My husband and I both like cooking and watching horror movies, so we’ve started having a “pizza and movie night” every Saturday. We take turns each week, where one of us will pick that night’s movie and come up with a pizza for us to make together. (We have a running list of horror movies that we are both interested in watching, so we usually pick from that list.) I know eventually we will run out of pizza ideas and have to repeat ones that we’ve made before, but I was just wondering if anyone here had any other ideas.
We are going with a very loose definition of “pizza,” where we just consider it a combination of cheese, sauce and meat on a piece of flat dough. These are some of the ones we’ve made so far:
Buffalo chicken pizza - shredded chicken with a combination of Frank’s hot sauce and Sweet Baby Ray’s creamy buffalo dipping sauce, and mozzarella and cheddar
meat lover’s pizza - tomato sauce and mozzarella with sausage, pepperoni, and bacon
nacho pizza - refried beans, Rotel diced tomatoes, mexican cheese blend…and I forget what else
mashed potato pizza - mashed potatoes topped with cheddar and bacon
spicy pizza - tomato sauce with pepperjack cheese and chorizo pepperoni
Nigella Lawson’s pizza - from a recipe I got from one of her books, it uses canned tomato puree to make the sauce (although I add some seasonings) and top with Fontina cheese
We also vary the crusts. Sometimes we use a pre-made Boboli crust, sometimes we use Naan, and sometimes I make homemade dough which we press into a cake pan to make “deep dish” pizzas.
Does anyone have any ideas for other pizzas we could make?
Either red or white sauce - you decide. I prefer white on this.
Sprinkle with dried oregano, then add:
Shredded mozzarella and crumbled feta
Arugula or spinach leaves
Then add any of the following: artichoke, roasted red pepper, kalamata olive, red onion, chopped fresh basil.
A local place has one they call “The Gilroy” – red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, and roasted garlic (Gilroy, CA is famous for its garlic festival). I might reserve that one for watching a vampire movie. A drizzle of honey would probably be a good addition to that one, too.
I’m partial to a combination of red sauce, fresh mozzarella, Italian sausage, fresh tomato slices, and fresh basil.
Alfredo sauce instead of tomato-based sauce. Mix together 2 TB butter, 1 TB olive oil, 3 TB minced garlic, 2 TB pesto, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, 2 TB grated/shredded Parmesan cheese with 1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce (I make my own Alfredo, but any will do). Spread sauce on dough that has been pre-baked for a few minutes. Add diced herbed chicken, thinly sliced red onion and some mushrooms. Top with some grated Mozzarella. Bake for another 10-15 minutes.
If you have a place where you can get a gyro plate, the meat makes a great topping along with sliced almonds on top of a garlic alfredo sauce and cheese.
One of my favorites that I came up with is a white pizza on a sour cream/creme fraiche base topped with walnuts, bacon, rosemary, black pepper, and a mix of mozzarella and pecorino romano (or parmigiano-regianno.) It is inspired by both a tarte flambé and the Rosa pizza at Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. ETA: Oh, and I hit it afterwards with finely sliced green onions to finish. I haven’t tried it yet, but I just realized some blue cheese would well with that as the cheese, too.
Homemade sauce, medium-thick crust, Canadian bacon and pepperoni, Mozarella and grated Parmesan. Some EVOO for dipping and red pepper flakes to sprinkle on top.
When I say “Canadian bacon,” I mean the kind McDonald’s puts on its Egg McMuffins, not the thinly sliced pork loin Canadians call “back bacon.”
I make my own sauce with diced and crushed tomatoes, some tomato paste, crushed garlic, dried oregano and basil, EVOO, and a little lemon juice or wine (red or white). Dried parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme can be added as well, along with fennel seeds.
Sauce-less focaccia style “pizza” with a quality crust (make your own, or I also like Trader Joe’s premade garlic herb pizza dough, which is still pretty mild in overall flavor), dressed with a decent EVOO (not great, decent is plenty), herbs (basil, rosemary for me) topped with roasted garlic cloves and caramelized onions. Topped with full fat mozzarella cheese, briefly broiled for some browning (light or heavy to personal choice).
If you really want sauce, a decent alfredo is nice, a thin spread of pesto better, but overall I find any sauces plus a lot of cheese make my flatbreads soggy, and I have a personal, irrational dislike of marinara.
