Monday, May 7, 2012

Pizza you have to try!

This post is a little different from the ones I have posted on the site so far. I guess it would fit into the and more category of the tag line. :) Today I want to share with y'all a pizza recipe that my boyfriend and I tossed together with amazing results! Delivery pizza can be expensive, and in my experience, can leave your stomach feeling not so great. Making pizza at home is not only fun, but it can also be cheap and it allows you to have complete control over your pizza. My boyfriend and I knew we wanted spinach and chicken on our pizza. In the end we came up with a pizza that was topped with spinach, chicken, feta cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese and sun dried tomatoes. We piled all of these delicious toppings onto a thin layer of pizza crust that we seasoned with a mixture of olive oil, dried oregano and dried basil. The pizza came out better than we could have ever expected! Our pizza before it went into the oven:

And our pizza after it came out of the oven:
Are you drooling yet? One of the things I love about this pizza is that we never measure anything! We use the same ingredients every time and we just toss on as much of each topping as we feel like on that day. This is just a general "recipe" for this pizza but you can customize it any way you want.

Things you need:
1 bundle of fresh spinach
1 jar of sun dried tomatoes (depending on how much you use 1 jar can last you for a while!)
1 Package feta cheese
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
1 pack of boneless skinless chicken tenders
1 pizza crust ( we use the Pillsbury ones that come in the biscuit cans)
1 bottle of your fav chicken marinade ( we use a lemon garlic bottled marinade)
Optional: Olive oil, dried oregano, dried basil (for seasoning the crust)

This is how we make ours:
  • First we roll out the dough on a dark flat cookie tray. We like to roll ours out thin but you can roll yours out to be as thick or as thin as you want.
  • We then pre-cook the crust for just a few minutes. On the Pillsbury crust can it tells you how long..we usually cook it for about 5 minutes. While the crust is cooking we line up all of our ingredients. 
  • I then chop up 2-3 chicken breast tenders into little cubes and toss them into a bowl full of our favorite marinade.
  • Then I chop up a handful of spinach that has been washed and dried. I just eyeball it and stop when I think I have enough. 
  • I like to get the sun dried tomatoes that come in a jar and are pre-chopped. I have also gotten the ones that come whole in the jar and both work just fine. If I am using the pre-chopped ones I use 1-2 regular size spoons full. If I am using the whole ones I chop up 3-4 depending on the size. Again we just use as much as we feel like on that particular day. I always use a paper towel or two to drain off as much of the oil as possible off of the tomatoes. The ones I get come packed in a jar of oil.
  • While I am getting everything else ready my boyfriend cooks the chicken on the stove. ( He tosses the marinade right into the pan with the chicken and lets it cook out)
  • Once the crust comes out of the oven I toss together some olive oil, dried basil and dried oregano and I brush that mixture all over the hot crust.
  • I start topping the pizza by putting a layer of mozzarella cheese on the crust.
    Then I toss on the spinach and sun dried tomatoes. Next I spread the chicken around the pizza and then add another layer of mozzarella cheese. Finally I top it off with a few handfuls of feta cheese.
We toss the pizza in the oven for another 8-11 minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust begins to brown. Keep an eye on yours as the cooking time may be different depending on your crust type. The pizza takes little time to put together but it taste amazing! It taste fresh and the flavors really pop!  Since tasting our first pizza my boyfriend and I have cut out delivery pizza for the most part and make this pizza at least once a week.
Note: Some of these ingredients like the spinach, tomatoes, cheese, and chicken will last you for a few pizzas! We just bought a second jar of sun dried tomatoes and the first one lasted us at least 4 pizzas. This of course would depend on how much of each topping you use.
I will leave you with one last look at the delicious pizza you could be eating!


I love to cook almost as much as I love to read! If you make this pizza I would love to see pictures of how it turns out for you or if you have a favorite pizza recipe please feel free to share it!
 



2 comments:

  1. I'm starving and your pizza looks wonderful (even though I'm vegetarian). Pizza dough, by the way, is really easy to make too. Even though you use yeast, it only needs about 10 minutes to rise. Anyway, it's super simple. In fact, if cut and paste works, I'll give you the recipe....

    Quick Rise Pizza Dough

    3 cups flour (I use 1 cup Whole wheat and 2 cups unbleached white)
    1 TBL yeast (or one packet)
    3 TBL sugar
    1 tsp salt
    1 cup warm water (120˚)
    2 TBL olive oil

    About yeast: Some yeast is made to be mixed directly in with the flour. If you buy the small packets of yeast found in most grocery stores, you must mix it with the warm water first. For the water, just use very hot water from your tap. For premixing, put the yeast in the cup of hot water, along with 1 of the TBL’s of sugar. Let that sit for a few minutes until it get’s bubbly. Then mix with everything else.

    If you’re using yeast made to be mixed directly into the flour, simply mix all dry ingredients, hot water and then olive oil.

    Put dough in oiled bowl, pat into a ball and cover. Put towel on top to keep warm. Dough is ready after 10 minutes, but can always sit longer.

    To cook, I roll it out, put it on my pizza stone (or pan) and bake for 5 mins. at 400 degrees. Then I take it out, add whatever ingredients I want and bake another 20 to 25 minutes.

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    1. Thank you for the recipe! I usually use the store bought but this recipe for homemade dough sounds pretty easy. I will have to give it a try next time we make pizza.

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