Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion BBQ Cheddar Pizza

If you’ve been on Facebook or Instagram this morning, you’ve likely seen lots of pictures of snow – it seems like quite a few cities in both the US and Canada have experienced their first snowfall this week!  I usually split my time between two cities in Southern Ontario, and fortunately the one I’m in right now got less snow than the other one – just enough to coat all the leaves on the ground but not enough to stay on the sidewalks.  Even with only a light layer of snow though, it’s still been freezing cold outside this week so it seems that winter has officially arrived!

With the colder weather, I’ve been craving warm and comforting food a lot more lately, and this pizza fit the bill perfectly!  It’s full of hearty, savoury flavours including roasted sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, and a bold barbeque sauce in place of tomato sauce.  It might sound like a kind of strange combination, especially with the cheddar cheese, but trust me that it all works so well together! 

When I brought up the idea for dinner a while ago to Ryan, he rejected it then because the idea of sweet potatoes on pizza was a little too out there for him, but I couldn’t get the idea out of my head so I went ahead and made it the other day and even he admitted “it was really good”.  I would add one extra "really" on to that myself!

I know I’ve been making a lot of naan pizzas lately, and I swear I had intended to make this one a real pizza instead, but the store I went grocery shopping at didn’t have any pizza dough (except for those pre-made circles of cardboard) and I didn’t have time to make my own dough, so I grabbed some whole wheat naan.  But naan is cheaper than pizza dough (at least at my grocery stores) and allows you to make the perfect individual sized pizzas whenever you want, so I really love them!  

If you're cooking for more than a couple people though (or don't like naan bread for some crazy reason), feel free to use regular pizza dough with the same toppings - the recipe I provide is more of a guide anyway so you can adapt it to whatever type of base you like!

Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion BBQ Cheddar Pizza

This is just a rough guide for a large pizza or 4 naan pizzas – all ingredients are estimates and can be adjusted as you see fit.

Ingredients:

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into about ½-inch pieces

Salt and pepper

2 large sweet onions, peeled and sliced into half moons

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 ball of pizza dough or 4 pieces of whole wheat naan bread

Your favourite BBQ sauce (I used a bold bbq sauce – try to use a thicker one with flavour)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Toss sweet potatoes with a couple teaspoons of olive oil or enough to coat them, and season with salt and pepper. Spread in an even layer on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until tender.

Meanwhile, heat another tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, stir to coat with oil, and season with salt and pepper.  Spread onions out evenly across the pan and let cook, stirring only occasionally, until softened, about 15-20 minutes.  Add sugar (this is to help them caramelize; I don’t always do this step), stir to coat, and let cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, stirring only occasionally.  Once they are caramelized to your liking, remove from pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to desired temperature for cooking your pizza – this depends on what type of dough you’re using: a recipe for pizza dough will give cooking instructions, a storebought ball of pizza dough also will, and if you’re making naan pizzas, I cook mine at 425°F for about 10-12 minutes.  Prepare pizzas by spreading a thin layer of bbq sauce as the base of the pizza, top with a thin layer of cheddar cheese (or desired amount of cheese), followed by the cooked sweet potatoes and onions.  Season lightly with salt and pepper if desired, and bake.  Serve warm.

Shamrock Personal Pizzas for St. Patrick's Day

Last year, I made these heart-shaped personal pizzas with heart-shaped toppings for Valentine's Day, and I loved them so much that I decided to try to do the same thing for St. Patrick's Day, but with shamrock pizzas and shamrock toppings!

These follow the same method as the heart-shaped pizzas - just divide a ball of pizza dough in four, shape each piece into a shamrock, then top each one with desired St. Paddy's themed toppings, depending on individual tastes!

