Quick Pizza Lunch

My kids loves these things.  As bagels, I don't think they're very good, but as a quick pizza lunch, they are perfect. 

 

Why?  Because most bagels and English muffins have too much bread (for my tastes) for individual pizza.  These bagel thins solve that problem.  Using these little babies, you can make pizzas in about 5 minutes.  Six little individual pizzas, personalized to each person's tastes...all at the same time, all for lunch.

Here is the thing, I think the Bagel Thins are too expensive for what they are unless you get them at Costco (or some other discount place).  With the warehouse price, we got three packs for $5.  (I think each pack has 8 bagel thins, but don't hold me to that.)

So, if you're looking for a quick, fun lunch...try these...I think you'll be pleased.

It's Pizza Time Again...

With Fall in the air, I don't mind turning the oven on in the late afternoon. That means it is pizza time again. We were so impressed with the dough I found for the calzones, that we decided to make pizzas using the same dough a few days later. Again, it turned out really well. Well enough that I thought I'd share it with you all.

Pizza Dough (Bread Machine)
Adapted from cdkitchen

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons oil (I used olive oil)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I added this - the original recipe doesn't call for it)
3 cups bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions:

Place ingredients in bread machine pan in order listed (or as directed per machine instructions). Select dough cycle. Makes two 12" regular crusts or one 16" deep dish crust. Top with desired toppings and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until crust is light brown. (One of the comments on this recipe advised cooking the crust at 500 degrees for 5-6 minutes and then adding the toppings and baking again for a crisp crust pizza...we might try that next time.)

If you haven't tried to make your own pizza dough, I really urge you to try it. It really is so easy.

Pizza Night

Tonight was Pizza Night! It seems to be working its way to a full-fledged Friday night tradition, but we'll have to see. The best part? The breadmaker, Superman, and the kids cook dinner! We use the breadmaker to make our dough, combining a little of this and a little of that from various recipes to come up with a dough we like. Then Superman and the kids work it into pizza shapes and add the toppings. What kind of toppings? Well, so far, they're purists: Cheese and Cheese with Pepperoni and Sausage. I think we need to add a vegetable version with a light garlic sauce to the menu, but I haven't found the perfect recipe yet. This pizza is pretty good as it is, so I really can't complain.

Here is the dough recipe I've come up with via trial and error: (Add ingredients in the order your bread machine calls for. Mine calls for liquids first, so that is the order in which I listed the ingredients.)

Breadmaker Pizza Dough

1 1/3 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Granulated White Sugar
2 Tablespoons (or more to taste) Italian Seasoning
2 Teaspoons (or less to taste) Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon salt
3 cups White Flour
2 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

Set your bread maker to the dough setting and come back when it is done. Dough will be very sticky and wet. Pull and shape into pizza crusts - we use two Pampered Chef Stones - one round one and one rectangle and always have a little bit of dough left. Spread marinara sauce as you like on each crust (we only like a little, but it is an definitely individual preference). Sprinkle grated cheese all over (we use cheddar and mozzarella with some parmesan because we always have it on hand!), and top with whatever toppings you like on your pizza. At our house, this becomes competition to see who makes the best pizza...I think they're all good, but maybe I'm biased!

Bake at 400 degrees for about 12-15 minutes and, viola, you have Pizza!