Just about every weekend, we eat pizza. To keep the meal fresh and fun, I mix up the toppings from week to week. Pizza out is okay every once and a while, pizza at home is the best! I buy the ready made crispy crusts. We like Mama Mary's Pizza Crusts Thin & Crispy, actually.
Max & Maggie have a blast building their own pizza. I like it too, because they seem to eat more when they've made it themselves. They get to eat what they like, Charlie & I eat what we like. Everybody's happy!
I have to say, Pizza night is my favorite night. There's minimal prep work; preheat the oven with the pizza stone to 425ºF degrees, a little chopping, add the fun of building the toppings, say 10 minutes. It takes 7 minutes to bake one pizza, so times two. That's time to tear enough lettuce for a couple of salads and voila! We are eating pizza in front of the tube in nothing flat. Oh did I mention, pizza nhttp://simpledailyrecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/chicken-spinach-pesto-pizza.jpgight is also, family movie night. There's nothing sweeter than snuggling up with your family on the couch, every one wearing their favorite lounge clothes, and watching a movie together.
HERE'S HOW EASY & FAST PIZZA CAN BE
- 1 package Mama Mary's Gourmet Thin & Crispy Pizza Crusts, comes with two medium crusts
- 3 cups paghetti Sauce
- 2 cups Pizza Cheese blend
- 2 cups Italian Cheese blend
- Smoked Ham
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- salt & pepper
Above are the ingredients I keep on hand at all times.
TOPPINGS
Chicken, Spinach Pesto Pizza
- 1 roasted chicken breast, sliced
- 3-4 tablespoons Pesto Sauce
- 1/4 small onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup, approx. frozen spinach, squeezed dry
- 1-3 pepperocini salad peppers
- Salt & pepper to taste
Cover the crust with pesto sauce, arrange spinach, chicken, add a pinch of salt over spinach, top with Italian cheese blend, onions and peppers on top.
Hamburger and Jalapeños
- 1/3 cup spaghetti sauce
- 1 1/2 cups cooked ground beef
- 1/4 small onion, chopped
- sliced jalapeños
Start with a light coating of olive oil ALL over the crust, sprinkle lightly with garlic powder, lay down the spaghetti sauce, arrange beef, onions and jalapeños. Salt and pepper to taste.
Ham and Extra Cheese for the Kids
- 1/3 cup spaghetti sauce
- sliced ham , roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 cups Pizza Cheese blend
- 1/2 cup Italian Cheese blend
Start with a light coating of olive oil ALL over the crust, sprinkle lightly with garlic powder. Lay down sauce, meat, and cheeses. As you can see from the pictures, one of my kids does not like tomato base sauces. So, we leave half the crust free of it. Another great benefit to having pizza at home, it can be personalized right down to the slice.
Do you have a pizza night? What do you like to put on your pizza? I could always use some new tasty ideas.
Dear Jill, pizza is one of my favorite dishes.
Jill,
I love pesto, ricotta, mozzarella & broccoli on my pizza. I also like ham & turkey pepperoni. YUM!!!
Love pizza on Fridays as part of our family night routine. The base can be bread, a tortilla, a pita, or homemade dough. Sauce is usually tomato based or olive oil with herbs. Anything in the fridge or from the vegetable bin is a contender for a topping.
If we’re not making personal pizzas to eat while watching a rented movie, we’re having pajama night and eating breakfast-for-dinner while playing board games. However, my ultimate Friday night is leaving kids home and going out with my husband of nearly 30 years! Tonight however is pizza night. After 30 years we’re accustom to waiting. What’s the song…Anticipation?
Thanks Terri, now I have that song in my head ;D
We just made homemade pizza friday night. We used to have it as part of our routine. Made crust from bridgeford bread, used homemade spaghetti sauce (just made the night before) with chunks of sausage and mixed mozzarella with cheddar. So easy. The whole recipe takes 30 minutes tops. The longest part is the baking of the dough, but that’s also the prep time. Yum.
Your chicken, spinach, and pesto recipe looks divine. I’ll have to try that one next Friday.
Mmm, Elana, your pizza night sounds tasty, too!
I’ve been cooking with fresh, wild ground pork; working on a mild Italian sausage flavor for meat sauces and the such . I think I finally have the spice measurements where I want them. Anyhoo. I spread the cooked ground pork over our pizza last night, we had Sunday pizza night. It made a great pizza topping. My husband wants it from now on. I like it, too, because it didn’t talk back. Sometimes sausages talk back and they’re not very nice about it.
We have the same routine on Friday nights. Pizza and a movie. I tried the chicken, spinach, pesto pizza on the mama Mary’s thin and crispy crust. The taste was great but the crust did not get crispy. So I bought a pizza stone and tried this same recipe again and it still didn’t come out crispy. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Any suggestions?
Our understanding of ‘crispy’ may be different, Michele. What if you popped the crust in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes before adding all the toppings?
Maybe that would get it like you like it. I’ve done that with homemade pizza crust that I had already prebaked. I get an almost thick cracker crust that way. I’ve never tried it with a store bought pizza crust, though.