Let's start with the dough.  You can either buy a storebought ball of dough, which is what I did with the heart-shaped pizzas, or make your own.  For these ones, I made Martha Stewart's whole wheat pizza dough.  I cut the recipe in half, which made enough to form 4 personal pizzas.  I skipped the freezing step, and went ahead and baked them two at a time, for 15 minutes at 450°F.  Here's my attempt at showing how to form each ball of dough (after it had risen) into a shamrock shape - it's super easy!

Let's move on to the toppings!  I tried four different topping ideas, which I'll describe below.  If the pictures are too small to read, just right click and 'view image' to see them larger.

The green pepper pizza was my favourite visually.  It was a little tricky to cut the green pepper into shamrock shapes, and mine certainly weren't perfect, but you can at least tell what they're supposed to be!  Just cut a green pepper in half, remove the seeds and membranes, cut each half in two, flatten your four pieces, and cut them into shamrock shapes.  You won't need the whole pepper, but this gives you a little space to work with in case you make a mistake!

I thought this was my most creative idea - combining green olive slices and stems to form shamrock shapes - but the finished product didn't look quite as nice as it did before it was baked.  The olives slid around a little during baking (probably because I used way too much cheese), so I had to try to put them back in place afterwards.  Next time, I might just wait to place the olives on the pizza after baking so they don't get covered up by cheese and you can tell what they're supposed to be!

This one's really easy because you can just use kitchen scissors to cut a leaf of lettuce, spinach, or basil into a shamrock shape!  I paired mine with a pesto spread (to keep it green) and tomatoes, and I had intended to add goat cheese but then realized I didn't have any, so just picture it on there!

This was my attempt at a healthier pizza, and instead of using shamrock shaped toppings, I covered the whole thing with green ingredients!  I spritzed the dough with olive oil, topped it with a bit of mozzarella (but gruyere would be good too), then put it in the oven for 10 minutes.  Next, I added a layer of chopped brussels sprouts and broccoli, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and popped it back in the oven for 5 minutes until the greens were just starting to brown on the edges.  The result was a crisp and light pizza that was actually my favourite!

These made the perfect individual sized pizzas and I loved having a different one to eat each day for leftovers!  The clover shape actually breaks perfectly into three "slices", which makes them easy to eat.  If you have other ideas for green toppings that would work on these, feel free to share them in the comments!

Pizza Stuffed Breadsticks

So it looks like I chose a pretty good year to be a Niners fan!  Let me rewind a bit .. With the NHL lockout earlier this year, my boyfriend decided to get into football more, and I decided it would be a lot more fun for me if I joined him.  I always watch the Super Bowl and sometimes playoff games, so I knew the basics of the game and who all the teams were, but I had never payed much attention to the regular season or had a favourite team.  So we each decided, before the season started, to choose a team to root for, and I chose the San Francisco 49ers.  I watched (almost) every game of theirs this season and discovered that football is probably the only sport I can watch on tv and actually enjoy every minute - it's so entertaining!

This past Sunday was especially exciting with the 49ers in the NFC Championship game (which they won, yay!), so I decided to make some football food to go along with the game.  Enter these pizza stuffed breadsticks!

These are super easy and super tasty - you really can't go wrong with pizza dough and cheese.  Most cheese-stuffed breadstick recipes have you wrapping individual pieces of dough around cheese, but I went the lazy route with these. All you have to do is roll pizza dough into a rectangle, top it with marinara sauce and shredded cheese, add a top layer of dough (brushed with an egg wash, seasonings, and parmesan), then bake and slice it into breadsticks.  Served with marinara sauce for dipping, you get something that tastes like pizza but is more fun to eat!

Between eating these and watching the game, I was a happy girl on Sunday!  Now I can't wait for the Super Bowl!

