but I tend to only use half the sausage the recipe calls for. What can I say.... sausage doesn't like me as much as it use to. Do you know the way to heart-burn city?  I do remember when I could devour slice after slice without needing a whole bottle of tums. Ahhh those were the days. :)


INGREDIENTS:

Sauce

2 tablespoons Crisco® 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes, drained, 1/2 cup juice reserved and tomatoes coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 dried bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 or 3 dashes pepper

Pizza

1 lb bulk sweet Italian pork sausage
2 tablespoons Crisco® 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (1 lb)
2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 400°F. In 2-quart saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, basil, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in reserved tomato juice. (Sauce should be thick.) Remove and discard bay leaf.

2. Meanwhile, spray 12-inch skillet with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Spread sausage over bottom of skillet into large patty. Cook over medium-high heat 5 to 8 minutes on each side, turning once, until no longer pink in center. (If necessary, cut patty in half or into quarters to turn.)

3. Coat bottom and side of 12-inch cast-iron skillet or other ovenproof skillet with 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle with cornmeal. Unroll pizza crust dough in skillet; press on bottom and at least halfway up side. Brush dough with remaining 1 tablespoon oil; prick bottom and sides of dough with fork. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over dough. Top with sausage patty, keeping patty in one piece.

4. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until crust is light golden brown. Spread sauce over sausage. Bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Smoky Brunch Pizza Recipe

By Pillsbury.com

Yesterday we talked about 4-ingredient-pizza-bake and today I'm posting pizza recipe #2 in honor of National Pizza Week. 

Now how many of you eat breakfast pizza? How many of you eat it with smoked salmon on top? Not many of us I would imagine. In fact I bet most of us wouldn't even think about putting salmon on pizza at all. Now for me... I love a thick salmon steak that's grilled with a baked potato smothered in butter and sour cream. Add fresh crusty bread and you have one of my favorite meals. Well last night we used up the last of the gas in our grill by grilling 3 salmon steaks. 2 for supper and 1 to put aside for breakfast this morning. I really wanted to give this recipe a try.

Happily the pizza turned out as pretty as the pillsbury picture. I was so surprised at how tasty it was. I have to tell you to.... I was "thrilled" about using the chives-and-onion cream cheese. Wow! Where have I been?? I can't tell you the ideas racing through my head on ways to use spreads now. LOL. I think next time I'll use a bit more than the recipe called for. Anyway, I can see why this pizza was named "brunch pizza". It would really be good served at a brunch. What do ya'll think?

INGREDIENTS:

1 can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
4 green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)
8 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 package (4 oz) smoked salmon, flaked
1/2 cup chives-and-onion cream cheese (from 8-oz container)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oven to 425°F. Grease 12-inch pizza pan or 13x9-inch pan. Unroll dough; place in pan. Starting at center, press out dough with hands. Bake 6 to 7 minutes or until crust begins to brown.
2. Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add bell pepper and onions; cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until tender.
3. In medium bowl, beat eggs, milk and pepper. Add egg mixture to skillet. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked but still moist. Fold in salmon. Remove from heat.
4. Spread cream cheese evenly over crust. Spoon cooked egg mixture over cream cheese.
5. Bake 9 to 12 minutes longer or until toppings are hot and crust is deep golden brown. If desired, garnish with additional green onions.

4-Ingredient Pizza Bake

It's time to start celebrating pizza! Pizza Week is here and today I've picked "4 ingredient pizza bake" as my first recipe to post. You know... the first time I ever cooked with bisquick I made a pizza with it. Yep, not biscuits or pancakes but pizza. That was many moons ago but I still find myself making it when younglings show up at my door and I need something quick to fill their bellies. I really love recipes you can just through together by using what ever you've got for toppings. It reminds me of a casserole. I always called it a "cheater cheese pizza." lol  Pam

By Betty Crocker Recipes

Ingredients:

2 pouches (7.5 oz each) Bisquick® Complete buttermilk biscuit mix
1 cup water
1 jar (14 oz) pizza sauce
1 package (8 oz) sliced pepperoni
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix and water until soft dough forms. Drop half of dough by spoonfuls evenly in bottom of baking dish (dough will not completely cover bottom of dish).
2. Drizzle about 1 cup pizza sauce over dough. Arrange 1/2 of the pepperoni slices evenly over sauce. Top with 1 cup of the cheese. Repeat layers with remaining dough, pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares to serve.

