Two summers ago we stayed in Falmouth, MA for our annual Cape Cod family vacation. One night we ordered pizza from a restaurant called Stone L’Oven and every last pizza was delectable. My favorites were the fig and prosciutto pizza (which I already created a recipe for) and a wonderful sweet potato pizza. Nate’s cousin Sara and I went back and forth endlessly about which one we liked more. In the end we couldn’t decide, they were both amazing!

I have finally recreated the sweet potato pizza in my own kitchen and it was delicious! This pizza has all kinds of wonderful ingredients, from salty bacon and gorgonzola cheese to sweet caramelized onions and sweet potatoes. Top it all off with a balsamic glaze and you’re in heaven!

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A note on the balsamic glaze – I used to make it myself until I discovered STAR’s Modena Creamy Balsamic Glaze. Their glaze is the perfect consistency for drizzling on pizza, so that’s what I use now. I highly recommend it.

Sweet Potato and Bacon Pizza

 

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This pizza is the perfect combination of salty and sweet!

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• Pizza crust of your choice (I use this recipe or good naan bread for my crust)
• olive oil
• 1 fresh garlic clove per pizza you make
• caramelized onions
• fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced (regular shredded mozzarella cheese works, too, but I love fresh)
• gorgonzola cheese, small chunks
• sweet potato, cubed
• bacon, cooked and chopped
• fresh spinach
• salt and pepper
• balsamic glaze (if you want to make your own, click here for instructions. STAR makes a bottled balsamic glaze that I love - click here for more info.)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Toss cubed sweet potatoes in olive oil and sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a cooking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes, until soft.
3. Roll out pizza crust then brush on a thin layer of olive oil across the surface. Push fresh garlic clove through a garlic press then spread with your fingers over the oiled crust. Top pizza with caramelized onions, gorgonzola cheese, spinach, sweet potatoes, and bacon. Finish with mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake pizza how you normally do it for your crust recipe.
5. Remove from oven, sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper then drizzle with balsamic glaze. Serve!

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In case you’ve been wondering what it takes to make a perfect barbecue chicken pizza, well, today is your lucky day.

So, what does it take? If you’ve eaten at pretty much any pizzeria that serves good barbecue chicken pizza, you probably already know the answer: cilantro. Also, mixing gouda cheese in with the mozzarella is pretty much your ticket to pizza heaven.

Also #2…can we go back to the whole naan-bread-as-pizza-crust trick I recently discovered? I am completely and totally addicted and have been making pizza like it’s going out of style. Nothing beats my homemade crust (detailed post coming one day soon, I promise!), but, seriously, the naan bread thing is KILLER.

Without further ado, the non-recipe recipe for PERFECT barbecue chicken pizza. Enjoy!

Perfect Barbecue Chicken Pizza

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Cilantro is the key to truly killer barbecue chicken. Also, gouda. You're welcome.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• Good barbecue sauce (I use one a sweet BBQ sauce for flavor contrast)
• Grilled chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Thinly-sliced red onion
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Shredded gouda cheese
• Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Spread pizza crust with barbecue sauce. Scatter chicken and red onion evenly then top with mozzarella and gouda cheeses.
2. Cook pizza until cheese is melted and bubbly. After taking out of the oven, sprinkle with fresh cilantro.
3. Enjoy!

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A few months ago I was thinking that naan bread would make a good crust for quick pizzas. I wrote it on my “to try” list and then ignored the list all summer. Then, this week, I picked up the America’s Test Kitchen magazine “6 Ingredient Recipes” (which is on newsstands now until October 20 and it’s great!) and guess what they had as one of the recipes? Naan pizza! I decided to finally get my act together and give it a try.

This past Sunday I was planning to make homemade pizza. I have really perfected the pizza-making process (not to brag or anything) and was looking forward to having pizza for dinner. (Here is my crust recipe – I will also be doing a full post about making homemade pizza soon, so keep an eye out.) But Sunday ended up being really busy as well as ridiculously hot. I simply didn’t feel like turning my oven on at 550º F for 2-3 hours. So, I broke out the naan bread and fired up the grill!

Naan bread works perfectly as a pizza crust. Following the technique below, it gets nice and crispy on the bottom but still has some chew, and it’s just so quick and easy! Making the naan pizzas on the grill worked beautifully, but I also cooked one in the oven and that worked great, too. If I had to choose I would go with the grill, but you can’t lose either way!

