Tag Archives: Pizza

Sweet Potato Pizza

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Veronica

Although my favorite pizza isn’t fancy or interesting (supreme with regular ol’ pizza sauce), I do love to try new things and this recipe, found in the latest Taste of Home magazine, called to me. My husband doesn’t like sweet potatoes and I have this weird thing where if he doesn’t like something, I try to find a way that he will enjoy it. I want everyone to like the things I like – I’m a control freak like that. ;)

Anyway, he hates eggplant even worse than he dislikes sweet potatoes, and I once got him to enjoy it on a pizza, so I figured it would work with sweet potato too. I was right! He might not have enjoyed it as much as our mutually loved supreme pizza, but he gobbled it up and said “it’s good” when I asked what he thought, so I count this as a success. :)

Sweet Potato Pizza

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for pan
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium sweet potato, about 10 oz.
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 tube (13.8 oz) refrigerated pizza dough*
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded*
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

In a small microwave-safe bowl, stir the olive oil and garlic together; microwave for 30 seconds and set aside to infuse while preparing pizza. Preheat oven to 450F. Rub plain olive oil over a large 14″ pizza pan; set aside.

Peel the sweet potato and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Cut each slice into 1/2-inch wide strips; place in a microwave-safe dish and add the water. Cover and microwave on high 3-4 minutes, or until potato is almost tender. Drain; sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss together gently.

Unroll pizza dough and press to fit prepared pan. If desired, pinch edge to form a rim. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese and one tablespoon of the garlic olive oil. Top with sweet potato and sprinkle with the herbs. Drizzle with remaining tablespoon of garlic oil and sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese. Bake on lowest oven rack 12-15 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

*Veronica’s notes: if you prefer to make your own crust, go for it! This is my favorite whole wheat crust. The original recipe called for 1 cup of mozzarella and 1 cup of fontina cheese, but I couldn’t find the latter and went with all mozzarella. I’d definitely encourage you to try it with fontina if you can find it – I’m sure it’s even better that way!

Recipe source: adapted from Taste of Home Feb/March 2014, sent in by Libby Walp of Chicago, IL

Lookin’ for more pizza with pizzaz? Here are a few of my personal favorites:

Shrimp & Bacon Ranch Pizza

Fresh Vegetable Pizza

Cheeseburger Pie

15 Comments

Posted in Pizza and tagged easy, homemade, Pizza, recipe, sweet potato, vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink.

Shrimp & Bacon Ranch Pizza

Posted on February 16, 2010 by Veronica

I was scrolling through my blog and came to realize out of the last 12 postings, only two recipes have been for non-sweets. Sweets are my forte, but I figured a dinner recipe was long over-due, and have I got a doozy for you!

A couple MySpace friends inspired this one. Through MySpace, I’m connected to a great network of women who love to cook and are so supportive and fun. Kim, the one responsible for hooking me up with most of my foodie friends, posted a recipe for Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza yesterday that had me drooling over my keyboard. I’d been wanting to make a pizza that my friend Suzie posted on her blog that had shrimp on it, so I decided to meld the two recipes into one. So here it is, the final masterpiece. And it would be just as good with chicken, which I plan to make next.

Shrimp and Bacon Ranch Pizza
I made this in a large 14” pan so if you’re making a smaller pizza, adjust the ingredients accordingly.

Ingredients
Your favorite pizza dough (I used an entire recipe of Wolfgang Puck’s dough)
¾ c ranch dressing, divided (I used homemade—the bomb!)
½ t dill (dried)
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
6 oz. frozen cooked salad shrimp, thawed
1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used turkey bacon)
½ cup chopped grape tomatoes

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. Fit dough onto a pizza pan sprayed with cooking oil and bake for 7 minutes. While it’s baking, stir the dill into the dressing. Remove the crust and set oven temperature to 450 degrees. Spread ½ cup dressing over the crust, then sprinkle the mozzarella over it. No need to wait until the oven has preheated, just pop it in for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. While it’s baking, mix the shrimp with olive oil and garlic until coated.

