WEEKEND BREAKFAST PIZZA

I don't buy refrigerator (whomp tube) biscuits very often, but I DO buy them for this recipe. My family absolutely loves this quick and easy breakfast. As a matter of fact, the first time I made this, I was told "this is gold!!"  Even Picky-picky Hubby gave double thumbs up which is rare!!

This weekend treat can easily be "tweaked" to suit your family. Here are the basic ingredients:

8 ounce Pillsbury refrigerated crescent rolls
1 pound (total) cooked breakfast meat (see  note)
1½ cups frozen shredded hash browns (thawed)
1½ cups shredded cheddar
4 eggs  (don't be tempted to add more)
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Open the refrigerator rolls and press into an ungreased 12" pizza pan, pinching all of the seams shut. Important: make sure you press some of the dough up onto the sides of the pan to create a "lip". DO NOT PRE-BAKE THE CRUST.

Cook (and completely drain) one pound of your favorite breakfast meat (NOTE: I used equal parts of crisp bacon, breakfast sausage and finely diced ham...but ANY combo will work well. Just make sure the total weight is about a pound).

Sprinkle the cooked breakfast meat, evenly, over the unbaked crescent dough. Next, evenly sprinkle the thawed hash browns and cheddar cheese over the cooked meat.

In small bowl, whisk the 4 eggs, black pepper and milk together. Drizzle evenly over everything.  NOTE: Don't be tempted to add more eggs. It is going to SEEM like it isn't enough, but trust me...it is perfect.

Lastly, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over all.  Bake in a 375 pre-heated oven for 30 minutes (my oven took 28 minutes). Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before you cut it.

Sauteed mushrooms, peppers, etc. would be wonderful in this breakfast pizza. Just add them the same time as the thawed hash browns. You might have to add a couple extra minutes to the total baking time if you add a LOT of extra veggies.

NOTE: You can also use one of those small boxes of JIFFY pizza crust mix instead of the crescent roll dough.

PIZZA PUFFS with PIZZA SAUCE

In these rocky financial times, I've been trying to save on the grocery budget by staying away from pre-prepared foods. Not only has it saved us some money, but we really enjoy knowing what ingredients are going into our favorite (junk) comfort foods.

PEPPERONI PIZZA PUFFS

PIZZA PUFFS

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
4 ounces pepperoni, cut into small cubes (about 1 cup)

1 cup pizza sauce for dipping (recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.



Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping. (sauce recipe below)

MY PIZZA SAUCE

I've been working on this pizza sauce recipe (literally) for decades and it is finally exactly where we want it. I wouldn't even think of buying pizza sauce again (sale or no sale)!!! This sauce goes together in just a few minutes and it is VERY good.

1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1 clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
(1) 6 oz. can of tomato paste
(1½) 6 oz. can of water
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon dry basil
½ teaspoon fennel seeds (do not leave out)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon dry red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar (do not leave out)
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese  (added after simmer)

Saute onion, celery and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add everything else (except the Parmesan cheese) and simmer slowly for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese.

NOTE: If the sauce seems a little thick (we like it that way), jut add a little more water.

PIZZA-STUFFED PEPPERS

In a recent issue of Pillsbury's Pot Pies & Casseroles cookbook, I found a recipe for Pizza-Stuffed Peppers, made with orzo pasta instead of rice, which intrigued me. They were very easy to make and were quite good. This would be a great recipe for kids. 1/2 cup uncooked orzo
4 cups boiling water
6 small bell peppers
10 ounces ground turkey
1/2 cup diced pepperoni
15 oz. of pizza sauce
1½ cups mozzarella shredded
1/2 cup water
Cook the orzo in 4 cups boiling water for 3 minutes (see note). Drain and rinse with cold water then set aside. Cut top off of bell pepper and clean out seeds and membranes, rinse. If pepper does not sit straight, trim a little off the bottom.
Brown ground turkey and pepperoni over medium-high heat for 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until turkey is not longer pink then drain well. Stir in pizza sauce, 1 cup of cheese and the partially cooked pasta. Divide mixture evenly between the bell peppers.
Spray a 5-6 quart slow cooker with vegetable spray and pour in 1/2 cup water. Stand filled bell peppers upright in slow cooker, replace bell pepper tops. Put lid on and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. Just before serving, remove pepper tops and top with remaining cheese, cook 5 to 10 minutes more or until cheese is melted.
To remove bell peppers from slow cooker, lift out with large slotted spoon, using tongs to support peppers (do not squeeze).

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I didn't make mine in the crockpot. Instead, I pre-cooked the empty bell peppers (wrapped in plastic wrap) for 3 minutes in the microwave. I then filled them with the filling mixture and baked them in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. I then topped them with lots of cheese (more than the recipe calls for) and baked them another 5 minutes or so until the cheese was all melty.

