Sugar Snap Pea, Asparagus, Baby Leek, Pesto & Ricotta Pizza

This past Sunday night when it was pouring down rain in Hoboken I opted to make a pizza. On the grill. Outside. For dinner. Thanks to a saintly husband & an umbrella it actually came to fruition.

This is the perfect spring pizza with heaps of green veggies & flavor even you meat eaters will go vegetarian for the day. Plus, I got to use this pesto on it!

PS: Happiest birthday to one of my favorite ladies, Miss Ashley McGee! xx

Make this pizza & tag me in your photos on instagram (@mrshoh or #HeatherOMade)!

Garlicky Pretzel Pizza Rolls

On a day when it’s semi-cooler I suggest you make these. Perhaps a great snack for watching the World Cup. I made these for Easter - yes I know that was a while ago but they are timeless snack worthy of a post even if it comes in mid-June.

I started off with visions for replicating this recipe. Things didn’t work out as planned. I tried to make the dough suggested in the recipe that is supposed to be like Auntie Anne’s pretzels (I LOVE AUNTIE ANNE’S PRETZELS). Alas, the milk I used was too hot & I’m pretty sure that I killed the dry active yeast because although it was Easter, it did not rise again. Being that I was making these rather last minute I had to use what I had - so I used pizza dough i had in the fridge.  I used the same method as making pretzels (remember these yummies?) so I think they were pretty close to the initial recipe. The result was tasty & I don’t think anyone (but me) missed the Auntie Anne’s pretzel dough. The next time I make these I will try that recipe again (I WILL!!!). 

Hope you have a fabulous weekend :)

Better Home Cooking Basics: #22 For a Crispier Pizza Crust at Home Use Less Pizza Dough

I'm really into making homemade pizzas. The crispier the crust the better. I'm constantly learning as I go. Lately, I had an epiphany which seems rather obvious but in order to make the crispiest crust you need to make sure you stretch it thin but more importantly & a sure way to make it thin is to simply use less dough. It's that easy. Use less dough & stretch & roll it out the same size as you normally would & you're on your way to a crispier crust. I also recommend heating your pizza stone  (this is by far my favorite one!) or pizza pan in the oven before you place the dough on it. That way the bottom of the crust gets a head start when you put it on the hot surface - you'll probably even hear it sizzle.

Check out more better home cooking basic tips here.

PS: happy 5th birthday this little beauty, my niece Gracie. I love you!

BBQ Chicken & Cheese Quesadilla Pizza

Happy belated Cinco de Mayo! Did you enjoy some salty margaritas or with something deliciously spicy?

I have only been celebrating Cinco de Mayo since my early twenties, probably because that's when I was of the legal drinking age for bars & restaurants to market to me. Even though we didn't celebrate Cinco de Mayo when I was growing up I remember my mom making cheese quesadillas. She would top a tortilla with a  mix of barbecue sauce & salsa together with some green onions, cheese & then another tortilla and pan fry into a crispy snack that was both spicy & sweet.  Taking a nod from my youth and this California Pizza Kitchen-esque BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe I created my own fusion (half bbq have Mexican inspired) Cinco de Mayo dinner.

Roasted Veggies & Goat Cheese Pizza

If you read this blog on the regular you might be noticing a pattern with pizza.  I'm really into making pizza dough to have on hand for dinner. The possibilities are endless & plus, who doesn't like pizza? 

Chris brought back one of the largest butternut squashes I've ever seen from the farmer's market so I felt the need to incorporate that into a dinner & in this case a pizza.  I'm not going to lie, you have to put some work in to get what you want out of a butternut squash. It's pretty hard so zap it in the microwaved before you attempt to cook it. Since mine was on the larger side I microwaved it for about 5 minutes. Then you can cut it in half length ways.  It has some seeds in it that you'll need to scoop out. There is also a pretty tough shell on this veggie so you'll need to peel that off.  Now you're ready to chop. Do your best to make even sized pieces. The smaller the pieces the quicker they will cook. I only used half of the squash for this recipe but I chopped up the rest of it & sealed it in a food storage bag for use later in the week - which mean less prep time for round two.

My favorite part of this pizza is smearing the warm goat cheese all over it when it comes out of the oven. The tang from the goat cheese & the sweetness of the roasted veggies is dinner worthy!

Pomodoro Pizza

Fillippos on First, our favorite pizza place in Hoboken sadly was not able to recover after Sandy so we've been trying out other pizza places in the neighborhood but lately our favorite has been the one right in our kitchen.  I've been whipping up my own pizza dough as of late with Bobby Flay's recipe but I also use the store bought stuff too - I don't discriminate.  Our newest pizza stone has been a great replacement to the one that we broke earlier last year. Per the recommendation of my girlfriend of Amanda the William-Sonoma pizza stone doesn't stick - well if you use cooking spray or olive oil is what i've found. Now that I've figured out how to use it we  (the pizza stone & I) work well together.

Since it's still pretty chilly (spring where are you?!?!) it's still nice to heat up the oven & make the house smell like fresh pizza.

Click through for my simple method of how you can make your own pomodoro (tomato) pizza at home with the multi-purpose tomato sauce that I posted about yesterday.

Pizza at Home

Homemade pizza is quick & delicious as well as a staple in the repertoire of dinners at our house.  We always through some fresh pizza dough in our cart when doing our weekly grocery shopping.  Last night I used our pizza stone which is best on the grill in my opinion - but we were out of propane - so to the oven i went!

This time I cut a piece of parchment paper to line my pizza stone with  hopes of not cleaning it. (Note: I still had to clean it.) If you don't have a pizza stone I read somewhere that you can use an inverted baking sheet - who knew!  Since I'm never convinced the dough gets cooked enough (as it does on the grill) I opted to cook my crust twice. First, with just some olive oil, oregano, salt, pepper & fresh garlic. Then, I cooked it once more after I topped it with sauce, baby portobello mushrooms & mozzarella cheese. It was still delish sans the grill.

What are your favorite toppings for homemade pizza?

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend. xo

(Check out more pizza making pics after jump!)