Amazing Pizza

Tonight I made one of the best tasting pizzas I’ve ever had (and it was “clean”).  It took a little while to get everything prepped and cooked, but it was well worth it.  I’m not a big meat lover when it comes to pizza, but the meats chosen for this pizza complimented the veggies very well.  I would definitely make this again.  I thought it was better than any supreme pizza I’ve gotten at a local pizza chain (no grease either).

We opted to use the pre-made Boboli whole-wheat crust (saving time).  I did put the garlic powder on it before adding the sauce and the rest of the ingredients.  I had the turkey sausage on hand, but opted not to use it for this recipe (instead I’ll save it for another recipe).  I did use the ground beef and turkey pepperoni.  Yum!  We also opted to forgo the mushrooms (as we’re not fans…bleh).  I also added a red pepper to the veggie mix.

Once all of the ingredients were cooked, it was very simple to make and then you just pop it in the oven for a very short time and it’s ready to go.  It tasted outstanding!  Definitely worth trying.  What’s great is that you can modify the ingredients to your liking. Enjoy!

A SMARTER SLICE

Serves 4 (2 slices each)

Olive oil spray
1 cup sweet onion strips
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
3/4 cup green bell pepper strips
4oz. 96% lean ground beef
2.5oz. fresh turkey or chicken Italian sausage, sliced
16oz. fresh or frozen whole-wheat pizza dough, defrosted, if necessary
Garlic powder, to taste
1/4 cup low-fat pizza sauce from a jar
3oz. (about 3.5 cups) finely shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
8 slices turkey pepperoni
2 tbsp kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
Oregano and crushed red pepper flakes , to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat a medium nonstick frying pan over medium heat and lightly mist with cooking spray. Add onions, mushrooms and peppers. Cook about 6-8 minutes, until veggies are tender and just barely starting to brown. Remove pan contents into another dish.

Turn heat to medium-high and return pan to heat. When hot, add ground beef and sausage. Cook, stirring occasionally, breaking beef into hearty chunks until just barely pink, about 1-2 minutes. Remove and turn off heat.

In a 12- or 14-inch nonstick pizza pan, using a rolling pin, flour, gently press dough to 12-inch diameter, being careful not to create any holes (crust will be crispier if pan is dark gray or black). If dough tears, patch it. Then, using fork, poke dough about 20 times, evenly spreading out the holes. Sprinkle dough with garlic powder. Bake for 4 minutes.

Spoon sauce in center of dough, then spread evenly to cover all but the outer inch. Sprinkle cheese evenly over sauce. Then top evenly with pepperoni, sausage mixture, veggie mixture, then olives. Sprinkle with oregano and red pepper flakes. bake an additional 12-15 minutes or until crust is lightly browned (but before the cheese browns). Remove. Let stand for 5 minutes. Then transfer to cutting board and slice into 8 slices.