NOTE: There are several ways to pre-cook the empty bell peppers before you fill them. You can blanch them in boiling water, but I find that microwaving them works better.
NOTE: If you use my method of baking these bell peppers, cook the orzo for the full 9 minutes before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients. I also added about a cup of chopped mushrooms to meat mixture during the last part of its cooking time.

VEGGIE CALZONES

Lately I've been making calzones. They are a very versatile "hot sandwich" and since they require small amounts of filling...they are a good way to us any leftovers on hand. Hubby loves big meat sandwiches, so I've made them with leftover BBQ chicken, steak & cheese, ham & cheese, crisp bacon & cheese and yes, pizza goodies.

Personally, I like my calzones stuffed to the brim with veggies and a little pizza sauce & cheese. I have found, through trial and error, that you have to saute your veggies until tender then drain them well on a paper towel. If you don't, you will get a soggy-bottom crust on your sandwich. Any veggies will work. Roasted veggies are excellent, so are grilled veggies. Tonight I was lazy, so I just sauteed some broccoli, mushrooms, garlic, green onions and kidney beans, but usually, the more veggie variety the better.

I use my regular bread dough recipe (CLICK HERE) and jazz it up with 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon onion powder and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder(add seasonings when you add the liquid in the recipe).

Normally, I would rather cut my arm off than show anyone my oven, but I wanted you to see MY secret for getting a pizzeria style pizza crust. It doesn't look like anything special, but it is truly the best way to cook pizza at home.

My hubby came up with this idea about 10 years ago when I was complaining that my pizza stone wasn't working the way I wanted it to (I wanted a crispy crust with nice pillowy edges). He cut a 1/4" thick piece of steel (to fit my oven) and I seasoned it like a cast iron frying pan. After you have seasoned it, you never grease it or wash it again, just wipe it off.....nothing sticks to it.

I preheat my oven (and the steel sheet) to 450 degrees and use cornmeal on my pizza peal so that the prepared pizza (or calzone) will slide off directly onto this sheet of hot steel (no pan). Bake for 8 minutes, then switch the heat to broil and (watching it carefully) let it broil for about 2 more minutes or until it is the color you want. It works great...no more doughy "steamed" crusts.

For calzones, you will need a ball of yeast dough about the size of a hardball. Roll it out to a nice thin circle. Place a mound of sauteed, and drained, veggies on one side of the circle and top them with 1/4 cup of pizza sauce (CLICK HERE FOR MY PIZZA SAUCE) and a serious hand full of grated mozzarella cheese. Fold the "empty" side of the calzone over the filling and pinch the edges together. Once pinched together, roll the pinched dough edge back onto itself to form a very tight seal. Using scissors, snip several vent holes in the top of the calzone. Bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes or until nice and golden. Just as soon as they come out of the oven, brush them with butter and sprinkle with parmesan and coarse salt.

VEGGIE CALZONE CUT IN HALF

PIZZA CHICKEN

I came up with the idea for pizza chicken one day when afternoon thunder showers cancelled my grilling plans. There I was, faced with (yet another) potentially boring package of boneless, skinless chicken staring at me. The food fairies must have been at my house that day, because the recipe idea just popped into my head and it has been a huge hit ever since. The first time I served this, Hubby, who is extremely finicky about trying new recipes, gave me that, all to familiar, sidewards glance as if to say...you expect me to try this? But, to his credit, he took a bite and his eyes opened wide as he said "this is REALLY good!!" I almost fell off of my chair. The recipe immediately became one of our favorite quick fix dinners.

I took boneless, skinless chicken breasts and sliced them horizontally (to make two or three THIN chicken cutlets which I breaded and browned. I placed them on a baking sheet and topped them with pizza sauce (recipe follows) and a generous handful of mozzarella cheese and heated them through...thats it!!

PIZZA CHICKEN

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 eggs
all purpose flour for breading
dry bread crumbs for breading

1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
(1) 6 ounce can of tomato paste
(1) 6 ounce can of water
1 teaspoon dry sweet basil
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (do not leave out)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon dry crushed red pepper flakes

Depending on how thick the chicken pieces are, slice them horizontally into two or three thin layers. Coat each layer with all purpose flour, then dunk them into
beaten eggs, then coat them with a generous layer of fine dry bread crumbs. Brown these cutlets in a little canola oil and set them on paper towels to drain. Because they are thin, they will cook quite quickly.

Next make the pizza sauce: Saute the onion, celery and garlic in the olive oil until they are tender. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. The sauce will thicken up very quickly after it comes to a boil which is what you want (thick). Remove from heat and set aside.

Top the browned chicken with the pizza sauce (dividing equally between the cutlets) and top with a generous handful of mozzarella cheese.


Bake at 350 until the chicken and sauce are nice and hot and the cheese is melted (about 15 minutes).
NOTE: Add any veggies you like on pizza (before you put it in the oven).
NOTE: If you have any leftovers, pizza chicken makes a delicious sandwich!!
NOTE: If you decide to use a commercial pizza sauce, just make sure it is a very thick one (but I hope you will use the above recipe instead).