sweet potato/feta/caramelized red onions with red sauce

i had one lonely little sweet potato waiting patiently in the cupboard for awhile, so i decided to thinly slice it up and put it on a pizza. added a little feta, mozzarella, and some caramelized onions into the mix and dinner was ready.

i was a little worried that the potatoes wouldn't cook all the way, but if you slice them thin enough, they turn out perfectly cooked.

european pizza, beer crust pizza, and black bean pizza

cabin fever is here. perhaps i should be making a lot of pizzas but for some reason i haven't been. not to say that i've been slacking. just a little unmotivated and updating this blog.

i made a pizza with my nephews while visiting in germany. they helped me make the sauce and dough, and put the cheese on top. what helpful little guys they were. my brother said it was the best pizza they've had since they've moved over there. since my supplies of topping were limited, and the kids (and even my brother) are a tad on the picky side, i just made a couple of pizzas; one with half pepperoni and half cheese. and the second with mushroom, olives, and red peppers. yes, repeats, but i'm counting it as a week because we were over seas.

we loved spending time with my brother and his family, if only we could have stayed longer.

the week after we returned home from our european adventure i made a beer crust cheese pizza. with a mixture of tomato and this summer's pesto. pretty good tasting. the crust turned out sweeter than usual but still good. good to have a different tasting crust. the recipe was off of martha stewart's website found here.

this past week's recipe was inspired by my dearest friend ashlee gene. a cornmeal crust, with black beans, tomatoes, salsa verde, cheese, and topped with avocado and fresh squeeze lime juice. be sure that you place the avocado slices on the pizza after it's done baking. mmmmmm mm....so good. it would have been even better with some cilantro but i had none. we had plenty of leftovers and todd and i both tried it cold, and it was still good.

16th and 17th pizzas

last week we had my parents over for some pizzas. and i actually made this recipe ... the one that i have been meaning to make since i started this endeavor. it was really good! the recipe made enough for three pizzas and i just threw the leftover dough in the freezer.

my folks really like shrimp pizza. so i made one for them (with a quarter of it pepperoni) and then made a mushroom and green/red pepper pizza...half of it with olives.

both were delicious, and we seriously enjoy sharing meals with our families....even though they complain our house is too cold.

this week's pizza was roasted potatoes and caramelized red onions with a white sauce and feta cheese. a tad on the dry side but still pretty tastey. i think it would have been better with a red sauce.

i made everything from scratch, always forgetting how easy a white sauce is to make: butter, garlic, half and half, and parmesan cheese, and a little bit of flour to thicken.

lying in bed i thought of drizzling with balsamic vinegar after the pizza was baked. that probably would have given it more moisture.

this sunday we are off to europe to see what it's all about (i've never been there, todd has a couple of times); and to see my dearest brother and his family! so we'll be finding a pizza place and substituting that for the one or both weeks. bon voyage!

fifteenth week of pizzas!

fifteen weeks of pizza creations! and we are still going strong. the holiday brings all of our friends back to the fox valley. it's a week we alway look forward to immensely. what not a better way than to show them our love than making a few pizzas for them...

i ended up making three pizzas, though the last one i forgot to snap a picture of before it was snatched up and eaten.

1st one in the oven was a tomato and basil pizza with mozzarella

2nd one in was a mushroom, feta, kalamata olive, artichoke heart, and tomato

3rd was pepperoni with mushrooms (sadly, no picture...sigh).

all of them were exceptionally flavorful...though i should have added sliced garlic to the tomato and basil pizza, but remembered after the pizza was cooked. the mediterranean themed pizza was the hit of the night. perfect crust, excellent ratio of flavors. i think it was consumed the fastest.

a wonderful first holiday season was had by the vandenbergs in our new home. we hope to make this a tradition of pizza over christmas time.

traditional pizza

after doing a little research on pizzas, i discovered the original way pizzas were created. little personal sized crusts, fried in a hot pan for a couple of seconds on each side, then topped with sauce and mozzarella and baked until the cheese is melted. absolutely delicious. so simple and tastey. we even had one left over that i ate the next day for dinner.

not the best...

early last week i made a late night pizza (i had a late lunch). i started making the dough just after nine pm and didn't eat 'til after ten. it felt weird, but i was hungry, and decided to make a pizza while i had the opportunity.

i sauteed (just for a couple of minutes) up some broccoli, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and red peppers. then mixed some pesto that i had made this summer in with my red sauce. this was the tastiest part of the pizza. for some reason, my taste buds don't really care for sun-dried tomatoes. in the end, i ended up picking off most of them. but i will try them again, just not on a pizza. i also sliced some fresh garlic and added to the top of the pizza so that it gets cooked perfectly...

using fresh mozzarella, i put the pizza together and baked at 425. the pictures make it look delicious; however, i didn't particularly care for this pizza.

cream cheese pear and brown sugar glazed bacon with feta pizza

wowwy, i think we have a winner this week. my wonderful and ever thoughtful friend, sarah boss of my hart photocopied me a recipe. I woke up to find it on our dinning room table. i was so excited about the combination of flavors i had to make it for dinner.

i tweaked the recipe a little bit by making my own crust, and using red onions instead of green onions...but basically this is the recipe. it also called for pecans but we opted out, as neither of us care for that nut.

i made a crust and baked it by itself...then...

place 6 strips of bacon on some aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet

1/4 c packed brown sugar and a pinch 'er two of cayenne pepper

mix those two together and generously cover the bacon and bake at 400 until crispy

meanwhile take 8 0z of cream cheese and let it soften a bit, chop up some onions and mix with the cream cheese, sprinkle with some fresh ground black pepper

slice up a pear

after the crust has baked, spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the crust

crumble the bacon and put on pizza

add the pear slices

and top off with wonderful feta

bake 'til the pizza is just slightly browned and the pears are cooked.

you will never be the same, i promise.

thank you dear sarah, i will make this for you, i SWEAR.