Pizza Stuffed Breadsticks

Adapted from Breadworld and Mennonite Girls Can Cook

Makes about 20 breadsticks

Ingredients:

1 ball of storebought frozen or refrigerated pizza dough (or 1 homemade pizza dough)

1/4 – 1/3 cup pizza/marinara sauce

200g brick of pizza mozzarella, shredded (about 2 cups)

1 large egg

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 teaspoon dried basil

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Extra marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Let pizza dough come to room temperature if using storebought dough.  Divide ball of dough in half.  Roll each half into a rectangle approximately 15”x10” on a floured surface.   If the dough won’t stay stretched, let it rest then try again.  Transfer one dough rectangle to a greased or parchment-lined 15x10-inch baking sheet, stretching as needed to meet edges of pan.  Brush pizza sauce over the surface, then sprinkle evenly with mozzarella.  Place second dough rectangle over top, and fold the edges under the bottom layer of dough, pinching to seal all around.

Use a pizza cutter to cut dough into 20-21 breadsticks (I cut it crosswise into thirds first, then cut each third into 7 breadsticks).  Do not separate the breadsticks.

Mix egg, milk, parmesan, garlic, basil, and oregano in a small bowl.  Use a pastry brush to brush over the tops of the breadsticks.  You won’t need to use all of it.  Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until puffed and golden.  Recut along seams to separate breadsticks and serve warm with extra marinara sauce for dipping.

Note: Mennonite Girls Can Cook has some great step-by-step photos of her breadsticks if the above directions aren't clear - mine just used storebought dough, added marinara sauce in the middle layer, and used a little less cheese, but otherwise the steps were the same!

Note 2: (thanks to Genevieve for pointing this out in the comments): We loved these as is, but it could also be fun to try out different versions with various toppings stuffed in the middle!  I imagine that diced pepperoni or veggies would make fun variations!

Heart-Shaped Personal Pizzas (with heart-shaped toppings!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

If you're still looking for last minute meal ideas to make for your loved one(s) tomorrow, I've got the perfect idea for you: heart-shaped personal pizzas with heart-shaped toppings!

I say "idea" because I'm not actually providing a recipe here - pizza's one of those things that you don't really need measurements in a recipe to make (unless you're making your own dough, in which case, I can't help you there because I just bought a refrigerated storebought pizza dough for these).

All you have to do for these adorable little guys is divide a regular-sized pizza dough (storebought or homemade) into four, then shape each portion into a heart. This part was a lot easier than I expected; my hearts weren't perfect, but you can definitely tell they're hearts! If you're having difficulty shaping the dough, just let it rest a while longer until it's easier to work with. For a few of the hearts, I had to cut off some of the dough from the top part in order to get the heart right, but they all held their shape pretty well.

Once you have your dough shaped into four personal-sized hearts, then you can top each one according to individual tastes and bake them (I baked two at a time). In order to make my pizzas extra special, I topped each one with different heart-shaped toppings! Check out my topping ideas below:

1) Pepperoni Hearts:

This one was one of the easiest - I just bought sliced pepperoni and cut each slice into a heart using a knife. You can even stack the pepperoni slices on top of each other to cut multiple hearts at a time, so this pizza takes no time at all to prepare. I paired the pepperoni with simple tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

2) Tomato Hearts:

Tomato is my favourite pizza topping, and combined with mozzarella and basil, it makes for my very favourite pizza! The tomatoes were the hardest of all the toppings to cut into hearts, and they probably made the least obvious looking hearts, but I think they still turned out cute! I placed each heart on top of a slice of mozzarella instead of shredding the cheese first, but either works!

3) Red Bell Pepper Hearts:

I thought these were the most fun because the red pepper was the least obvious ingredient to turn into a heart. All you have to do is slice a red bell pepper and line up two slices together to form a heart shape (you'll have to trim the ends off to get the right angle for your heart). I combined my red pepper slices with spinach and goat cheese, and while I'm not usually a fan of peppers on pizza, this was one of my favourites!

4) Roasted Red Pepper Hearts:

This was one of those last minute ideas I had that I wasn't very sure about, but it ended up being one of the best looking pizzas! I bought a jar of roasted red peppers, then just pulled out a big slice and cut it into small hearts using a paring knife. You could also roast your own red pepper if you have the time; I was just lazy. You could pair roasted red peppers with any other toppings you want but I kept it simple with just mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce.

