Deep Dish Pizza...Casserole?

1 lb ground beef
1 (15 oz) can chunky Italian style tomato sauce
mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. parmesan cheese (grated)
Pepperoni
Pizza dough recipe (here) or (10 oz) store bought refrigerated pizza dough

(Its best to have your pizza dough done first, I like to make it a day or two before and leave it in the refrigerator... they're just better that way) Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Cook the ground beef in a skillet until the meat crumbles. Drain. Add the tomato sauce into the ground beef and cook until heated through. Find a 13 x 9 pan and lightly spray it with cooking spray. Unroll your dough into the 13 x 9 pan and press into the bottom, as well as halfway up the sides of the pan. (If you dont press it up the sides when it cooks it will spill its contents over the side of the dough.. and we dont want that). RIGHT on top of the pizza dough put half of the cheese (yes on the bottom) and then pour your meat/sauce mixture on top and spread evenly. Bake LIKE THIS uncovered for about 12 minutes. Place the last half of the cheese on top of the pizza and add your pepperoni to the top of the cheese. Then sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake for about 5 more minutes, or until the cheese melts and the crust is browned. Adapted from mrfood.com

Cheesy Bread Sticks

1 1/2 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour

Parmesan Cheese

Cheddar Cheese

Garlic Salt

Italian Seasoning

In a large bowl  combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes until the yeast is bubbly.Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger Spray a glass or metal bowl (retains heat better) with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk. Remove from bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. (if using this for pizza popper dough.... stop here.) Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter. Sprinkle cheddar on top of each strip and press lightly to stick. Roll out each piece of dough into a snake and then drape over your forefinger and twist the dough. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. Cover pan and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes. Before placing in the oven, drizzle melted butter across the top, and then sprinkle garlic salt, grated parmesan cheese, and italian seasoning across the tops of the breadsticks. Preheat your oven to 425. When done rising, bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

These can also be sprinkled with just butter and cinnamon/sugar :) 

Pizza Poppers

 (picture courtesy of ourbestbites.com)

1 Recipe for Pizza Dough/Breadsticks (found here)
Marinara Sauce
grated parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil
garlic powder
italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out your pizza dough onto a floured surface, roughly 12 x 6 inches. Using a pizza cutter (roller) slice the pizza dough into about 20 squares. Put your pizza toppings on each square, NOT WITH THE MARINARA. Take for example if I was making normal pepperoni poppers. I would put JUST the pepperoni and monterey jack cheese into the dough. Capeesh? Capeesh. When all of your dough squares have the toppings you want on them, take each corner and pinch together, you want to wrap the dough around the toppings without any holes, so the toppings are encased in its own little pizza dough ball. Spray a pie pan with non stick cooking spray. Then place each of the dough balls with the seam side down into the pie pan. Brush the tops of the balls with melted butter, and then sprinkle parmesan cheese,garlic powder, and italian seasoning on the top. Cook at 400 for 15-20 minutes, or until the top is light brown. I think I only cooked mine for 10 because our oven is hotter than normal. Then when they are done and hot you DIP them into warm marinara sauce :)

BBQ Chicken Pizza (CPK's Copy Cat)

1 Pizza Dough Recipe (here)

10 ounces chicken breast 

1 T olive oil
2 T BBQ sauce
1/2 c. BBQ
2 cups Gouda cheese
1/4 small red onion - diced 

2 tablespoons cilantro

For the Chicken:
In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. add chicken pieces. saute until cooked (6 minutes). Chill. Coat chicken with 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce. Set aside in the refrigerator. 

For the Pizza
Punch the dough down, and roll out into a circle. Spread barbecue sauce over the surface of the dough. Distribute cheese over the sauce. Distribute chicken over the cheese. Place the onion rings over the chicken pieces. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the pizza in the oven. Bake until crust is crispy and cheese is bubbling Remove pizzas from the oven and sprinkle with cilantro.

Chicken Ranch Pizza (Craigo's Copy Cat)

1 pizza dough recipe (here)
Ranch Dressing
Monterrey Jack (or Mozzarella)
1 Can Chicken
Tumarik
Garlic Powder
Lemon Pepper
Green Peppers
Tomatoes
Purple Onions
Italian Seasoning

Flatten the dough, then pick it up and gently stretch it out, trying to keep it as circular as possible. Curl your fingers and let the dough hang on your knuckles, moving and rotating the dough so it stretches evenly. If it tears, just piece it together. If the dough stretches too much, put it down and gently tug on the thick spots.
Spray a pizza pan with cooking spray, and sprinkle cornmeal over the top. Transfer the pizza dough to the pizza pan. With a fork poke holes over the entire dough (to keep air pockets from forming). Spread the ranch dressing over the pizza dough (your sauce.) Put cheese over top of the ranch and spread evenly. In a bag mix the chicken, tumarik, lemon pepper, and garlic powder (to taste, a little stronger is better, it evens out after its cooked I promise :) ). Spread chicken & seasonings over cheese. Top with tomato slices, green peppers, and onions. Sprinkle Italian Seasoning over the top and bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Best Pizza Dough

1 T honey
1 c. warm water
2 t. active dry yeast
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. salt

1 T. olive oil 

In a small bowl, dissolve the honey in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir until it dissolves. Let the yeast mixture stand for 5 minutes, until a layer of foam forms on the surface. In a large bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the olive oil and the yeast mixture. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients, until all the flour is incorporated. If its too dry, add more water. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 15 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball and put in in a well-oiled bowl. Cover with a moist towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours) ATLEAST. What I have learned about pizza dough... what REALLY makes it is the rise time and the refrigerator. At pizza restaurants like Craigo's they have a "3 day dough" where it rises is rolled back into balls and benched. They ALSO REFRIGERATE it overnight, which makes a HUGE difference! So, if I may stand on my soap box... for awesomely awesome pizza dough... make it a day or two before and put that baby in the refrigerator. :) That'll make your taste buds water.

Garlic Chicken Pizza

1 Pizza Dough Recipe (here)

1/2 of a red onion, sliced and caramelized (put in a small fry pan and sprinkle with a little sugar, cook until transparent and slightly brown)
1 tomato chopped
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese
5 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled
1 cup chicken, grilled/cooked and cubed (or 1 can cooked chicken) + garlic to taste
1/2 cup ranch dressing


Flatten the dough, then pick it up and gently stretch it out, trying to keep it as circular as possible. Curl your fingers and let the dough hang on your knuckles, moving and rotating the dough so it stretches evenly. If it tears, just piece it together. If the dough stretches too much, put it down and gently tug on the thick spots.
Spray a pizza pan with cooking spray, and sprinkle cornmeal over the top. Transfer the pizza dough to the pizza pan. With a fork poke holes over the entire dough (to keep air pockets from forming). Spread the ranch dressing over the pizza dough (your sauce.) Put cheese over top of the ranch and spread evenly. top with chicken/garlic + bacon + onion + tomato. Sprinkle with some Italian seasoning and bake at 400 until cheese is bubbly.