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28 August 2009

Recipes: Easy Fast Pizzas for Labor Day or Football Tailgating!



Easy double-crusted meaty filling pizza!

From Denny: Just finished watching this Casino Night episode on Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee on the Food Network and let me tell you the woman knows how to take shortcuts and still make it tasty and easy!

Meaty Stuffed Pizza

Cook Time: 20 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 (6.5-ounce) packages pizza crust mix (recommended: Betty Crocker)

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (recommended: McCormick's)

1 cup hot water

For the Filling:

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 pound lean ground beef

1/2 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed

1 (2.5-ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained (recommended: Green Giant)

1 (2.25-ounce) can sliced black olives, drained (recommended: Early California)

2 1/2 cups marinara sauce, divided (recommended: Prego)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (recommended: Kraft)

Set up grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Oil grate when ready to start cooking.

For the dough:

In a large mixing bowl, combine pizza crust mixes, Italian seasoning, and hot water. Stir about 20 times until a ball forms. Split ball in half and cover each with plastic wrap; set aside.

For the filling:

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add the oil and cook ground beef and sausage, stirring frequently to break up clumps. Cook until no longer pink but not totally cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in mushrooms, olives, cheese and 1 cup of the marinara sauce; set aside.

Unwrap dough and put onto 2 parchment lined baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Press out into 2 (12-inch) circles about 1/4-thick; pinch together any holes. Spoon the meat mixture into center of each dough round. Slide the second dough circle off the parchment to top the meat mixture. Crimp the edges together. Gently pat entire surface of pizza until flat. Slide pizza onto hot oiled grill. Cook, covered, for about 5 to 6 minutes per side.

Warm the remaining marinara sauce in the microwave. Spoon some sauce on the plate and serve a hot slice of pizza on top.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly spray baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. Prepare stuffed pizza as directed. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

***



Chicken Caesar Pizza

This chicken pizza idea was so fast using chicken tenders that she quickly doused in caesar salad dressing and then straight into the saute pan. Nothing could be faster. What this woman can do with just one bottle of salad dressing. :) She even used the dressing to brush on the baked pizza shell before applying the cheese and then the cooked chicken tenders. The salad is applied after all is baked and the cheese delightfully melted.

Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza


Cook Time: 20 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

3/4 pound chicken tenders

1/2 cup Caesar salad dressing, plus 2 tablespoons (recommended: Wishbone)

1 (12-inch) thin pizza crust (recommended: Boboli)

1 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella and asiago cheese (recommended: Sargento)

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan (recommended: Kraft)

Directions

For Salad Topping:

4 cups hearts of romaine, shredded (recommended: Ready Pac)

1 tablespoon lemon juice (recommended: ReaLemon)

1/4 cup Caesar salad dressing (recommended: Wishbone)

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan (recommended: Kraft)

1 cup seasoned croutons (recommended: Marie Callender's)

Set up grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Oil grate when ready to start cooking.

In a bowl, combine chicken tenders with 1/2 cup salad dressing; set aside. Brush pizza crust with remaining 2 tablespoons of dressing and top with cheeses; set aside.

Remove chicken from marinade and cook on hot oiled grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until just done. Remove from grill and place on top of pizza.

Slide pizza onto grill and cook, covered, 8 to 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted and begun to bubble.

For the topping:

While pizza is cooking, toss shredded romaine with lemon juice. Add 1/4 cup dressing and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Toss and set aside.

Remove pizza from grill and cut into wedges. Top with salad and garnish with croutons. Serve immediately.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Complete step 2 as directed. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan. When oil is hot, saute chicken strips for 4 to 6 minutes or until cooked through. Remove chicken from pan; place on top of pizza. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and begun to bubble. Complete pizza as directed.

***

Grilled Fruit Pizza

Then for dessert is this awesome, easy recipe that is so delicious!
I'll have to wing this one from memory as it wasn't available on the site. It's too easy.

Get a pizza dough from the can, flatten out on a baking sheet. Brush with some honey and water mixture. Bake according to directions on the can for the dough.

Then take 1 stick of butter, some (about 8 oz.) cream cheese and powdered sugar to get a thick creamy spread and lather up the pizza bread. Then sprinkle with mixed berries of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. You can use fresh or do like Sandra did and thaw out frozen ones, drained and then placed on top. The thick spread holds them in place and the heavy pizza bread is strong enough to hold all those berries and spread! Delicious!

Note: As to the spread, if you want fewer calories and oil you could substitute that butter for no fat or low fat sour cream and no fat cream cheese. You might have to thin a bit with a little milk to get your spreadability (it looks like thick Greek yogurt).
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