wordless wednesday (turkey-avocado pizza)

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sun dried tomato pizza w/ ketchup

Yep ketchup.

Do not click away. I wanted to grab your attention with that title.

Let me explain.

Judging from the overwhelming response I've gotten on the tomato pie AND the tomato & cheddar hand pies, I can clearly see there are a lot of tomato fans out there like me. You have good palettes.

And here is another tomato filled, tasty recipe. It's really quite simple you see, it's just two different kinds of tomato flavor on a pizza. But boy oh boy do they pair well on a pizza--very well. There could be some of you out there who have already had this combo, but for those of you who haven't you must try your next homemade pizza this way.

Had I known that a couple of friends were going to tell me to make a post of this pizza I would have taken shots of the ingredients like I always do. I didn't because to be honest I've made this pizza for years and never thought to share it with you. I know better--I should share everything--you're all foodies too. I'll do better at that.

But the ingredients are merely: good homemade pizza dough (I adore whole foods multi- grain pizza dough), ketchup used as the tomato sauce (a nice think layer), good mozzarella cheese, and some sun-dried tomatoes that are soaking in olive oil. Trust me, you will love it. And its easy peasy.

See those crispy, charred sun-dried tomato bits? HEAVENLY!





sun dried tomato pizza with ketchup
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1 pizza dough (whole foods multigrain pizza dough is amazing)
good quality ketchup (love whole foods organic brand)
a few handfuls sun dried tomatoes (that were sitting in olive oil), drained slightly
good quality mozzarella cheese
few dashes of red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste

preheat oven to 450/500 degrees. grease up a jelly roll pan.
spread out pizza dough
apply thin layer of ketchup, even the edges of the dough
apply the mozzarella
add on the sun dried tomato bits
add on the red pepper flakes (if desired), then the salt & pepper

bake for about 10-18 minutes until desired doneness is achieved
i like mine really crispy so i went to about the 17 minute mark.
let cool before slicing.

cheeseburger and sweet potato fries pizza

Love my weekly homemade pizza nights. It's a time for me to get creative and think of new (quick & easy) ways to kick up my pizza. So while staring blindly into the freezer for 15 minutes I couldn't think of anything to top my pizza. But staring back at me the whole time was a bag of sweet potato fries. Well, yeah, duh. Why not? And it worked fabulously. You really need to try this. It's so easy, quick to put together, and the leftovers (cold) are to die for. I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking.
And oh one more thing, this is the PERFECT way to get your kids (or fussy hubby) to eat vegetables.

Cook notes: make sure to let your sweet potato fries thaw a bit before using, about 30 - 45 minutes. You want them still firm but thawed just a bit. I know I've said this before but the whole grain pizza dough from whole foods is to die for good (freezes perfectly too).

cheeseburger & sweet potato fries pizza

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1 pizza dough (I love whole foods whole grain pizza)

A few TB of ketchup

1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, chunks or shredded

¾- 1 lb COOKED ground beef (whatever amount you have is fine)

Small bag of sweet potato fries, thawed for at least 30-45 minutes

Caramelized onions

Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 475.

If you want caramelized onions then sauté 1 and ½ sweet onions with olive oil in a sauté pan until just brown.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with olive oil.

Make sure to cook your ground beef, don’t over cook it, can under cook just a bit because we are cooking it again in the oven.

Spread out pizza dough on sheet, place a thin layer of ketchup over dough.

Then a layer of cheese.

Then a layer of the cooked ground beef.

Then a layer of the partially thawed sweet potato fries.

Then top off with the caramelized onions.

Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes, turning pan halfway thru cooking.

Cook until desired doneness or crispy edges. Salt and pepper this when it’s fresh out of the oven.

You really have to let this cool before slicing into it. I know it’s hard. But the center of the pizza is molten hot.

buffalo chicken pizza w/ blue cheese

Not just any pizza but buffalo chicken pizza with monterey jack cheese, bermuda onions and blue cheese. Seriously this was so good I ate the leftovers cold right from the fridge. I love buffalo chicken but hate wings. I'm just not into all that bones and stuff, really not a wing girl. But the stuff, the sauce that's actually on the buffalo chicken wings is something I love. That buttery, hot, sticky sauce with a bite? Oh yes please, may I have seconds with extra hot sauce and use the blue cheese to chill down the hot snap is all kinds of craziness going on in the mouth fun.
So that is what inspired me to create this in pizza form. You know all the goodness of that buffalo chicken sauce, and the blue cheese, all on top of a crispy pizza. You just can't get good pizza like this at a pizza joint--well maybe, in NYC.
(sorry for lack of more photos; hungry people in house ate pizza faster than I could photograph)

buffalo chicken pizza w/ blue cheese
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To make:
Bake a couple chicken breasts that are well coated with olive oil and salt & pepper in a 350 degree oven until done (about 30+ minutes?).