Pizza Week: Second week of January

The second week of January is National Pizza Week. We celebrate this observance every year and I always look forward to the new and improved pizza recipes that are posted on food blogs. For this week I'm going to try and post a few pizza ideas and recipes myself and also list an ongoing link list to some other great pizza posts. If your posting about pizza in your blog, make sure you leave us a comment about your post ok. We'll celebrate pizza together :) 

Pizza In The United States

The United States has developed quite a large number of regional forms of pizza, many bearing only a casual resemblance to the Italian original. During the latter half of the 20th century, pizza in the United States became an iconic dish of considerable popularity. The thickness of the crust depends on what the consumer prefers; both thick and thin crust are popular. Often, "Americanized" foods such as barbecued chicken and bacon cheeseburgers are used to create new types of pizza.

Ingredients:

American pizza often has vegetable oil or shortening (often, but not always, olive oil) mixed into the dough; this is not as common in Italian recipes (for example, the pizza dough recipe in the influential Italian cookbook Il cucchiaio d'argento does not use oil). This can range from a small amount in relatively lean doughs, such as New York style, to a very large amount in some recipes for Chicago-style deep-dish dough. In addition, American pizza (at least thin-crust) is often made with a very high- gluten flour (often 13–14% protein content) of the type also used to make bagels; this type of flour allows the dough to be stretched rather thinly without tearing, similar to strudel or phyllo dough.


In some pizza recipes, the tomato sauce is omitted (termed "white pizza"), or replaced with another sauce (usually garlic butter, but sauces can also be made with spinach or onions). In the Philadelphia area there are also tomato pies—sauce only, or sauce with ripe Roma tomatoes and spices but no cheese—and upside-down pizzas, i.e., the cheese on the bottom and topped with sauce. Pizza is normally eaten hot (typically at lunch or dinner), but is sometimes eaten as cold leftovers. (I like it cold for breakfast myself)     wikipedia.com - thefreedictionary.com - gone-ta-pott.com -

Outside Links
•  Chicago style deep dish pizza
•  Thick crust pizza recipe

•  Thin crust pizza recipe

•  How to make dessert pizza
•  Joandsue.blogspot - califlower crust pizza
•  Pizza Tips


1 Week Celebration Recipes
•  Recipe #1 - 4 ingredient pizza /what I call a cheater cheese pizza
•  Recipe #2 - Smoky Brunch Pizza
•  Recipe #3 - Deep-dish sausage patty pizza
•  Recipe #4 - being posted Thursday
•  Recipe #5 - being posted Friday
•  Recipe #6 - being posted Saturday
•  Recipe #7 - being posted Sunday

Other Pizza Holidays to Remember!

• October:  National Pizza Month.

• October 11: National Sausage Pizza Day.

• January: National Pizza Week is the second week of the month.

• May 15:  National Pizza Party Day.

• November 12: National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day.

4-Square Family Pizza Recipe

This post is in honor of All Pizza Holidays but today, November 12 is National Pizza with the Works except Anchovies Day! In honor of that here's a family pizza that covers everyone's favorite flavors... without anchovies. Great for Game Day too :)

4-Square Family Pizza Recipe
Originally uploaded by Pillsbury.com

INGREDIENTS:

Cornmeal, if desired

1 can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 oz)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (6 oz)

BBQ Chicken Pizza Square

1 tablespoon chopped red onion
1/2 cup refrigerated honey hickory barbecue sauce with shredded chicken, large pieces cut up

Margherita Pizza Square

1 tablespoon shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
4 to 5 (1/4-inch-thick) slices plum (Roma) tomato (about 1 large tomato)
1 tablespoon thin fresh basil strips

Hawaiian Pizza Square

2 tablespoons pizza sauce
2 slices Canadian bacon, quartered
1/4 cup pineapple tidbits, well drained (from 8-oz can)

Pepperoni Pizza Square

2 tablespoons pizza sauce
8 to 10 slices pepperoni (from 3-oz package)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray; sprinkle with cornmeal. Unroll dough; place on cookie sheet. Starting at center, press out dough into 14x12-inch rectangle. Brush dough with olive oil.

2. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese in the shape of a "plus sign" on crust, dividing the crust into four squares. Top each square with 1 of the 4 variations listed above to make 4 different squares; if desired, on the Pepperoni Pizza Square, arrange the pepperoni to make a happy face. Top entire pizza with mozzarella cheese.

3. Bake 10 to 13 minutes longer or until crust is deep golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut pizza into 4 squares; cut each square into 4 squares to make a total of 16 squares.