Remove pizza from oven. Top pizza evenly with shrimp, bacon and tomato, then drizzle the remaining dressing over everything. Return to oven; bake an additional 5-7 minutes or until shrimp is thoroughly heated. Cut & serve warm.

Nutritional Info per 1/8 of recipe (based on the same ingredients I used. You can lighten it up by using less cheese & light mayo in the dressing.): 440 cal, 23g fat, 38g carb, 18g protein.

Recipe inspired by Kim and Suzie

This recipe is entered in the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest. Click on the box to vote! :)

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Posted in Main Dishes, Pizza and tagged bacon, Pizza, ranch, shrimp, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Veronica

Zucchini recipes abound this time of year and that usually makes me sad and wistful since I don’t grow them myself. However, they are so prevalent at the farmer’s market that I was able to get super gigantic ones for just a quarter each! Kitchen Bitch emailed me this recipe a couple weeks ago so I whipped it out to use one of them. It is a good one–I would definitely make this again and next time might try a different meat (pepperoni or sausage)–I think the possibilities are pretty endless with this one.

https://i0.wp.com/a2.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/95/cf612b44822b4b02be9495843e2829b1/l.jpg

Zucchini Pizza Casserole
Adapted from this recipe at www.tasteofhome.com
Serves 6 (9 Weight Watchers Points per serving)4 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Salt & pepper to taste
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes, extremely well drained

1 medium green pepper, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Place zucchini in strainer over a bowl; sprinkle with salt & gently toss. Let stand for 10 minutes. Squeeze out moisture. I took handfuls and squeezed them out over the sink–a ..LOT.. of liquid will come out!

While you’re waiting, whisk the eggs up with the parmesan and half of the mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. When the zucchini has been squeezed out, stir it into the egg mixture & press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook beef, onion, garlic & spices over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add tomato sauce & tomatoes; spoon over baked zucchini mixture.

Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; sprinkle green pepper over the top. Bake 20 minutes longer or until heated through.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Veronica

I have long been of the opinion that if pizza is on the menu, it’s best to order it from Pizza Hut and not mess with a good (well, perfect) thing. Why waste time making my own crust and chopping vegetables when I can just sit my butt down in a chair and wait for someone else to make it? Or, better yet, just stay at home and wait for it to be delivered?

That is until I decided to give a recipe for whole wheat pizza crust a try. Now I find myself making pizza at home more often than dialing for a delivery. It may not be the best recipe out there, but it’s the only one I’ve tried because for me, it was love at first bite. (And the added nutrition form the whole wheat is a bonus too!)

The cool thing about pizza is that you can put pretty much anything between the crust and the cheese and it’s going to taste fabulous. And no matter how much you healthify it–whether it be with a whole wheat crust or tons of veggies–it still tastes like junk food. And if you can stick to one piece (yes, it is possible), then it can be on your diet plan AND it lasts longer that way. It takes Den and me 3 days to eat a large pizza.

Today I used what I had on hand–marinara for the sauce, red onion, mushrooms, green peppers, some leftover hamburger, about a cup of chopped basil and oregano from my backyard and a generous sprinkling of mozzarella. And as always, it was delish!!!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
Adapted from a Hodgson Mill recipe

1 package active dry yeast (I use rapid rise/instant*)

1 cup warm water (115 degrees if you’re measuring…I don’t)

1 ½ cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp. salt

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Put water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Stir in whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, olive oil and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour. Knead in remaining flour by hand and continue to knead for about 5 minutes (the dough will be smooth and elastic).

Coat the bowl with oil, place dough in the bowl and turn to coat thoroughly. Cover the bowl with a towel and set it in a warm place and allow to rise for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 degrees while you’re waiting.

Spray a large pizza pan (or two small) with no-stick cooking spray. Stretch pizza crust (I press it from the center outward) to fit pan and flute outer edges of dough to hold fillings. Brush on some olive oil, then put on your sauce & toppings. Bake until cheese is melted, about ten minutes. Slice it up and serve it hot!

*If you use rapid rise/rapid acting/instant yeast, skip the dissolving step and just mix it in with everything else. I usually mix it with the dry ingredients, then stir in all the liquid before kneading in the remaining flour. Easy peasy!