So, first the exciting news–my mom called earlier tonight to tell me that my sister-in-law’s water had broken. I could be an auntie tonight!
Lucky for my sister-in-law, she’s having this baby early–unusual for a first-time mother. I’m really excited for my “little” brother and his wife and can’t wait to meet this little guy!
On another note… I managed to put aside the baby distraction long enough to make us supper tonight. (Aren’t you proud of me? I feed my family!)
I was in the mood for pizza but didn’t want to spend the money on one since we’ve been striving for a more frugal budget. Homemade is better anyway.
So while I was riding my bike home from work tonight, I started out planning a basic onion pizza. As I prepared it, I expanded on the “recipe” as I spotted things in my fridge…
Let’s call this Jessica’s Improvisational Cooking Method. Maybe it will be famous one day.
We really enjoyed this pizza during our family night tonight. Jordan’s words: “You could win an award for this.”
(Our family night activity was to watch an episode of Star Trek, The Next Generation, if you’re curious. Yes, we’re nerds.)
Dessert was farm-fresh strawberries from our CSA in homemade whipped cream, on pound cake. I will have to share the pound cake recipe one day. It is fantastic.
The pizza dough recipe (borrowed from The Six O’Clock Scramble–a great resource if, like me, you have a hard time coming up with menus) calls for using a bread machine, though I imagine it would do just as well by hand.
Recipe
For the dough
- 2 cups flour (I used whole wheat)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
Pour the water and olive oil into the bread machine bowl. Add flour, sugar, and salt.
Make a small depression with your finger in the flour and pour the yeast into it, being careful not to let the yeast touch the wet ingredients.
Run your bread machine on the dough setting.
Toppings
- 1/2 – 1 lb ground beef
- 1 medium sweet onion, halved and sliced
- 1 cup tomato, basil, and garlic pasta sauce
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese
- oregano, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning, to taste
- Parmesan cheese, to taste
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Oil a baking sheet and set aside.
Brown the beef in a skillet over medium heat to desired doneness. Drain off the grease and add seasonings to taste.
Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to fit the baking sheet (it’s easiest if you do it on the sheet itself) and spread the dough with pasta sauce.
Top with mozzarella cheese; then add the browned beef and top with the onion pieces.
Spread the cottage cheese over the beef and onions and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.
Bake until the cheese is melted and the edges start to brown, 10-12 minutes.
Delicious!
What toppings do you like on your pizza? Do you have a regular family night? What do you usually do? Let me know in the comments!