Naan pizzas are also a great lunch option – I made one for myself yesterday in the toaster oven and it was quick and painless!

For the record, I love my homemade crust more. But these naan pizzas are still pretty amazing and are perfect for when you need a good homemade pizza cheat!

Pizza flavors pictured: Barbecue Chicken (BBQ sauce, chicken, cheese and cilantro tossed on after cooking) and Honey Goat Cheese with Caramelized Onion

(>> Find out more…)

Last summer on Cape Cod we ordered pizza from a restaurant in Falmouth called Stone L’Oven. Every last pizza we tried was delicious, but there were two flavors in particular that really stole my heart. I’ve been meaning to recreate them since July and finally got around to making one of them. (The second favorite flavor will have to remain a mystery until I can get a post together!)

Pizza is sort of becoming my thing. The last few times we’ve had guests over it’s what I’ve made. It’s great all hanging out while the pizzas come out of the oven, one-by-one. The cooking and the eating get all mixed up together and it’s a lot of fun. And, not to brag, I’ve gotten really good at making pizza. I am planning to write a comprehensive post with all the tips and tricks I have, but for now you’ll just have to settle for a totally amazing pizza flavor – fig and prosciutto.

THIS PIZZA. So good. It almost beats the honey goat cheese and caramelized onion pizza. (I’m coming to realize no pizza will ever actually beat that one, but coming close is an accomplishment!)

This pizza is the perfect combination of salty and sweet and is drizzled with a delectable balsamic glaze. It’s so tasty you won’t know what to do with yourself.

Also, my new trays from Q Squared NYC were perfect for pizza night. I just fall in love all over again every time I use Q Squared’s dishes! We’ve entertained a few times since my dishes arrived – they always come in handy (especially eating outside) and look gorgeous to boot. Love, love, love.

(>> Find out more…)

I have been meaning to share this “recipe” with you for a few weeks and am finally getting to it. I’m excited – it’s a good one!

Years ago Nate’s Grammy McCarthy ordered us a BLT pizza from her local pizzeria. I was skeptical, but then I had a bite. It was heavenly and so simple. All these years later I have finally tried making it at home and with great success.

I made this when my brother and his family were in town and we ate every last bite. I’m certain we could have eaten a lot more if I’d made it! I’ve made it again since and this pizza is seriously is amazing. It was even close to edging out the honey goat cheese with caramelized onions pizza as our favorite, but I think the goat cheese pizza may still be in the lead. But just barely.

BLT pizza is essentially bacon pizza topped with salad. You’ll want to eat it with a fork. And you’ll want to eat the whole thing. Fair warning.

BLT Pizza

 

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So simple, yet heavenly!

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dishes, Pizza

Cuisine: Italian, American

Ingredients

• I use this recipe for Uncle Tony’s pizza crust and it makes 4 mediumish pizzas
• I use this pizza sauce recipe for the BLT pizza because it tastes fresh and tomato-y
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 packages bacon, cooked and then chopped (I bake mine at 400 degrees on a foil-lined sheet for about 15-20 minutes)
• 2-3 hearts of romaine lettuce, chopped
• ~3 tomatoes or a couple handfuls of grape tomatoes, chopped
• Mayonnaise

Instructions

1. Top pizza crust with tomato sauce, bacon, then an even layer of mozzarella cheese. Bake in a 500 degree oven until crust and cheese are browned. Remove from oven.
2. While pizza is cooking, toss the chopped lettuce and tomatoes with a couple spoonfuls of mayonnaise – a little mayo goes a long way, so start with less and add more if you need it. You just want to coat the veggies in a thin layer. I know, I know, the mayo thing sounds kind of weird, but TRUST ME.
3. Once the pizza is out of the oven, top with the salad mixture. Cut into slices and eat!
4. No exact measurements for this recipe – just go with your gut on amounts, but the above guidelines should be helpful!
5. A delightful addition to the lettuce topping would be chopped avocado, making this BLTA pizza! Yum!

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One of my biggest food pet peeves is unripe tomatoes. You know the ones, those tomatoes you buy at the grocery store or get at restaurants throughout most of the year. The ones that travel many, many miles in a picked-before-they-are-ripe state. The ones that are rarely red inside and are lacking that full, wonderful flavor that tomatoes are supposed to have.

