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Thinking Outside The Pizza Box
by Guest Writer, Valerie Whitmore Pizza in its purest form is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "a baked pie of Italian origin consisting of a shallow breadlike crust covered with toppings such as seasoned tomato sauce, cheese, sausage, or olives." I know a few people who balk at calling a dish "pizza" when it doesn't fit this definition. And I kinda agree However, I think calling anything that looks or tastes like it as "pizza" is here to stay
In the case of recipes named crockpot pizza or pizza soup, flavor-wise it's something most of us can relate to. A rich tomato-based sauce, spicy meat like sausage or pepperoni, Italian seasonings, and cheese. We get an idea of how the recipe will taste from just the name.
There's dessert pizza, a sweet dough or cookie crust baked in a pizza pan and topped with melted candy, fruit, or other sweet toppings. Visually, we get the pizza connection.
Then there is what I call pizza-ish pizzas. These are the closest cousins to pizza without formally fitting the definition. Sometimes it's pizza toppings on an alternate crust like tortillas or baked hash browns. Sometimes it's non-conforming toppings put on a regular pizza crust like cold vegetables with ranch salad dressing. If I can't have a "real" pizza then these are my favorite non-pizza type pizzas.
Admittedly Brent and I don't eat a lot of pizza. It's usually a little higher in calories than we fit into our daily diets. For us, pizza is more of a treat. A few times a year we go to a family owned restaurant a few miles from our home and indulge in a meat lovers or everything pizza. My favorite thing about that is bringing home some leftovers for breakfast the next morning
I also don't make a lot of pizza at home. In fact, I probably make it less than we eat it at restaurants. I used to make it more though - all kinds. I'd make traditional ones with a crust from scratch, topped with homemade sauce and spicy pepperoni. I'd also make unusual kinds, like the Reuben pizza, which I still love to this day. It has all the Reuben sandwich fixings on it like corned beef, thousand island dressing, sauerkraut... That brings back memories.
When I was putting together this week's recipe testing menu I was going through my list of ingredients I've overstocked on (as per my post on the overabundance in our pantry). One item I had too much of was artichoke hearts. Both cans and jars, in water and in marinade. I started hunting for recipes on the site and one for a pizza using artichoke hearts popped up.
Now, I can't think of a better excuse to eat pizza - you know, in the name of clearing out the pantry!
The recipe simply called for one pizza crust. Since it was unspecific I felt I could deviate a little and use the mini crusts from Boboli. I usually shy away from pre-made baked goods because they almost always contain soy (allergen for me) but we were going to be testing this recipe on a busy day so I went for the shortcut.
The directions state to brush the crust(s) with oil, then sprinkle with the rosemary and garlic, then brush with oil again. After doing this on all the crusts I realized that it would have been 100 times easier to mix the oil with the rosemary and garlic and brush it on that way. It would have had much more even distribution
There is no sauce in this recipe but rather a layer of cheese is put down before putting the toppings on.
The ingredients call for water-packed artichoke hearts. If you've purchased canned/jarred artichokes you know they come in a variety of sized hearts, whole or quartered. The recipe doesn't specify but I can't imagine you want just a whole heart plopped on the pizza. I cut them into quarters but they could be sliced down further if you are using the larger sized ones.
I arranged all the ingredients in sort of a spoke pattern on each of the crusts. There is a final topping of shredded cheese (not shown in the picture) before it goes in the oven.
My pizzas took a few more minutes than called for in the recipe to get golden brown and melty. Only a few though so just keep your eye on it
The final result: Awesome! There were no survivors. There was no cold pizza for breakfast the next day. The artichoke and Kalamata olives are the predominant flavors but they are balanced out by the mild (and delicious) goat cheese. The recipe worked well with the thin premade crusts but I could see it being equally good with a thicker, deep-dish type as well.
So, think outside the pizza box (lame, I know) and try a non-pizza pizza. You might just stumble upon a new favorite. I know I did!
Get the recipe for Artichoke Heart and Goat Cheese Pizza here!
In the case of recipes named crockpot pizza or pizza soup, flavor-wise it's something most of us can relate to. A rich tomato-based sauce, spicy meat like sausage or pepperoni, Italian seasonings, and cheese. We get an idea of how the recipe will taste from just the name.
There's dessert pizza, a sweet dough or cookie crust baked in a pizza pan and topped with melted candy, fruit, or other sweet toppings. Visually, we get the pizza connection.
Then there is what I call pizza-ish pizzas. These are the closest cousins to pizza without formally fitting the definition. Sometimes it's pizza toppings on an alternate crust like tortillas or baked hash browns. Sometimes it's non-conforming toppings put on a regular pizza crust like cold vegetables with ranch salad dressing. If I can't have a "real" pizza then these are my favorite non-pizza type pizzas.
Admittedly Brent and I don't eat a lot of pizza. It's usually a little higher in calories than we fit into our daily diets. For us, pizza is more of a treat. A few times a year we go to a family owned restaurant a few miles from our home and indulge in a meat lovers or everything pizza. My favorite thing about that is bringing home some leftovers for breakfast the next morning
I also don't make a lot of pizza at home. In fact, I probably make it less than we eat it at restaurants. I used to make it more though - all kinds. I'd make traditional ones with a crust from scratch, topped with homemade sauce and spicy pepperoni. I'd also make unusual kinds, like the Reuben pizza, which I still love to this day. It has all the Reuben sandwich fixings on it like corned beef, thousand island dressing, sauerkraut... That brings back memories.
When I was putting together this week's recipe testing menu I was going through my list of ingredients I've overstocked on (as per my post on the overabundance in our pantry). One item I had too much of was artichoke hearts. Both cans and jars, in water and in marinade. I started hunting for recipes on the site and one for a pizza using artichoke hearts popped up.
Now, I can't think of a better excuse to eat pizza - you know, in the name of clearing out the pantry!
The recipe simply called for one pizza crust. Since it was unspecific I felt I could deviate a little and use the mini crusts from Boboli. I usually shy away from pre-made baked goods because they almost always contain soy (allergen for me) but we were going to be testing this recipe on a busy day so I went for the shortcut.
The directions state to brush the crust(s) with oil, then sprinkle with the rosemary and garlic, then brush with oil again. After doing this on all the crusts I realized that it would have been 100 times easier to mix the oil with the rosemary and garlic and brush it on that way. It would have had much more even distribution
There is no sauce in this recipe but rather a layer of cheese is put down before putting the toppings on.
The ingredients call for water-packed artichoke hearts. If you've purchased canned/jarred artichokes you know they come in a variety of sized hearts, whole or quartered. The recipe doesn't specify but I can't imagine you want just a whole heart plopped on the pizza. I cut them into quarters but they could be sliced down further if you are using the larger sized ones.
I arranged all the ingredients in sort of a spoke pattern on each of the crusts. There is a final topping of shredded cheese (not shown in the picture) before it goes in the oven.
My pizzas took a few more minutes than called for in the recipe to get golden brown and melty. Only a few though so just keep your eye on it
The final result: Awesome! There were no survivors. There was no cold pizza for breakfast the next day. The artichoke and Kalamata olives are the predominant flavors but they are balanced out by the mild (and delicious) goat cheese. The recipe worked well with the thin premade crusts but I could see it being equally good with a thicker, deep-dish type as well.
So, think outside the pizza box (lame, I know) and try a non-pizza pizza. You might just stumble upon a new favorite. I know I did!
Get the recipe for Artichoke Heart and Goat Cheese Pizza here!