Super Bowl 3.0 - Pizza Bites

Adapted from For the Love of Cooking blog

There are variations of this recipe all over the Internet, but this is the one I used as a foundation. I did make some adjustments, so the recipe below is what I used. These were fun to make, especially with a friend and frozen Pina Coladas, yes, in February :) Don't judge. This made approximately 30 pizza bites. The other great thing about this recipe is that you can use whichever fillings you desire! Get creative!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 packages fresh, whole wheat pizza dough (I got mine from Harris Teeter)
• 1 package shredded Mozzarella cheese
• Turkey pepperoni slices, cut into quarter pieces
• Dried basil, to taste
• Dried oregano, to taste
• Dried garlic powder with parsley, to taste
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• Parmesan cheese, to taste
• Olive oil, for brushing
• Pizza sauce for dipping

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a pie dish with olive oil cooking spray. Let the dough rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Grab a walnut size piece of the dough, flatten it with your hand, and then place the desired ingredients in the middle of the dough. In this recipe, I placed about 1 tb mozzarella cheese and 3-4 quartered pieces of the pepperoni. Seal the dough around the fillings and place in the pie dish seam side down. Repeat, placing the balls into the pie dish until full.There does not need to be any space left in the pie dish. Brush the top of each ball with olive oil and sprinkle with basil, oregano, garlic powder with parsley, sea salt, black pepper, and Parmesan cheese, to taste. Bake approximately 15-18 minutes until the pizza bites are golden brown on top. Serve with warmed pizza sauce on the side.

Pizza Party

I had a few people over before going out for some homemade pizza (well, I used dough balls from Harris Teeter). I made a BBQ chicken pizza and a pizza split between pepperoni and sausage. I apologize for the half eaten pizza photos :)

BBQ Chicken Pizza:
Chop and saute a shallot, half a green pepper, and 2 cloves of garlic. Set aside. Season and bake two thin chicken breasts on 350 for about 10 minutes. I seasoned the chicken first with Smoky BBQ rub.  Set aside once done. Knead out the pizza dough with flour, poke a few holes with a fork, brush with olive oil and bake at 375 for about 5-10 minutes. Brush the pizza with your favorite BBQ sauce. Top with shredded smoked gouda, sauteed vegetables, and chicken. Bake for approximately 10 minutes to melt everything together.

Traditional Pizza with Pepperoni and Sausage:
Cook half a pound of mild Italian sausage and set aside. Knead out the pizza dough with flour, poke a few holes with a fork, brush with olive oil and bake at 375 for about 5-10 minutes. Brush the pizza with your favorite pizza sauce. Top with shredded mozzarella/Italian cheese blend, pepperoni and sausage. Bake for approximately 10 minutes to melt everything together.