Superbowl Bites: BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza

Who doesn't love pizza?

I don't think I know anyone who doesn't.  Do you?

I think that makes it the perfect party food.  

It's also ridiculously simple to make. Giving it more points as the perfect party food.

Leftover Meatballs, make delicious pizza!

Part 2 of our first supper was this amazing Meatball Pizza.

About a week before our move I made these delicious Meatball Subs.  Well I made my own version of them, with my go to meatball recipe.  Regardless of that I had a bunch of meatballs and sauce leftover.  We did spaghetti and meatballs one night, and then they sat in the fridge until the move, just getting more and more delicious with each passing day.  

Our First Supper, Pizza Bianca

It seems fitting that our last supper in our old place was the same as our first meal in our new place.

Here's the difference and why it's pretty perfect.

Our last supper in a house neither of us loved, but we did our best to make home, was take-out.  It was fine, but so not special and something I quickly ordered because the Boy had been in meetings all day and hadn't eaten AND we still had a ridiculous amount of packing to do.

The only similarity between our last supper and our first supper were that both were pizza.

The Last Supper...

...in our old house that is.

Now is that a food photo or what? I spent hours setting up this photo.

Not to mention the hours spent putting together this well-balanced gourmet meal.

Super Hawaiian Pizza and a Nonna's Special from Pizza Nova.  Is the Boy a lucky guy or what?

More from the new house tomorrow!

Restaurant Review: Queen Margherita Pizza

panna cotta

This past Saturday night I finally convinced the Boy to check out Queen Margherita Pizza with me.  I had gone a few months ago with my book club and loved it and I just knew the boy would too.  With the holidays and all of the craziness that that entails we didn't get there, but were finally able to this past weekend.

We didn't make a reservation and got there around 7:30ish on Saturday night.  It was busy, but they luckily had two spots at the bar that couldn't have been more perfect for us.  We got to feel like we're in the thick of it and there was a TV with the football game on.

The deal at QMP (as they cheekily have printed on the staff t-shirts) is they do a $25 prix fixe which includes a choice of appetizer, any pizza or dessert all for the low price of $25 per person.  A pretty great deal if you ask me, especially since it's what they always do, not like a special Sunday or Monday thing like so many other restaurants.

Resto Review: Schoolhouse Pizza

Trips back to visit my parents for the holidays generally include little cooking on my part.  My parents are both amazing cooks and take the opportunity of all of us kids being home to feed us well.  That is why this is a restaurant review and it wasn’t even a planned restaurant review.  I flew to Boston on Christmas Day to get to my folks house in time for Christmas dinner and the boy drove down a few days later.  His drive down was less than safe as the car desperately needed new tires.  We made an appointment at a shop in Quincy, MA.  When we dropped off the car we asked the salesperson if they could recommend a good place to grab a bite to eat while we waited.  He pointed across the street and said that Schoolhouse Pizza was really good and that we should try “The Bully”

The name of what he suggested was intriguing enough for me to give it a try, that coupled with the fact that it was a pizza joint and I am basically always in the mood for pizza.  We made our way through the snow banks and across the slush covered street and into Schoolhouse.  Upon first glance it’s pretty standard pizza place, very similar to what most towns in Massachusetts know as their town pizza, like Medfield Town Pizza, Norfolk Town Pizza, etc.  But there was something different about this spot.  From the exposed brick, to the bar that overlooks the kitchen and finally to the chalkboard menus that lined the walls. 

Meatless Monday & Unprocessed: Potato and Leek Pizza

Well I'm into week 2 of my Unprocessed month and I did have one major cheat.  After a day of painting and movers finally bringing the last of my furniture from LA I broke and the boy and I tried a fish & chip shop around the corner from our house.  Now I felt bad enough about eating the fried food, but what was even worse is that the meal wasn't even that good.  The fish was far too greasy and the chips were mediocre.  The fact that my cheat was so unsatisfying has made it easier for me to stick to my unprocessed eating and even further proof why I am partaking in the challenge.  it's one thing to eat bad for you food if it's tasty and satisfying, no matter how guilty.  It's and entirely other thing when you feel bad after eating it.

This week's Meatless Monday recipe is actually a great healthier version of one of my favorite guilty pleasures, pizza!  For me it's a healthier options because it's not loaded with cheese and though I firmly believe in cheese on pizza, this one just doesn't need it.  It's packed with flavor from the slow cooked leeks, the infused oil and the bouquet garni I use when cooking the potatoes, not to mention the hearty whole wheat crust. 

T&C: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

For this month's Taste & Create I was paired up with Rachelle at Mommy, I'm Hungry. Not only is she my T&C partner, but she also adopted my bloggie friend Tania over at Love Big Bake Often. Please check out both of their blogs for delicious treats.

