BBQ Chicken Pizza

Here is a great way to use that leftover barbecue chicken or pulled pork from Fourth of July weekend.

What you'll need:
1 pizza crust
1/4 cup or so of your favorite barbecue sauce
1 cup freshly grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 a red, yellow or orange pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 a small red onion, thinly sliced
leftover chicken or pork, shredded
pizza seasoning and garlic powder
freshly grated parmesan cheese

How to make it:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (or according to the package directions).

Spread barbecue sauce over the crust, sprinkle with mozzarella, top with pepper, onion and chicken. Sprinkle with a little pizza seasoning, garlic powder and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Place in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Until the cheese melts and the vegetables are tender.

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Flat Bread Pizzas

My husband and I make these all the time. It is just super easy and quick and allows you to be very creative. I like to take whole wheat pitas or pita flat bread and top with my favorite pizza toppings. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and you're done!

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Spinach and Artichoke Calzones

Here's a great vegetarian recipe that even kids will love.

Ingredients:
1 to 1 and 1/2 cups low-moisture, part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeeze well to release all of the water
1 (15-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
black pepper
1 (10 ounce) tube refrigerated pizza dough, regular is better than thin crust
marinara or pizza sauce, warmed for dipping

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, parmesan, spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic and mozzarella until well incorporated. Season with pepper. Set aside.

Roll the tube of pizza dough out onto a nonstick cookie sheet. Cut the dough in half across. Divide the spinach mixture in half and spread across one side of each piece of dough. Fold the dough over top of filling and pinch edges firmly to seal.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve with tomato sauce on the side for dipping.

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A New Tapenade

I didn't really do my week's grocery shopping this weekend, so yesterday I just had to make do with what I had around, which I thought was more than it actually was. But I didn't do too badly. I threw together a quick parsley and sundried tomato tapenade that I slapped on a refrigerated pizza crust with a feta cheese topping. It was actually pretty good, but as my guy's guy of a husband indicated to me today it wasn't much of a dinner. I so wish I had some kalamata olives, pepperoni, mushrooms, anything else at all to top it with. But, I just didn't.

Needless to say, today after work I had to run to the grocery store to stock up on provisions for the rest of the week. The only thing worse than going to the grocery store after a workday is going when Mother Nature feels like having a little fun by pouring rain on you with no end in sight. Oh, it did stop - as soon as I got upstairs with all the groceries.

Tonight I made an equally fast dinner by sauteeing tilapia and topping it with leftover tapenade and served it with steamed broccoli and a little side of pasta. My husband was left a little more satisfied.

Parsley and Sundried Tomato Tapenade
1 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted in a skillet until golden
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic
pinch of crushed red pepper
about 1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place all of the ingredients, except for the olive oil into a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Let 'er rip until ingredients are chopped and mixed together. Turn the processor on again and slowly stream in the olive oil until the pesto comes together and reaches desired consistency. May take more or less oil, just eyeball it. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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The Unfrozen Pizza

Tonight I made a pizza, and it wasn't frozen and it wasn't delivered. I used fresh ingredients and took a little help from the store to make a delicious and lite chicken pesto pizza.

Chicken-Pesto Pizza
1 store bought thin crust pizza dough (I use the Pillsbury one that is in the tube, found in the refrigerated section)
Prepared pesto (Whatever flavor you like. I used my leftover parsley pesto, but in the past I have used Buttoni's basil pesto)
Shredded chicken (I got some help from the store and bought a rotisserie chicken.)
Artichoke hearts (from the can; drained, rinsed and quartered)
Sundried tomatoes, sliced
Red onion, sliced
Crumbled feta cheese

Now, this isn't a science. If you don't like one of the ingredients I used, omit it. You don't need to measure anything, just use whatever amount looks good to you.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Open the tube of dough and unroll the dough onto a cookie sheet that has been greased with noncooking spray. Place the dough in the oven and precook for 8 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Spread an even, thin layer of pesto onto the warm dough. Top with the shredded chicken, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, red onion and feta cheese. Place in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

If you like lots of seasoning, after you spread on the pesto, season the pizza with a little cracked red pepper, garlic powder, black pepper, dried oregano and basil.

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Pizza and It Wasn't Delivery

I often make pizza at home. Pizza is one of those things you can get real creative with. I always try out different ones. Tonight I made one with items I had around the house. I did pick up a Pillsbury pizza crust from the store, but the rest I had on hand. Pillsbury now has a thin crust, which is good because it is lighter. The pizza dough can be found in the refrigerated aisle of the grocery store by the canned biscuits and rolls.

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees. I unrolled the dough onto a cookie sheet that I had sprayed with pan. I like to prebake the crust for 5 minutes. Then top it and bake for another 10 minutes. This allows for a crispier crust.

I topped it with just a little jarred pizza sauce. I then seasoned it with garlic salt and pizza seasoning. Italian seasoning or dried oregano, basil or combination of both would be good substitutes. I had some leftover ricotta cheese and I mixed it with frozen spinach that was thawed and drained well of all the excess water. I then carefully spread the mixture on the crust. I topped with sliced mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and parmesan cheese.

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