Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Cooking Light Night

Posted by CB / no comments » / Cooking Light

What are you craving?

Right now I am craving pizza. Not just any pizza. Papa John’s barbecue chicken and bacon pizza. I know. I know. It sounds gross but its so not. In fact its the opposite. Its eyes-rolling-in-the-back-of-your-head awesome. If you have a Papa John’s pizza in your area… TRY IT. If you don’t like it, send it to me. I don’t care if its cold and several days old. I’ll eat it.

But since money’s tight (who’s isn’t right?) esp after extraneous frig spending, I decided to go in the lighter (caloric and wallet) direction and make some pizza at home. T tells me homemade tastes better anyways. He’s lying but it’s sweet. Can’t find a better husband than that. HAHA


Quick Margherita Pizza
(Recipe from Cooking Light, Dec 2002 | photos from me!)

Makes 4 servings (8 slices)

* Calories 298 (30% from fat); Fat 10g (sat 4.6g,mono 3.5g,poly 1.4g); Protein 12.2g; Carbohydrat 38.6g; Fiber 2.1g; Cholesterol 22mg; Iron 2.6mg; Sodium 595mg; Calcium 175mg

INGREDIENTS

1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough (I used homemade dough)
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, halved
5 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced (I used cherry tomatoes, quartered)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Unroll crust dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat into a 13 x 11-inch rectangle. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes. Remove crust from oven, and brush with 1/2 teaspoon oil. Rub crust with cut sides of garlic.

Arrange tomato slices on crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until cheese melts and crust is golden.

Combine 1/2 teaspoon oil and vinegar, stirring with a whisk.

[NOTES: Recipe didn't say what to do with the leftover garlic so I minced it up and added it to the oil-vinegar mixture. Cant waste any garlic. That would be blasphemy!]

Sprinkle pizza evenly with sliced basil, salt, and pepper. Drizzle the vinegar mixture evenly over the pizza. Cut pizza into 8 pieces. (I served with side salad)

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
His favorite homemade pizza has always been the chicken and pesto that I make but he said this might rival his favorite now. I am shocked b/c he didn’t mention anything about adding protein (his usual repertoire) either!

Wifey rating: A+
This pizza was easy to put together and tasted amazing. The balsamic vinegar was great with the basil and tomatoes. Seriously could have eaten the whole thing myself. I will definitely make it again!

* Nutritional information for original recipe. It does not include my changes and/or substitutions.

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No Responses to “Cooking Light Night”

  1. 1

    Nicole — September 24, 2008 @ 7:11 pm

    I am craving a HUGE plate of roasted veggies and ketchup. I ate too many sweets today!

    I looove pizza though!

  2. 2

    CB — September 24, 2008 @ 7:13 pm

    NICOLE, vegetables? Dude. You are a good craver. I crave all the stuff that is “bad” for me! LOL

  3. 3

    Tanya — September 24, 2008 @ 9:53 pm

    Yum! That looks amazing! Have you ever tried Papa John’s white pizza. It’s got ricotta, mozzarella, garlic…but no tomato sauce. It is sooooo good!

  4. 4

    CB — September 24, 2008 @ 10:19 pm

    TANYA, White pizza you say? Mmmm… cheese and garlic! I don’t think so but I definitely need to order that next time.

  5. 5

    katie102006 — September 25, 2008 @ 4:09 am

    I’m a sucker for a good pizza and this looks FAB!

  6. 6

    macduff — September 25, 2008 @ 6:55 am

    Can you post your pizza dough recipe? I always try to use the pre-made dough that the deli puts out, but I swear, it always comes out like cardboard.

  7. 7

    CB — September 25, 2008 @ 8:16 am

    KATIE, amen sister. I lurve pizza. Is there a pizza diet? I’d rock that.

    MACDUFF, Sure! I edited my post with the link. It makes enough for 2 pizzas so I divide the dough, put 1/2 the dough in a ziplock bag to freeze for another time. I think premade dough is ok but its not my favorite. I prefer homemade or buying it raw from a pizza place.

  8. 8

    patsyk — September 25, 2008 @ 12:37 pm

    Wow, that pizza looks so good! I’m making pizza tomorrow night, and I’m already looking forward to it!

  9. 9

    CB — September 25, 2008 @ 12:47 pm

    PATSYK, thanky! I am thinking about making the same pizza again tonight. Thats how much I liked it. I’ll have to check out your pizza recipe. Can’t have too many pizza recipes right? :)

  10. 10

    kamaile — September 25, 2008 @ 4:05 pm

    Margherita pizza is my favorite. I love the fresh, simple flavors. Chicken and bacon BBQ pizza sounds pretty awesome though. I might have to try making that one.

  11. 11

    CB — September 25, 2008 @ 4:16 pm

    KAMAILE, if you like margherita you have to try this CL recipe! Its really good! Definitely let me know if you make the bbq+bacon pizza. I would love the recipe!

  12. 12

    Audrey — September 30, 2008 @ 9:31 am

    I’ve gotten so many good recipes from Cooking Light – thank you for sharing this idea! I posted tonight’s dinner on my blog…picture coming later.

  13. 13

    CB — September 30, 2008 @ 10:15 am

    AUDREY, Thats awesome! I’ll have to go check out your blog for some CL inspiration! Thanks for stopping by :)

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