Pizza

Pepperoni Pizza Scones

January 4, 2018

First of all, Happy New Year, friends! This is officially the first post of 2018 and it couldn’t be more fitting. My friend Joy (Joy the Baker) and I are having a little virtual brunch pizza party going on today. We both made out-of-the-box pizza recipes that are perfect for your next brunch (either together or separately, but preferably together) or maybe just for dinner alone by yourself. I mean who am I to judge? Pizza parties for one are always a good idea in my book, and don’t let anyone tell you different. It’s 2018 and we should be living our lives to the fullest, and if that means having pizza for brunch, then so be it.

Joy made this amazing Supreme Pizza Quiche. You read that right. It’s quiche meets supreme pizza and you’d be crazy not to make it this weekend. Homemade pie crust loaded with sausage, pepperoni, olives, bell peppers, eggs, cheese and pizza sauce. It’s a dream come true, and I mean that completely. I on the other hand, made Pizza Scones. They’re like biscuit meets scone studded with plenty of cheese and pepperoni and of course served with pizza sauce. They’re modeled after these scones, and I can’t express enough just how much you’re going to love them. Give both these recipes a try soon, or when you’re feeling uninspired; they’re sure to make you happy!

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Meat-Lovers Pizza Bake

September 19, 2017

My collaboration this month for GO BOLD WITH BUTTER is a treat for anyone who loves pizza as much as I do. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ll take any excuse I can get to eat pizza on a weekly basis. I guess if I really stop to think about it, I don’t actually need a specific excuse because as far as I’m concerned, weekly pizza nights might just be the best idea in the world. More of us should jump onboard this pizza train. Just in cause you’re in search of new and exciting ways to incorporate pizza into your life more often, this Meat-Lovers Pizza Bake is here to help. It’s meat-lovers because that’s my favorite type of pizza, but you can really customize it a hundred different ways. The options are limitless. If you’re not a fan of meat, you can easily omit all the meats I used and incorporate sautéed veggies instead. Or try a Hawaiian pizza flavor or even BBQ chicken. It’s all up to you! You hold all the power. I’m just giving you the idea and expecting you to run with it. Make it this week and you’ll be the hero to end all heroes. Who doesn’t want to be a pizza hero? I know I do. I really do though.

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Chicken Enchilada Pizzas

August 16, 2017

I always have these grandiose plans of making a weekly pizza night happen in my house, but after about two weeks I get bored of having the same thing over and over again, and so sadly I drop all plans and dreams of this wonderful idea. I still love pizza though, so it’s not like I’m shunning it forever. It’s just that I need some diversity in my meals on a week to week basis; call me crazy. Because my love for pizza runs deep, I think the most obvious and smart thing to do is to think of new and exciting pizza recipes that will still fit the bill but with a fun twist. These Chicken Enchilada Pizzas are gluten-free thanks to corn tortillas, and then topped with beans, chicken cooked in homemade enchilada sauce, and sprinkled with an array of Tex-Mex taco toppings that we all know and love. It’s new and exciting enough to give pizza a second life at your house from week to week. If you’re a big fan of enchiladas, then I highly recommend these pizzas because it’s two of our favorites dishes rolled into one. They’re fully customizable so keep that in mind the next time you’re in need of a quick and easy dinner idea.

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Pumpkin Pizza

November 4, 2016

It’s pumpkin season and I’m sure you’re getting pumpkin recipes thrown at you left to right. Most of them are sweet, as we know pumpkin mostly in sweet form, but every now and then we’ll be pleasantly surprised because a delicious savory pumpkin recipe with come at us outta left field. Completely unexpected but totally welcomed. Take this Pumpkin Pizza for instance. It’s savory and it’s out of this world. An easy to make homemade pumpkin pizza sauce is what anchors this entire dish and makes it a bit unforgettable. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but pumpkin by itself tends to be rather bland actually. I mean, it’s got a little bit of a squash flavor (because it’s a squash), almost nutty, but other than that it’s pretty plain. The sweetness we usually associate it with comes from the sugar and of course pumpkin spice that are mixed into it for pies and cookies and cheesecakes. Because of this, pumpkin lends itself really well to savory dishes, especially this pizza sauce. The toppings like the chorizo, mushrooms, arugula and pumpkin seeds balance everything perfectly with the sauce, making it your new favorite Fall pizza flavor. Leftovers are great the next day, so If I were you, I’d make two pizzas. You’re going to want it. No, you’re going to need it.

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Potato and Sausage Pizza Bianca: An Ode to Idaho

September 26, 2016

Pizza is a really big deal in my house, but I say this and I know that I’m not the only one. Pizza is a really big deal in a lot of our houses. So while I did share a Meatball Pizza recently, I felt like it’s time for yet another pizza pie recipe on the blog. I’ve been traveling a lot lately, just coming back from my trip to Europe and a recent trip to Idaho shortly thereafter. I visited Idaho for the very first time in my life thanks to the Potato Idaho Commission who invited me to attend their Idaho Potato Harvest 2016. With every trip I take, I tend to explore the city through it’s food. But for some crazy reason I always go into thinking, how can I turn a dish from this city into a pizza?

