Last night, I made homemade veggie pizza and salad for Jazz and I. It was quite easy and fun to make.
First, I scoured the fridge and freezer for any ingredients that would taste good on pizza. We had about 1/8 a bag of shredded parmesan, 1/8 a bag of shredded mozzarella, and almost a full bag of shredded cheddar. We also had green pepper, onion, tomatoes, garlic, pasta sauce, and frozen broccoli cuts. For the crust, I used Trader Joe’s pizza dough — the wheat one. I highly recommend this dough. It’s 99 cents a bag and can be frozen. I think they have plain, garlic/herb, and wheat varieties.
First I cut up all the veggies in small chunks. Because we were having salad, I cut up more than we needed for the pizza. I also microwaved the broccoli for about 2 minutes to take the chill off. Next it was time for the pizza dough.
I wiped our counter off and then floured it liberally. I took the dough from the bag and kneaded it gently for a few seconds, and then tried to use a rolling pin to spread it out… I had little success with this tactic. In the end, hands and some flipping in the air (yes, I am a showoff) proved to work better than anything else. I ended up making sort of a rectangular pizza crust, which I placed on a lightly oiled baking sheet. I covered the crush with sauce, toppings, and cheese, and also added dried oregano. I slipped it into a 450 degree oven for about 9-10 minutes. (The directions on the dough said 6-8, but that wasn’t enough for my pizza.)
While the pizza was cooking, I cut up a head of iceburg and added the rest of the pizza vegetables (except for the garlic and broccoli), plus carrot and celery.
In the future, I think I will use fewer toppings, as this was a little overwhelming. Maybe onion, green pepper, and pepperoni. Also, if you’re using dried oregano, be VERY liberal with the seasoning. In the future I may use fresh if I can find it.
We cut ours into 8 fairly large slices, and we have plenty of leftovers!
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Potential Variation:
We have a garlic/herb pizza dough in the freezer currently, and I think I may made a pizza with chunks of chicken breast, rosemary, and maybe a swiss cheese. I could even make it sauceless and make a lemon herb dipping sauce on the side. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
