Faster than delivery!

This past Sunday, my friend Sara and I made plans to watch the MTV Movie Awards. We could basically care less about the awards, we were watching just to see the teaser trailer of the next movie in the Twilight saga, called New Moon. The trailer, complete with vampires, werewolves, and hot steamy kisses was awesome! Now we just have to wait until November to see the movie...

So for dinner I tried out another Cooking Light Superfast Supper recipe, and it was delish!

Chicken-Pesto Pizza

1 10oz. can refrigerated pizza dough (I used thin crust)

1 lb. chicken breast tenderloins, chopped

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

3 Tbs. Commercial pesto

2 Cups shredded skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Unroll dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 9 minutes.

Sprinkle chicken with Italian seasoning and saute in a skillet over medium-high heat until done.

Spread pesto over baked crust, top with cooked chicken, and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Make Ahead Pizza Pasta

This recipe is adapted from one my friend Jolene posted on her facebook page. It looked super yummy, so I adapted it based on what I already had on hand and also to make a large batch and freeze some. Turns out it made so much that I cooked one 8x8 pan for dinner the first night and froze 2 more 8x8 pans. I've already tried one of the frozen batches as I didn't want to post this recipe until making sure it worked, and it was just as great the second time around.




Penne Pizza Pasta

2 lbs of ground sausage (I used 1 hot, & 1 mild)
2 jars spaghetti sauce
16 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz chopped fresh mushrooms
1 lg bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg pepperoni slices (cut into pepperoni slices into 4ths)
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 boxes dreamfields penne (or 26 oz. of other penne pasta)

In a large skillet, brown the sausage and onions. Next add veggies, seasonings, and sauce, and allow to simmer while cooking pasta. Cook pasta as directed on box, drain, and add to the sauce mixture. In a large bowl, blend shredded cheeses. Fill 3 8x8 pans half full with pasta mixture. Next top each pan with a cup of the shredded cheese mixture. Top of each pan evenly with the remaining pasta, and then the remaining cheese. cover and Freeze 2 pans for later.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees until cheese melts.

When preparing frozen pans, allow to thaw overnight and then bake at 350 for about 45 min, or until warmed through.

Source: adapted from Jolene Howard's recipe

Low-Carb Deep Dish Pizza

This recipe had some rave reviews, so I thought I'd try it out. It is a similar concept to another recipe I've posted, The Low-Carb Taco Bake. This wasn't bad by any means, but I'm not a huge egg person, so if I made this again, I'd most likely cut back the eggs to 3 instead of 6, and do a thinner crust. It is a great way to satisfy that pizza craving with out over doing the carbs though.

Low-Carb Pizza Bake

6 eggs
6 oz cream cheese (3/4 package) at room temperature
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1½ teaspoon oregano or other Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
pinches of black and/or cayenne pepper
1 cup (or a little more) shredded Italian cheeses, at least half of which is a hard cheese (Parmesan, Assagio)

Heat the oven to 350° F.
Be sure the cream cheese is at about room temperature. Using a regular blender, food processor, or stick blender, mix the egg and cream cheese until well blended. Add the salt and spices and blend again.

Spread cheese in bottom of well-buttered 9X13 pan. (use an Italian blend such as Trader Joe's Quattro Formaggio) Pour egg mixture over the cheese, and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the top is browning.

Remove from oven, add pizza toppings, and bake until done - about another 10-15 minutes.

I topped the pizza with 6 oz. of tomato sauce, fresh mushrooms, pancetta, and the remaining cheese.

Source: www.lowcarbdiets.about.com

Fresh Flavors

Tonight I decided to finally use up the can of pizza dough that has been lingering in the fridge. I thought I'd top it with some fresh summer flavors, and it came out great!



Crista's Pizza Mahgarita

Sauce:

14 oz. crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Saute onions until tender, add garlic and saute for a minute. Add in sauce and other seasonings.

Pizza:

Pre-made pizza dough
sauce (see recipe above)
8oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves

Roll out dough on an oiled cookie sheet. Pre-bake crust at 425 for 8 minutes.

Spread sauce thinly over pizza. Add cheese and sprinkle with basil. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes.

Pizza Night!

No ordering take out here! We decided to make our own pizza. Since we both love buffalo chicken wings, we tried Rachel Ray's Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza. It was great with a side of ranch dressing for dipping. I did make a little alteration by pre-baking the pizza crust, as recommended by Pillsbury, and it came out perfectly crispy. In the words of Rachel Ray, this meal was YUM-O!

Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza

3/4 pound chicken breast cutlets
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
2 teaspoons grill seasoning, (Montreal Seasoning)
1 pizza dough, Pillsbury
Cornmeal or flour, to handle dough
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons Frank’s Buffalo Wing Hot Sauce
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
3 scallions, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Preheat grill pan to high.

Place chicken on a plate and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the chicken then season with grill seasoning. When grill is hot, add chicken and cook about 3 minutes on each side.

Stretch dough to form pizza using cornmeal or flour to help you handle it. If you let it rest and warm up a few minutes it will handle even easier. Set pizza on pizza pan to the side and clean board. Per package instructions, pre-bake pizza crust for 8 min at 425.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter and stir in Worcestershire, hot sauce, and tomato sauce. Remove the chicken from grill and thinly slice it. Add chicken to sauce and coat.

Cover the pizza dough with the saucy Buffalo chicken, cheeses, and scallions. Bake 18 minutes or until crisp.

Source: adapted from Rachel Ray's recipe on foodtv.com