Some of the best pizzas I’ve made have come from this idea of turning my travels into an out-of-this-world pizza. So for instance, I made a Sausage and Pickled Jalapeño Pizza from my trip to San Fransisco. And then I made a Jambalaya Pizza in honor of my trips to New Orleans when I work with my friend Joy. Then we mustn’t forget about this Beer Cheddar and Bratwurst Pizza when I visited Wisconsin for the first time. The way these posts go is that I create a pizza that reminds me of that particular city and then I share some images from my trip. It’s a fun way to break up the normal usual posts I create on here but also to share some non-food photos with you because I sometimes like to take pictures that don’t involve food. My degree is in photography after all.

I was in Idaho for about 4 days where I learned all things potatoes. It was like taking a class in college called Potatoes 101, but I gotta tell you that I wish that was really a class in school because I was aced it with flying colors. Anyhow we saw how potatoes grow in the ground, in clusters, which I had no idea that they did. Then we learned all about how they’re harvested and removed from the ground with tractors and then picked up through all these hi-tech conveyer belts and dropped into trucks and then into large sheds that hold millions of pounds of potatoes at a time. It’s crazy.

Then we visited various potato factories and plants where the potatoes are delivered and then washed, peeled, cut, fried, frozen, bagged and boxed before being shipped to different fast food restaurants. It was so great to see because it was all done by machines. I felt like I was in a real life episode of Unwrapped on The Food Network. The machines would zip all the potatoes at a thousand miles (maybe not that fast) and they’d be rinsed and peeled with steam and cut and fried all within seconds. It was insane to watch. We also visited the Idahoan Potato plant where they dehydrate potatoes and make instant mashed potatoes, dried potatoes gratin and soups. This plant was my favorite of the trip because I learned so much about the process of dehydrating potatoes that I never would’ve dreamt of.

Idaho is also the home to a Potato Museum. A museum dedicated to my favorite vegetable? Sign me up. That’s the kind of art I can easily get behind. In my personal opinion, the museum’s biggest claim to fame is a giant baked potato sculpture out on the front lawn, complete with a pat of butter on top. I’m trying to figure out how I can bring this to my house. I have a spot for it mapped out already, right in my living room. Or maybe in my bedroom so that I can see it overnight before bed. I think Julian would be okay with this.

One of the greatest things I did on this trip was horseback riding in a beautiful ranch called Linn Canyon Ranch. It was the first time I ever rode a horse and I was both scared and excited. Luckily I didn’t fall and I survived to tell the tale. My horse’s name was Buddy and we bonded instantly because I told him right off the bat to please not run away and throw me off. It was an hour ride through gorgeous mountains in the middle of nowhere Idaho with all of the changing colors of the leaves and trees everywhere. It felt like autumn, which means a lot to me because being born and raised in Los Angeles, I’ve never experienced a real autumn in my life. That alone made the trip worthwhile.

Although this happens to be a recap of my recent trip to Idaho, this is also a small recap of my trip to Rome the week before Idaho. It’s an unofficial recap because I’ll have a much better Europe recap later in the week. But with that being said, I had this Potato and Sausage Pizza Bianca in Rome in a small pizza place called Dar Poeta and it was amazing! So amazing that we went back the next day and had it again. After learning all about potatoes last week, and having this pizza, I was determined to recreate it at home and share it with you all so that we can all eat potato pizza and be in heaven.

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Meatball Pizza

September 12, 2016

Meatballs speak my love language and when they’re by themselves they’re sending me all the right signals, but when they mosey on over and place themselves on top of pizza, that’s a whole other story. That’s the ultimate love story right there. Don’t even get me started. Since I’m in Italy at the moment I thought it would be a great idea to share a pizza recipe on the blog, mainly because it’s been a while since my last pizza which I believe was this Spicy Sausage, Potato and Kale Pizza. I’m not mad about it, I just think it’s about time I shared some more of this glorious dish. Nothing screams Italian more to me than meatballs and/or pizza. Rather than having to decide between the two, I thought the wisest decision I could possibly make right now would be to put meatballs on my pizza. Now I’m not saying I invented this by any means, because let’s face it, people have been putting tiny balls of meat on pizza forever now. What I am saying is that I’m jumping on the delicious band wagon and trying to get you guys to hop onboard as well.

I’m taking a few shortcuts and some help from the store by using store-bought pizza dough and pizza sauce because when you really want pizza, you don’t have time to mess around with making your own dough and sauce. Instead, I’m investing my time to making the most delicious homemade meatballs to go on top of the pizza. That’s where it really counts. That’s where it matters the most. If you really want to go all semi-homemade on this pie, feel free to use frozen meatballs and just cook them in the oven in a baking sheet before placing them on the dough before cooking the pizza itself. But if you have that little bit of extra time, I highly recommend that you give the homemade meatballs a whirl. They’re actually fun to make, but I guarantee you that it’s not nearly as much fun as the pizza is to eat. Pizza is always fun. It’s the life of any party.

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