Hawaiian Stromboli

I took one of my favorite pizzas, folded it up, and made it into a tasty new treat for our dinner. This stromboli is loaded with ham, pineapple, and loads of sauce and cheese. What's nice about this dish is that you can make it up so quickly or ahead of time and cook it when you are ready.

Ingredients:

1 packet pizza crust mix (make as directed)

1 jar pizza sauce

1-80z package shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup diced ham

1 cup diced pineapple

Method:

Prepare dough as directed on package.

Roll out dough on floured surface in a rectangular shape. Pour out sauce down the middle of the dough.

Top the sauce with the ham and pineapple.

Cover with cheese but reserve about 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top.

Pull up sides of dough and pinch them together.

Use spaultuas to pick up the stromboli and transfer it to a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese.

Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Make-Ahead Mini Pizzas

For my daughter's Princess birthday party I wanted to serve a warm food that would suit all the little princess and be easy to prepare. Instead of buying pre-made frozen pizzas, I made some little homemade pizzas a couple days ahead and froze them until the day of the party. This way I could make them into fun shapes to match the theme and save time by just pulling them out of the freezer and baking them. I also made up a few extras to keep in the freezer later lunches and fun snacks for my kids. You can top them with whatever you like and get your kids involved in helping you - it will get them excited about eating them later on.

Ingredients:

1 pkg of white crusty bread dough (for rolls/bread/pizza)

1 jar pizza sauce

shredded pizza cheeses (3-4 cups, depends on number of pizzas you make)

other pizza toppings

Method:

Make bread dough as recommended by package.

Roll dough out thin (about 1/4 inch thick). Use cookie cutter to make desired crust shapes.

Spread out pizza sauce on each pizza. Add toppings and cheese. I used small plastic containers to store the pizzas in and separated each layer with waxed paper/parchment paper. I sealed the lids and put them in the freezer until needed.

To Cook:

Preheat oven to 425 F/220 C. Put pizzas on lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and crust is turning a nice golden color.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

My last whole wheat crust was on a deep dish pizza from Great Plains Pizza Company back in Ames, Iowa during my college days. Back then and in that place you would dip that glorious dough crust in a big pile of honey. Today that I'm older and now eating whole wheat pizza for health reasons, I have to pass on the honey. We made a stuffed crust ham and mushroom pizza with this whole wheat crust for our Phase 2 of the South Beach Diet. It has a denser and grainer taste than your regular white dough but with all the ham, mushrooms, and cheese it tasted like good old pizza.

Ingredients:

1 package Rapid Rise Yeast
1 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1 t garlic salt
1 t Splenda
1 Tbs olive oil
2/3 cup of warm water

Method:
Mix dry ingredients well together in a medium bowl. Add the olive oil and cut into the flour mix. Add water to make a nice dough and knead a few times. Oil spray a small bowl and place the dough in it and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside for about 20 minutes (it will double in size). Oil spray a pizza pan and dump the dough onto it. Spray your hands and spread and stretch the dough to fit the pan with a slight turned up rim.

Top with your favorite topping and bake at 450 F/ 230 C on lowest rack of the oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and rim of crust is brown.

Stuffed-Crust Hawaiian Pizza

My family loves to make homemade pizza together because we all can help out. I have made my own crust but I found a white crusty bread mix that you just add water and you get this amazing soft and crusty base. Hawaiian-style (or ham, pineapple, and mushroom) has become a favorite of ours and we also thought it would be fun to stuff the crusts with cheese just like at the famous pizza places. Hands down, this has been one of the best pizzas we've ever made to date!!!

Ingredients:

1 package crusty white bread mix or pizza dough + ingredients to make

1 jar pizza sauce

1 cup chunked pineapple

4 slices of sliced ham, cut up in 1 inch squares

3-4 mushrooms, sliced

3+ cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

garlic powder

Method:

Mix up bread dough as directed and roll out into circle 1-inch bigger than pizza pan. (Or roll dough out as far as you can and maintain the thickness you want. You will use up about 2 inches or so when you fold over for the stuffed crust.)

We like to sprinkle garlic powder on the baking sheet or stone surface before putting the dough on it to give the crust some extra punch.

Sprinkle a ring of mozzarella cheese around the edge of the dough leaving about an inch of dough on the outside.

Gently fold over the dough and press it down to seal in the cheese.

Spread pizza sauce out and add your toppings. For the Hawaiian pizza, put down a layer of ham, then pineapple, the mushrooms, and top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 F or until cheese is bubbling and crust is golden brown.