While chicken is cooling melt about 3-4 TB of butter with 1/4 cup of tabasco sauce (or franks hot sauce or whatever hot sauce you love). When chicken is cooled, break apart into large chunks, place in bowl and coat them with the hot sauce mixture.
Roll out pizza dough, put a thin layer of the hot sauce mixture on pizza dough, then top with a thin layer of monterey jack cheese (or whatever you like), then the coated chicken, then crumble some blue cheese over the pizza, and top with thin shreds of bermuda onion. (I also like to put a few extra onions, raw, on the pizza when it just comes out of the oven). You could also top this with some fresh chives when it just comes out of the oven.
Before it goes in the oven take a little bit of olive oil and lightly brush the outside of the pizza, then sprinkle same edges with a little bit of onion powder and some salt & pepper.
Bake in a 450/500 degree oven till nice and crisp (mine takes but 20 minutes to bake, but I like mine well done).

Cook Notes: I used the whole grain pizza dough from whole foods it really is the best and you can't even tell it's good for you ha!. Use really good, moldy blue cheese, you can tell it's really good if there is a lot of blue in the middle. Do try the trick of olive oiling the edges of the pizza & seasoning just before baking, it really brings a nice tasty crust.

hamburg-cheddar-onion pizza w/ fig jam

I seriously need to open my own pizza shop. :::ring ring::: "Hello Vanilla Sugar Pizza House may I take your order?" That doesn't have a pizza ring to it does it?


But seriously my constant craving for strange and unusual pizza is never ending.
I would love a big old kitchen with massive brick pizza ovens to test my funky recipes.
Would you all come? Would you even go so far to try the funkiest of funkiest that I create?
Give me your funkiest pizza that you would love to try?
What toppings? What sauce? What kind of dough?
You need to try that multi-grain pizza dough from Whole Foods. It's so chewy, bakes up nice and crisp on the edges, with a hint of chewy in the middle.
But the key is to have a scorching hot oven to bake.  The faster you bake the multi-grain dough the better it tastes and the better the texture too.

cheddar-hamburg-onion pizza w/ fig jam
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your favorite pizza dough recipe or use this
sharpcheddar cheese, shredded (don't know if mozza would work here)
3/4 cup +/- caramlized sweet Vidalia onions
cooked hamburg (1 lb. pre-cooked), optional but wonderful
fig jam (see below)
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450/500 degrees. If you have a pizza stone use it, they make all the difference in the world when making a thick hearty pizza like this one.
Top the pizza with a nice layer of the fig jam- get those edges! The jam makes a killer crust.. Not too thick nor too thin. Sprinkle on the shredded aged cheddar cheese, then the hamburg (if using), then the caramelized onions.
Bake till nice and crispy! About 12 +/- minutes. I know it's hard, but let this bad boy rest before cutting into it. Serve with a side of the fig jam for dipping.
Here is my fig jam recipe (below). It's funky, but good. The next time I make this I want to add in some mustard seed--I felt it was missing it.

Fig Jam

1 cup of pureed figs (sweet mission figs-the insides only, not the skins, only puree for a couple pulses)
¾ cup of good balsamic vinegar
1 heaping TB of dark brown sugar
3 TB orange juice
Salt & pepper
1 TB pure vanilla extract
Couple dashes of curry powder
¼ cup caramelized onions

Combine the pureed figs, dark brown sugar, 3 TB of orange juice, and vinegar in a saucepan and simmer over low heat, not boiling, but a tiny bit of bubbling. Simmer until mixture reduces down about halfway of its original mixture--maybe 40 minutes? Keep an eye on this, you don’t want this to burn. At the last 5 minutes of simmering add in the curry, salt & pepper (to taste), caramelized onions, and the pure vanilla extract.
Once it’s reduced down let it cool. When cooled, place in blender and puree. Pour through a sieve/chinois to get out the little funky bits and seeds.

cheeseburger pizza w/ bbq sauce

Friday right?
Pizza night?
Time to kick back, chill and sloooow the heck down from a hectic week. How do I like to spend my Friday nights? Well, since I'm an old fartknocker I like going to bed early, yeah I know totally boring. But there are some nights when I want to totally chill and have a couple glasses of ice cold Prosecco with pizza and maybe sit outside and look at the water.
Here on cape cod it's hard to find a good pizza joint.  We have a whole foods which does a really good job, but they haven't done a BBQ pizza....yet.
So you just need to make your own.
At least when you make your own you can put BBQ sauce on it and extra cheese, plus whatever else you fancy/crave.


For the easy recipe:
all I did was use the multi-grain pizza dough from Whole Foods, smeared a bit of spicy bbq sauce on it, then some mozzarella cheese, then some cooked bacon, then some thinly sliced sweet onions, then some cooked hamburger (don't put raw hamburg on as it might not cook all the way through).
Take a little bit of olive oil and rub the edges of the pizza crust with it.
Bake in 450-500 degree oven till nice and crispy (about 15 minutes +/-).


If you like this then you're going to love my hamburg & cheddar pizza with fig jam.
Yes fig jam--It goes so well with this pizza, you must try it.

Tasty looking right?

You need to try the fig jam on your next pizza.