Pizza In A Pinch Recipes

PIZZA IN A PINCH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 420°F/215°C.
• Spread pizza sauce on crust being sure to leave about 1 inch of outside crust without any sauce.
• Toss shredded mozzarella cheese with oregano and salt.
• Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over sauce.
• Place on a baking sheet or in a cast iron skillet.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until cheese is fully melted.
• Slice, serve and enjoy!

PERFECT PIZZERIA PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• 1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until foamy, 5-10 minutes. ( Make sure it foams. If it doesn't foam, your yeast may be outdated.)
• 2. In bowl of food processor fitted with large blade, combine flour and salt. Pulse 3-4 times. With motor running (on dough setting, if you have one) slowly add yeast mixture, allowing each addition to mix before adding the next. Continue processing until dough forms a ball and cleans the sides of the bowl. After the ball forms and cleans the sides, process for a few more minutes. If dough seems dry, add warm water 1/2 TB. at a time until a ball forms. If it's too wet (ball of dough doesn't form) add flour 1/2 TB. at a time. You will know you have the right consistency when the dough ball forms, the dough ball cleans the sides of the bowl and the dough is as smooth as a baby's bottom. =) If it's not a really smooth dough ball, return it to the bowl and follow instructions for too wet or too dry above.
• 3. Coat inside of large bowl with olive oil. Place dough in bowl. Turn once to coat and cover with sprayed saran wrap. Set in warm place and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours.
• 4. After 1 1/2 hours, your beautiful dough is ready to be placed on a 16 inch pizza pan oiled with 1 TB. of olive oil. (Can sprinkle with yellow corn meal, if you wish.) Press evenly to sides of pan. Don't leave the dough too thick. Add your desired toppings and bake at 400 degrees. No par-baking required. The photo at left is my BLT Pizza... Perfect crust every time!
• 5. *** I like to warm a few TB. of olive oil with a halved garlic clove in the micro until very warm and then brush this on the crust right when it comes out of the oven. Yum!
• 6. ~Just A Few Tips On Yeast Doughs~ ( ...or why it took me so many years of making bad pizza dough. lol) I sure can't speak for everyone, but I made some kind of dumb mistakes (...over and over) when attempting yeast doughs. Let me go over a few so that it won't take you as long to figure it out as me. I am by no means an expert yeast bread maker. There are many outstanding cooks on here who could run circles 'round me. But, I was making some very common, newbie mistakes and it took me awhile to get my act together. So here goes... * Water temp is very important! Too hot or too cold and your dough will not rise and your pizza crust will be hard and chewy. Think very warm bath water. * YES, you do have to proof your yeast. Always. lol Give those little guys a warm bath with a little sugar and you will "wake them up" so that they are ready to get to work on your dough. If it bubbles, your yeast is happy as can be and ready to get to work. No bubbles? Stop right there. Your yeast is either old, or your water temp is off. Buy fresh yeast for the best result. (Throw out the stuff from 3 Christmases ago!) * Use Red Star "Quick-Rise" Yeast. It's wonderful and forgiving if your water temp is too high, another of my newbie mistakes. Not a paid spokesperson and I own no stock in the company (...but I wish I did. Red Star... Give me a call and we'll talk... lol.) * Allow enough time for the dough to rise! If the recipe says rise for 1 hour, it means 1 hour... not 30, 35, 40 minutes. If you don't have time to let it rise, but figure it will be okay anyway, it won't. Save the recipe for another day. * Use the right size pan. If the dough is for a 16 inch pan and you use a 12 inch pan and figure that it's fine... nope. Smaller the pan, thicker the dough. Thick dough equals "bready" crust. Too thin it can be too thin to hold up and may burn. Just like The Three Bears... not too thick and not too thin. Medium is just right. Happy Pizza Making! Peg =)

EASY PIZZA IN A PINCH

Steps:

• To make the sauce, combine tomato sauce, garlic, 3 teaspoons herbs, paprika, salt and pepper in a sauce pan over medium-high heat.
• When sauce bubbles, reduce to a low simmer and stir. Cover and allow to simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes.
• Crumble Italian sausage in a pan and cook over medium heat until no longer pink, about 15 minutes. Drain over paper towels. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Mix olive oil, garlic and 1 teaspoon herb blend in a small bowl.
• Open hot dog buns and arrange on sheet pans covered in foil.
• Separate buns in halves along the folds if you want to make 16 appetizers; leave whole if you want to make 8 pizzas.
• Brush the buns with the olive oil mixture.
• Toast buns in the oven for about 5 minutes, just until edges begin to brown.
• Remove pan from oven and spread each of the buns with the warm tomato sauce.
• Top with browned Italian sausage, pepperoni slices, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
• Return pan to the oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 5 to 10 minutes or until cheeses are bubbling.
• Serve garnished with fresh oregano leaves and crushed red pepper, if desired.

MOCK PIZZA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Boil noodles to al dente. Cook all meats with the exception of pepperoni. Grease a 9x13x3 dish. Dvide noodles, sauce and cheeses into 3rds.
• Layer 1 noodles, sauce, cheese, 1 meat and veggie (ground beef and olives) Layer 2 noodles, sauce, cheese, 1 meat and veggie (pepperoni and mushrooms) Layer 3 noodles, sauce, cheese, 1 meat and veggie (Italian sausage and green peppers). Like I said, choose the things your family likes this is an example of what we like.
• Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes so it can set up a bit... then DIG IN!

PIZZA MIX IN A JAR

Steps:

• Place the Pizza Dough Mix in a large bowl and add the olive oil and water. Beat with a wooden spoon or dough hook until mixture forms a ball. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 5 minutes. Transfer to a greased bowl and let the dough rise for 90 minutes. Divide the dough in half and pat into two 12-inch circles. For thin crust, fill and bake the pizzas now. For thicker crust, let pizzas rise 30 to 45 minutes. Top the pizza dough with tomato sauce, cheeses of your choice and crushed oregano. Drizzle olive oil over the pizzas.
• Combine all ingredients. Place in an airtight jar. Attach these instructions on a gift tag: Pizza Makes two 12-inch pizzas Contents of Pizza Dough Mix jar 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup warm water 1 cup tomato sauce 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan 1 teaspoon crushed oregano Place the Pizza Dough Mix in a large bowl and add the olive oil and water. Beat with a wooden spoon or dough hook until mixture forms a ball. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 5 minutes. Transfer to a greased bowl and let the dough rise for 90 minutes. Divide the dough in half and pat into two 12-inch circles. For thin crust, fill and bake the pizzas now. For thicker crust, let pizzas rise 30 to 45 minutes. Top the pizza dough with tomato sauce, cheeses of your choice and crushed oregano. Drizzle olive oil over the pizzas. Heat oven to 425 degrees F, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

PIZZA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• 2. Cook noodles according to package directions.
• 3. While noodles are cooking, brown sausage and hamburger in a pan.
• 4. Add pepperoni the last few minutes of cooking the hamburger/sausage. Drain the grease from the meat.
• 5. Also while noodles are cooking, saute vegetables of choice (if any) to add to casserole.
• 6. Add pizza sauce to the meat mixture.
• 7. Season with salt pepper and sugar.
• 8. Add vegetables and warm for about 5 minutes.
• 9. Toss noodles into the meat/sauce mixture.
• 10. Spray a non-stick cooking spray into a 9x13 casserole dish.
• 11. Pour the mixture into the dish. Top with enough mozzarella cheese to cover the casserole. [The more cheese the better :-)!!]
• 12. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 (until bubbly).
• 13. You can make this as simple or as complex as you desire. IF you go for the simpler route (noodles, hamburger, pepperoni and sauce) only need 1 jar sauce and 8 oz of noodles. If you go for the heartier version (all meats and veggies), use 2 jars sauce and 16 oz noodles.