Pizza Night

Last week was pretty insane, it being Holy Week and all, so I deemed Saturday Pizza Night before going to Easter Vigil. It was my last night of Lenten pescatarianism, so I knew pizza would be something easy to do, plus I had a bunch of odds and ends in the refrigerator that I wanted to use up. I also tried out a new pizza dough recipe, which left me with enough dough for two good-sized pizzas, so we each made our own pizza.

I was also feeling a little punchy after spending all week in church, so I ended up tossing my pizza dough for the first time. Joe thought it was going to end up all over the kitchen, but once I got a few good tosses in, he reached for the camera. Next time I'll work on improving my technique, but it was pretty fun!

Joe's pizza consisted of marinara sauce, TJ's smoked apple and chardonnay chicken sausage, fresh tomato slices, mozzarella cheese, and healthy dose of crushed red pepper.

My pizza had marinara sauce, spinach, mozzarella cheese, and fresh tomato slices. This made two meals each for the two of us. Not bad for using up a bunch of fridge remnants!

Pizza night was a big success. Not only did we enjoy making pizzas using our own toppings, but we put on music and danced around and it was a great way for Joe and I to spend a little quality time together in the middle of a stressful week.

I like this pizza crust a lot. The seasonings and parmesan cheese put it over the top, and it's a nice thick, chewy crust. I used subbed in half whole wheat flour to make it even heartier and a little healthier.

Easy Bread Machine Pizza Crust

source: RecipeZaar

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups bread flour

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Preparation

1. Add ingredients to the bread machine in the order given. Set to dough setting and let run.

2. When finished, roll dough out to desired shape, top with desired toppings, and bake at 450-degrees for 15-20 minutes.