Artichoke-and-Red Pepper Pizza

I'm finding myself with a busy schedule these days and have fallen behind on the cooking blog. I've also started a new blog called LA Cheapskate in which I've been featuring a lot of great tasting economical recipes, finding new ways to cook and enjoy amazing food for less. However, I've also realized that I've reached a milestone with the cooking blog. Camille and I started this blog together on November 7th of 2007. A whole year and a half ago! It's now become not just a fun place to share recipes, but an important resource and collection for me to reference back on when trying to think of what to plan for dinner. So even though I've already posted some of these on my other blog, I want to repost them here so I'll be able to reference them all together here in the future.

This incredible sauce-less vegetarian pizza was recently featured on my other blog here. We have fallen in love with Fresh & Easy's refrigerated Pizza Dough and this recipe really lets it shine. Be sure to cook the crust before putting on the toppings and then just put in long enough for the cheese to melt and bubble a bit.


Artichoke-and-Red Pepper Pizza


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1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza dough
Vegetable cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup julienne-cut red bell pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 (2.5-ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Cracked pepper (optional)

Unroll pizza dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat dough into a 14 x 10-inch rectangle. Bake at 425° for 5 minutes; set aside.

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add red bell pepper, basil, oregano, and garlic; saute 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in artichokes and mushrooms.

Sprinkle half of cheese over prepared pizza crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Spread the vegetable mixture evenly over cheese, and top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle with cracked pepper, if desired. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.

Yield: 16 appetizers (serving size: 1 appetizer)

CALORIES 101 (32% from fat); FAT 3.6g (sat 1.3g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.6g); IRON 1.1mg; CHOLESTEROL 6mg; CALCIUM 103mg; CARBOHYDRATE 12.7g; SODIUM 256mg; PROTEIN 4.8g; FIBER 0.3g

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 1995

Cooking Light Night #4

Believe it or not, this makes even better leftovers. The homemade pizza sauce is amazing! To be honest, I wasn't that crazy about the salad but it was very light and fresh. Other's might like it and the dressing keeps overnight and doesn't wilt the salad. I'm not a huge fan of Garbanzo beans so if I make again, I might leave those out and substitute in some olives.

Roasted Pepper Pesto-Tomato Pizza

1 large garlic clove peeled

1 cup basil leaves

1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 (5.2-ounce) bottle roasted red bell peppers, drained

1 (1-pound) Italian cheese-flavored pizza crust (such as Boboli)

3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

3 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced (about 6 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Preheat oven to 450°.
Drop garlic through food chute with food processor on; process until minced. Add basil and next 6 ingredients (basil through bell peppers), and process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once.
Place pizza crust on a baking sheet. Spread pepper mixture over pizza crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border; sprinkle with mozzarella. Arrange the tomato slices in a single layer on top of the cheese. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes. Sprinkle pizza with oregano.Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 285 (28% from fat); FAT 8.7g (sat 3.9g,mono 3.4g,poly 0.9g); IRON 2.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 12mg; CALCIUM 376mg; CARBOHYDRATE 37.2g; SODIUM 611mg; PROTEIN 14.2g; FIBER 1g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2000

Greek Dinner Salad

This main-dish salad works well with many variations - change the fresh herbs, beans, and cheese to use what you have on hand.

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh dill

1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

6 cups shredded Romaine lettuce

3 cups diced tomato

1 cup thinly sliced red onion

3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon capers

1 cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and thinly sliced

1 (19-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

6 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas, each cut into 8 wedges

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add lettuce and the next 6 ingredients (lettuce through chickpeas); toss well. Serve with pita wedges.Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 cups salad and 8 pita wedges)

CALORIES 388 (29% from fat); FAT 14.8g (sat 3.8g,mono 4.8g,poly 1.4g); IRON 4.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 17mg; CALCIUM 173mg; CARBOHYDRATE 64.9g; SODIUM 779mg; PROTEIN 15.7g; FIBER 11.4g

Cooking Light, JULY 2003

Pizza with Pizazze

One of the things Don and I used to love trying during our early exploits in the kitchen as a young couple was putting together our own different versions of specialty pizzas. One that we turned to a lot was inspired by our favorite pizza place in Bellingham - a wood-fire grilled pizza kitchen called La Fiamma's, and one of the restaurants we miss most out of all the places we have ever lived or eaten. Not only did they have the coolest atmosphere there which included heated seating on their porch, but they also had our favorite pizza ever the "Pizza Diablo." It had a nice smoky flavor, with spicy sauce, sausage, and sliced hot cherry peppers which significantly upped the heat factor and flavor factor as the juices soaked out into the cheese and surrounding crust. Of course we always substituted pepperoni for the sausage because of it's clear superiority.