Since joining a CSA a few years back, I have pretty much stopped buying fresh tomatoes at the store. We enjoy fresh tomatoes only 1 or 2 months out of the year, when they are in season and are showing up in my weekly CSA bag. The rest of the time? I change my meal plans to reflect the lack of in-season tomatoes in our lives and go with recipes that utilize canned tomatoes instead. This approach has worked great!

Sometimes, though, in the dead of winter, you need a little something to remind you of those summer and fall days, when fresh produce is in abundance. One of my most favorite foods is margherita pizza and it fits the bill when I’m feeling a little itch for summertime food. And a can of petite diced tomatoes is just what I need to make it happen.

I recently started working with Hunt’s canned tomatoes and have really appreciated learning about about how they can their tomatoes. All of their tomatoes are grown in California, picked when they are ripe and canned within hours of harvest. The tomatoes go through a FlashSteam process, instead of being treated with chemicals like other canned tomatoes. As a result, the full tomato flavor is maintained and the tomatoes are fresh tasting.

Which brings us back to the margherita pizza. A can of petite diced tomatoes works perfectly on margherita pizza. The pizza has all that great fresh tomato flavor I am always striving for. No unripe, mealy tomatoes for the Maynards…or their pizza. Here’s to delicious margherita pizza any time of year!

Fresh Tasting Margherita Pizza Year Round!

 

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Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dish, Pizza

Ingredients

• One recipe Uncle Tony’s Pizza Crust
• Olive oil
• 1 can Hunt’s petite diced tomatoes, drained
• Fresh mozzarella, sliced
• Fresh basil
• Salt

Instructions

1. Divide the Uncle Tony’s Pizza Crust dough into four pieces. Roll each piece out to 9 inches.
2. For each pizza, spread about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the surface of the dough. Spread ¼ of the canned tomatoes on the crust, then sprinkle with a bit of salt. Top with sliced mozzarella and bake pizza (preferably on a pizza stone at 500 degrees F) until edges are browned, about 8 minutes or so. Sprinkle with sliced fresh basil. (Putting the basil on the pizza AFTER baking is key!)

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Today is the third and last of my Newman’s Own “Own It” posts with Martha’s Circle. This time around I was challenged to use a salad dressing to make a recipe my own.

As I thought about what I might put together, I remembered back to when we were very first married. One of the meals we would make were grilled chicken sandwiches. I would marinate the chicken breasts in Italian dressing and then broil the chicken in the oven. Nothing fancy but it was definitely a go-to meal for me then that we liked a lot.

At that same time in my life, a friend of mine had me over for dinner one night and made pizza. She didn’t use sauce, just olive oil and it was delicious. (This is the same friend who gave me the Uncle Tony’s Pizza Crust recipe…that night was the first time I ate that crust! And, yes, she really did have an Uncle Tony and he really was Italian.) I digress, back to the pizza…it was the first time I had a tomato sauceless pizza and it opened up a whole new pizza world to me.

Thinking fondly on those early days of marriage and learning to cook, I decided to combine these two memories into one recipe. I made pizza that uses Italian dressing as the “sauce,” instead of just straight up olive oil. And then I used all the ingredients that I normally would have put on the chicken sandwich. And with that, the Italian Chicken Panini Pizza was born!

The pizza was yummy. It had a nice light flavor and hit the spot. I used the Newman’s Own Lighten Up Italian dressing and it worked great! I named the pizza Italian Chicken Panini Pizza because Panini sounds more Italian than Sandwich. 😉

Italian Chicken Panini Pizza

 

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Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dish, Pizza

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

• Uncle Tony’s Pizza Crust or other pizza crust that you like
• Newman’s Own Light Italian Dressing
• 1-2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced, seasoned with salt & pepper prior to grilling (you could even marinate the chicken in the Italian dressing before grilling as well)
• 1-2 tomatoes, sliced
• Couple handfuls of fresh spinach
• Mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. Prepare your crust. Spread 2-3 tablespoons of Italian dressing on the crust instead of tomato sauce. Top with spinach, chicken and tomatoes then the cheese.
2. Bake in the oven on a pizza stone with your oven at the highest temperature it will go (mine goes to 500 degrees), about 8-10 minutes”¦until crust browns and cheese is bubbly.
3. When I used the above pizza crust recipe, I made 4 medium sized pizzas – two of them plain cheese, two of them Italian Chicken Panini”¦for two Italian Chicken Panini pizzas I used 1 large tomato and 1 chicken breast.