Moving on to the food...last weekend my best friend and college roommate flew up to Toronto from Boston for a weekend filled with baseball, beer and bonding. We have a full weekend with a fab dinner on Friday night, baseball game and bar crawl on Saturday and a baby shower on Sunday. Knowing we'd be wiped by Sunday night I had planned ahead to cook dinner on Sunday night so we could relax on the patio with some wine. I found just the perfect thing to make on Rachelle's blog in her Buffalo Chicken Pizza. We lived on Archie Moore's Buffalo wings in college and since the boy was going to eating with us too, he's a fan of all things Buffalo Chicken. For all the things I've made from scratch I couldn't believe I had never made my own pizza dough and this would give me the perfect opportunity to try. I decided to do grilled pizzas, lucky for me Rachelle had a delicious sounding Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza recipe on her blog. I tweaked the crust to make it whole wheat and even though I'm one for using my own tomato sauce for everything, I decided to try her Pizza Sauce as is.


Grilled Buffalo Chicken Pizza
adapted from Mommy, I'm Hungry

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - shredded
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (2 ounce) bottle hot sauce (I used 3 TBL)3/4 cup blue cheese dressing
1/2 cup pizza sauce (see recipe below)
1 prepared pizza crust (see recipe below)
6 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
6 oz shredded smoked cheddar cheese

1. Preheat grill to medium low. In a medium bowl combine the shredded chicken, melted butter and hot sauce. Mix well. Mix together pizza sauce and blue cheese dressing.
2. Oil heated grill and place one of the pizza dough rounds on it. Let grill until light grill marks begin to appear and the bottom side is cooked, approx 5-10 minutes.
3. Flip crust and top with Blue cheese pizza sauce mixture. Shredded chicken & hot sauce and equal amounts of the cheeses. Let cook until bottom is cooked through and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
4. Remove to a cutting board and let cool for 5 minutes before cutting.
5. Repeat with other dough round and the rest of the ingredients.

Pizza Dough
adapted from Mommy, I'm Hungry

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose + 1/2 cup more for kneading
1 1/4 cup organic Red Fife whole wheat +1/2 cup more for kneading

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and honey in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 1 1/4 cup all purpose and 1 1/4 cup Red Fife.
Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour.
Divide dough in 2 even pieces. Punch down the dough, and form each into a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.

Pizza Sauce
adapted from Mommy, I'm Hungry

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
6 fluid ounces warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt to taste

1. In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, water, Parmesan cheese, garlic, honey, onion powder, oregano, marjoram, basil, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and salt.
2. Mix together, breaking up any clumps of cheese.
3. Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.


This was a perfect summer night dinner, especially on a hot summer night since very little was cooked inside, keeping my little hot box of a kitchen cool. I roasted my chicken breasts before shredding, but you could easily use leftover chicken or grille it. The pizza sauce needs no cooking and is delicious! Aside from all the ease in putting this together, it was so very tasty and enjoyed by the boy and the college roomie, both very tough critics when it comes to all things Buffalo Style. Thanks Rachelle for such a tasty recipe! Don't forget to check out the other Taste & Create entries here. Enjoy!

Pizza at Home

Well, I was remiss in taking a picture of last night's pizza. Partially because, unbeknownst to me, my camera battery was dead, but mostly because I was just plain famished by the time this was ready to eat and while I love all of you that check out my blog, putting food in my tummy was way more important! I decided to make pizza because I was craving it, mostly due to the fact that the boy made an AMAZING pizza on Sunday night, chock full of tasty cheeses, sausage, onions and I don't even know what else. But I was also inspired by this post over at It's Melissa's Kitchen. Not only do the veggies from her CSA box look tasty and make me want to join one myself, but the pizza had to be made based on the photo alone.

I looked at her recipe and followed alot of it, but made my own tweaks along the way. See what I did below:

Pizza

1 package Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough
1/2 cup Trader Joe's Fat Free Pizza Sauce
1/4-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I didn't measure this so it's a really rough measurement)
Heirloom Tomatoes (if in season) sliced
Fresh Mozzarella - I used a ball and a half of the Ovaline size
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

1. Remove pizza dough from package and let rise on the counter for 20 minutes
2. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Once dough has risen, either roll or hand stretch to fit a lightly oiled baking sheet. I used a 15 inch cookie sheet (no round pans in my house yet) and I hand stretched, more fun that way.
4. Brush the crust with olive oil. Spread a very thin layer of Pizza sauce over the crust. The amount depends on taste and you can even omit this, I just like I little sauce on my crust even if I'm topping with tomatoes.
5. Sprinkle a small amount of shredded mozzarella over the crust. The bulk of the cheese on this is from the fresh mozzarella, but in my opinion you can never have enough cheese and I think this little bit helps for extra coverage.
6. Arrange the tomatoes and mozzarella over the pizza. Chiffonade the basil sprinkle all over
7. In true Italian fashion, top with a drizzling of extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper.
8. Bake for 10-15 minutes until crust looks golden and pizza looks tasty.
9. Remove from over and let cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting.


I feel like the one time I tried to make pizza at home it was a disaster, albeit so long ago I can't exactly remember when. This was so very tasty and easy. I highly recommend it. My sis, who is cutting back on carbs and made her own dinner last night, commented on how good it smelled and I could tell a part of her wanted some.