Quick Pita Pizzas

Here is a quick and easy dinner. Instead of making my oh so delicious, but admittedly time consuming pizza crust, use pita bread! Pitas make a much better easy crust than the Boboli crusts, in my opinion, and they are the right size for personal pizzas, so everyone can make their own. Plus you can always use whole wheat Pitas to healthify it a bit.

Of course, the options are endless as far as toppings, but for these I made my usual mushroom, olive, onion, sausage, and garlic pizzas.

Preheat your oven to 375. Start by brushing both sizes of a pita with olive oil and place on a cookie sheet. Spread about a half a cup or so of sauce on your pita and then top with desired amount of cheese, about a half cup of shredded mozzarella. Then toss on your toppings and bake for about 20 minutes or until your cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. YUM!

Clam Pizza and Real Caesar Salad

This meal is not for those who dislike garlic... if there are such people... and if you are one of them, I'm afraid we can't be friends anymore.

Clam Pizza
Clams are fabulous; pizza is amazing... put them together and you get a garlicy, creamy, seafood sensation. Eat it... love it.

One Recipe Pizza Dough (omit the basil)

For the Sauce:
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1 cup milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and whisk in flour over medium high. Turn to medium heat and slowly whisk in milk and allow to thicken. Add more milk to thin if necessary. Stir in garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour desired amount over pressed out dough.

For the pizza:
1 to 1 1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1 15 oz can clams, drained and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
A handful of basil, chopped
1/2 c shredded Parmesan

Preheat an oven to 350. Top dough with some of the garlic sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Top with onion and put in the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and top with clams, garlic, basil, and Parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is browned and crust is crispy.

Real Caesar Salad
I modified this recipe from a recipe out of The Harvey House Cookbook. If you aren't a train fanatic or live near a major rail stop (my little boy is the former, we both are the latter) you probably have no idea what the Harvey Houses were. Here is a special little history lesson for you: Frederick Harvey, founder of the Harvey House, was basically the father of national chain restaurants. He founded the restaurants and hotels all over the country at rail line stops to feed and give travelers a place to rest. So next time you hit up The Cheesecake Factory for a salad bigger than your toddler or settle in for a monstrous burger at Chili's, thank Freddy H for pioneering the wonder that is chain restaurants.

1 Egg
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbs anchovy paste or about 4 fillets, finely chopped or mashed
1/2 a lemon, juiced
1/2 c Parmesan
1/2 tsp Worcestershire
4 tbs Olive oil

In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients except oil. Drizzle in oil and blend until thickened and creamy.

Serve with torn romaine, croutons, and more Parmesan.

Tomato Basil Pizza

One recipe Crusty Garlic Basil Pizza Dough
1 c basil
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c Parmesan
1 clove garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
A splash of lemon juice
4 or 5 Roma tomatoes
At least 6 oz fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tbs Parmesan

Slice tomatoes length wise in about 1/8 inch slices and place onto paper towels to soak up some of the liquid.

In a food processor, place basil, Parmesan, and garlic and turn on. Drizzle in the oil blend until smooth. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. This should make about a 1/2 cup.

Press dough into a pizza pan and spread tomato sauce on to dough. Top with mozzarella, then tomatoes and then drizzle pesto over top of pizza and sprinkle with more Parmesan.

Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes or until cheese is melted, bubbly, and slightly browned.

Crusty Garlic Basil Pizza Dough

This pizza dough is so yummy and thick. It is great with meat toppings and perfect for veggie pizzas. I adapted this recipe from a basic dough that was in Sunset Magazine.

1 1/2 c warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 c olive oil, plus a little more
4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder

In mixer, stir together yeast and water. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and using a bread hood attachment, blend ingredients together on low for about a minute and then on medium speed for 10 minutes. Once dough is stretchy and smooth, pour a little more oil (about a tbs) onto the dough and using a spatula, coat dough ball in oil. Cover with a towel and let sit for about an hour, until dough has doubled in size. Punch down and let rise again for a half an hour. Once dough is done rising, oil a large pizza pan and press dough into it.

Top with your favorite sauce and toppings. I chose crumbled Italian sausage, Salame, onions, olives, chopped mushrooms, garlic, and lots of mozzarella. It would also be amazing with just slized tomatoes, and basil or pesto.

Bake at 350 for abour 25 minutes until the cheese is melted and browned. I recommend getting a pan that has holes in the bottom, that way your pizza will cook evenly.

Also, if you prefer a thinner crust, you can halve the dough and refrigerate or freeze the extra. It will take a bit more work to press or roll into your pan though.