Besides having the most amazing single pizza dish we have ever tasted -- the Diablo -- La Fiamma's also had the best ranch dressing I have ever tasted, made from scratch and infused with dill so fresh it tasted like it had just been snipped form the garden that morning. The day that we happened to think to combine the two, the cherry pepper-pepperoni-goodness dipped in the buttermilk nectar of the gods, is the day that we knew we had achieved pizza perfection and that no other toppings, cooking method, or complimentary condiments could ever combine in such a way as to exceed the awesomeness of this pizza. Below is our homemade version of this delicious masterpiece. Of course it will never taste as good as it did under the warmth of the heat lamps on a cool winter's night looking out across downtown Bellingham with great friends that we miss dearly. But it will do in a pinch.

Pizza Diablo De Casa Early

1 ready made pizza crust such as Bobili
2/3 cup prepared spicy pizza sauce or spicy pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Sliced pepperoni (to taste)
6 - 8 jarred hot cherry peppers stemmed and sliced with or without seeds for extra heat
Ranch dressing for dipping (optional)

Spread sauce on pizza crust. Topped with cheese, pepperoni, and peppers. Cook according to crust package directions.

Another of our favorite specialty recipes that we created again during our first year together was the Pesto-based pizza. We had fun varying the toppings and trying new combinations but they usually boiled down to something along these lines:

Greek Inspired Pesto Pizza

1 ready made pizza crust such as Bobili
1/2 cup prepared basil pesto sauce
2 cloves of thinly sliced garlic
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Thinly sliced mushrooms
Sliced Kalamata Olives
Sun-dried Tomato Strips

Spread pesto on pizza crust. Top with garlic, cheese, mushrooms, olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Bake according to crust package directions.

Finally, in the more recent years of our marriage, we discovered this new recipe for Barbecue Chicken Pizza to add to our file of exciting specialty pizzas. These days, we are upgrading the fancy factor of our homemade pizzas by starting with a ready-mixed refrigerated pizza dough from Trader Joes which we work and cook ourselves before adding the toppings. This recipe works especially well with the whole wheat crust. Be very liberal with the cilantro. It is surprising how well it compliments the barbecue sauce - a unique flavor combination you won't find elsewhere. I have never seen a grilled pizza that turned out well that wasn't cooked by a professional chef so we skip the grilling instructions and bake it directly in the oven. Katy helped me put this together last night during an exciting game of miniatures, in which I should mention that the girls completely wasted the guys. She also described to me the awesomeness of a pizza stone which I DO NOT have and now desperately want.

So I've showed you mine. Now you show me yours. What do you like to put on your homemade pizza?

Grilled Barbecued-Chicken Pizza

Ingredients

2/3 cup barbecue sauce, divided
1 cup (about 6 ounces) roasted skinned, boned chicken breast (such as Tyson), chopped
2 (10-inch) Quick-and-Easy Pizza Crusts
Cooking spray
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

Combine 1/4 cup barbecue sauce and chicken in a bowl. Toss well; set aside.

Prepare grill. Place 1 crust on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes or until puffy and golden. Turn crust, grill-mark side up; spread with 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce. Top with half of Gouda, chicken mixture, mozzarella, and green onions. Cover; grill 3 to 4 minutes or until cheese melts and crust is lightly browned. Sprinkle with half of cilantro. Repeat with remaining crust and toppings.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1/3 pizza)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 315(24% from fat); FAT 8.4g (sat 3.3g,mono 3.1g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 17.7g; CHOLESTEROL 33mg; CALCIUM 147mg; SODIUM 686mg; FIBER 0.9g; IRON 2.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 41.1g

Cooking Light, JUNE 1997