flatbread pizzas

As many of you know, I am a big fan of flatbread and use it when I need a fast meal. We tried making individual pizzas with it recently and they turned out really well. I highly recommend these!

Ingredients

• 1 flatbread per person
• Pizza sauce
  
• Your choice of cheese
• Your choice of toppings (we used onions, red peppers, and tomatoes)
  

Directions

1. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or a little olive oil
2. Place flatbread on cookie sheet
3. Top with your favorite pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes, or a little longer if you want it crispier
5. Cut into quarters and enjoy!

harissa chicken pizza

I've made my fair share of pizzas, but this one was my absolute favorite! It uses harissa, which is a North African hot sauce that is common in Europe. My husband discovered it in France. It comes in jars or tubes and varies greatly.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 1 ¼ cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 cups of whole wheat flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl
3. Proof yeast
4. Add olive oil
5. In a separate bowl, mix 3 cups of flour (saving 1 cup) and salt
6. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture
7. Add additional flour as needed
8. Knead dough
9. Let rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour
10. Beat down the dough and shape on a pizza pan
11. Add desired sauce and toppings
12. 
    

Harissa Chicken Sauce


Ingredients

• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
• Fill the can with water twice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons harissa
• 1 can of chicken (or use freshly cooked chicken)
  

Directions

1. Place tomato paste in a medium mixing bowl
2. Add water until it is a good saucy consistency
3. Add sugar and harissa
4. Mix well
5. Mix in canned chicken
6. Spread on pizza dough
7. Add toppings such as pepper jack cheese, peppers, onion, cilantro, and cumin
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes depending on desired toppings and crust preference

bagel pizzas

We had a ward linger longer recently and had a hard time deciding what to bring. We came up with these bagel pizzas and they turned out very well. We used the light and creamy pizza sauce recipe, sharp white cheddar cheese, grana romano cheese, oregano, and rosemary. We cut them up into quarters. They were so good, I ate way too many before church!

chef jeff's pizza sauce

Quite honestly, my pizza sauce varies a bit each time I make it. So, I'll give the building blocks of what I use and you can adjust it to suit your tastes and needs. I use one 6 oz. can of tomato paste (lately we've used Contadina Organic) and then I fill the can with water twice and mix that together.

I find that there are two specific ingredients that make the sauce taste like pizza sauce. First is oregano, I've only used dried oregano from the spice rack, and a good portion too, at least one tablespoon. Next is about 1 tablespoon of sugar (I've only used table sugar, but I'm sure that there are many possibilities). This helps reduce the acidity of the pizza sauce a bit. Be careful not to add too much sugar, as this make the sauce less desirable.

Personally, I like to bring the sauce to a slow boil in a saucepan, it seems to help marry all of the flavors well. However, this is not necessary and when in a hurry I've slapped it on a pizza cold (after all, it gets cooked a bit while the pizza is baking).

Some other things I like to add include: garlic (I prefer chopped cloves, but powder works), Italian seasoning, a bit of salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. I hope this helps, here is the recipe:

Chef Jeff's (Amazing) Pizza Sauce
Adoring Wife/Messy Chef added the "Amazing"

Ingredients

• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
• Fill the can with water twice
• 1-2 tbsp. oregano
• 1 tbsp. sugar

optional ingredients:

• garlic
• Italian seasoning
• salt (not too much, though)
• pepper
• crushed red pepper
• (any other favorites?)

Directions

1. For the best results, mix the water into the paste until it is a good saucy consistency
2. Add the desired ingredients
3. Heat on a low temperature until it is well-heated throughout (I usually wait until it starts boiling up, watch out for splatter!)

The sauce can be used on a pizza or for dip for bread sticks. We use it for bagel or english muffin pizzas (see above image). It even tastes good as a red sauce for pasta. I hope this is helpful!

Bon appetit,

Chef Jeff
(^8=3

now that's a pizza!

Homemade pizza is always so good, especially on a Friday night. We enjoyed this tasty spinach, basil, tomato, and goat cheese pizza while watching a movie and drinking Hansen's root beer.

Ultimate Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 1 ¼ cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 cups of whole wheat flour
• desired sauce and toppings

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl
3. Proof yeast
4. Add olive oil
5. In a separate bowl, mix 3 cups of flour (saving 1 cup) and salt
6. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture
7. Add additional flour as needed
8. Knead dough
9. Let rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour
10. Beat down the dough and shape on a pizza pan
11. Add desired sauce and toppings
12. Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on desired toppings and crust preference

Light and Creamy Pizza Sauce
For the sauce, I used a can of diced tomatoes, a garlic and herb seasoning mix, oregano, and sour cream. I mixed them all up in my Magic Bullet (you'll be hearing a lot about it!).

Finishing Touches
I spread the sauce on the pizza dough, added a layer of spinach and fresh basil. Next came the tomato slices and finally, the goat cheese and a bit of ground pepper.