If you don't like any of the above ideas, here are a few more ideas for toppings you could shape into hearts, which I didn't have enough dough to try with:

- Roasted red beets
- Roasted sweet potatoes
- Plain cheese with hearts drawn on in bbq or tomato sauce (for picky kids)
- Strawberries or apples (for the more adventurous types!)

I was so happy with how these turned out - not only did they look adorable, but they tasted amazing (what's not to like about pizza?!) and were the perfect size for one person.

And don't think that these can only be made on Valentine's Day! Save this idea and make heart-shaped pizzas any time you want to show your family, friends, or partner (or just yourself!) some love - they're guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face :)

Nectarine Pizza with Basil and Balsamic Vinegar

Okay, I realize some of you may have already stopped reading after the title - balsamic vinegar on a pizza? I also realize the rest of you may have clicked away after seeing the picture - did somebody squirt ink all over that thing? Well for those of you who remain, I promise your doubts will be squashed and you will be running to your kitchens to make this pizza!

Pizza was one of the only things I knew how to make back when I first moved out with my sister. And by pizza I mean some cheese and tomatoes on a piece of storebought naan bread. It was still delicious, but my pizza making skills have improved just a little since then. I can now make my own dough, I use a pizza stone, and I try to come up with creative toppings. Admittedly, I don't often make my own dough - it's easy, but it does require a fair bit of time, which I don't always have before dinner. And when you can buy fresh balls of dough from the grocery store for a couple of bucks, I don't see anything wrong with that.

Although cheese and tomato pizzas will probably always be my favourite, it's fun to experiment with new toppings. I first tried out this nectarine pizza last summer when I was making three different pizzas for my family and wanted to have at least one option that they wouldn't have tried before. I learned a couple of things from that experience. One was to never try to make three different pizzas at the same time again, unless I'm feeling mad at myself for some reason. The other was that it pays off to try new things - the nectarine pizza was everyone's favourite by far!

I forgot about that pizza until I was reminded by a similar recipe for a peach pizza that recently appeared on Two Peas and Their Pod. With fresh peaches starting to appear in the farmers markets, now was the perfect time to revisit this recipe.

Since I was cooking for just myself as usual (even on a Friday night, sad, I know), I just made a personal sized pizza. So instead of posting the exact amounts of each ingredient I used, which will vary according to the size of the pizza, I'll just list them below, along with some possible substitutions, and you can adjust accordingly. Hope you enjoy, and happy Friday!


Nectarine (or Peach) Pizza with Basil and Balsamic Vinegar

Adapted from Alexandra's Kitchen

Ingredients:

pizza dough
olive oil for greasing
light ricotta (or goat cheese or mascarpone)
1 nectarine or peach, sliced thinly (I used a combination of both on this one)
~ 1 tbsp parmesan
handful of chopped fresh basil
balsamic vinegar (I'd suggest reducing about 1/2 cup for a full sized pizza)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 500ºF, or to the temperature specified on the pizza dough package.

Lightly grease a baking pan with olive oil. Roll out the dough into a circle on the pan and let rest, according to package directions. Alternately you could make your own dough if you have time, or buy a precooked base if you're in a hurry.

Bring the balsamic vinegar to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Watch closely and remove once it is reduced by half (leaving about 1/4 cup) and has a syrupy consistency. You can taste it to make sure it's sweet enough, but be careful not to burn - err on the side of underreduced.

Brush a bit of olive oil over the dough, then spread a layer of ricotta (or desired cheese) as the base. Add the nectarine or peach slices in a single layer then sprinkle a bit of parmesan on top.

Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes or according to package directions, until crust is slightly brown and cheese is melting. Remove from oven and drizzle the balsamic reduction on top, followed by the fresh basil. Wait a few minutes before cutting, then enjoy!