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Menlo Park Week was oodles of fun for me, but I’m a little happy it’s over so I can finally share this honey goat cheese pizza with you! It’s divine. I can’t take credit for the idea of this pizza…that goes to my dear friend Faye. Yet another reason I’m grateful Faye is in my life.

Here’s why I love this pizza. The sweetness of the goat cheese and the caramelized onions balances perfectly with the saltiness of the parmesan cheese and the salt that you sprinkle on the pizza. And the texture of the mozzarella cheese balances out the goat cheese oh so nicely. It’s perfection on a pizza crust.

Honey Goat Cheese Pizza

 

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Author: Jane Maynard inspired by my friend Faye Stein

Ingredients

• Honey goat cheese from Trader Joe's (If you don't have a TJ's, then I would recommend using regular goat cheese and drizzling some honey over the pizza before baking - you gotta get that sweetness in there. You could even mix some honey in with the goat cheese before putting dabs on the pizza.)
• Caramelized onions
• Fresh mozzarella cheese (or shredded if that's what you have in the fridge, but the fresh is just so yummy)
• Fresh parmesan cheese (sorry, this one has to be fresh, folks)
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Pizza crust (Obviously! Click here for the recipe I use.)

Instructions

1. Make your crust. When it's ready to be topped, drizzle some olive oil on the crust and spread around with your fingers. Sprinkle salt all over the crust, and a bit of pepper. Top with the caramelized onions, mozzarella cheese and fresh parmesan cheese. Like I mentioned in the ingredients list, if you can't get your hands on the Trader Joe's honey goat cheese - I would just drizzle a bit of honey over the pizza before topping with the cheeses and onions. You could also mix your plain goat cheese with honey before putting dabs of the cheese on the pizza.
2. Bake on a pizza stone at the highest heat your oven can put out until cheese is bubbly and the crust is browned (or bake your pizza how you normally bake it).

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One thing we really miss in San Diego is Leucadia Pizza.  And one of our favorites at Leucadia is the Thai Chicken Pizza.  If you live in San Diego and you are NOT eating this pizza, it’s a crime.

I’ve begun my quest to recreate it.  And I think I’m almost there!

Featured Recipe: Thai Chicken Pizza

 

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Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dish, Poultry, Pizza

Cuisine: Thai

Ingredients

• Pizza crust (homemade, TJ’s $1 crust, whatever)
• Shredded carrots (about ½ – ¾ of a carrot”¦1 full carrot was a little much)
• Bean sprouts
• Chopped green onion
• Chicken breast, cut into small cubes or strips and sauteed in olive oil (season with s&p)
• Peanuts (I went with roasted unsalted”¦you don’t need the salt on the peanuts)
• Peanut Sauce
• Chopped Cilantro
• Mozzarella Cheese

Notes

Leucadia’s peanut sauce really makes the pizza. A perfect blend of sweet and spicy. I tried the Trader Joe’s Satay Peanut Sauce. It was definitely not sweet enough and the texture wasn’t right.

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I just bought Organic Peanut Sauce at Whole Foods. I think this just might do it. I haven’t used it on the pizza yet, but I added some brown sugar to the sauce and it tastes awesome. And the texture is better for pizza. Next time I make the pizza, I’ll let you know how this sauce goes.  I think it will be a winner!

Whenever I make homemade pizza, I always put all the toppings on top of the sauce and add the mozzarella cheese last. Especially with fresh herbs. It’s the way to go.

If anyone has a recipe for a great peanut sauce, please share!

My favorite pizza place in San Diego is Leucadia Pizzeria. My favorite pizzas at Leucadia are Thai Chicken, Hawaiian and, today’s featured recipe, Barbecue Chicken. Since they won’t deliver to the Bay Area, I’ve had to try to recreate these yummy pizzas at home.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

 

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Simple with a lot of flavor!

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dish, Pizza

Cuisine: American

Notes

The BBQ chicken pizza is quite simple. Barbecue sauce, chicken, gouda cheese & cilantro. That’s it, you’re done. I do a mix of gouda and mozzarella cheese so that it’s cheesier (one block of gouda isn’t QUITE enough cheese). Also, the Kansas City BBQ Sauce from Trader Joe’s is mighty fine. PS – The cilantro is KEY. Make sure you put a whole bunch on there (I chop it up before). It gives it the best flavor.

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