This week’s meal planning is centered on recipe testing for Lombardino’s. I have three big pasta dishes to make this week, so the other meals need to be easy and fairly healthy. One of my favorite easy meals is homemade pizza so I thought I would share some tips that I have picked up through my own experiments and working on the Lombardino’s cookbook.

Tips on Homemade Pizza

If I wasn’t lactose intolerant, I would have pizza every night of the week. As it stands, pizza is a special treat and I try to shift the focus from the ooey gooey mozzarella to lots of fresh pizza toppings.

pizza

I love veggies on my pizza, but it’s hard to keep them from burning and to get them the right consistency. To get the right consistency for this pizza, I steamed the broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus, and red onion for 2 minutes. This softened them, but did not fully cook them.

To keep them from burning, I placed the veggies (and all of the toppings) under the cheese. This allows the veggies to continue cooking under the cheese without fear of them drying out or burning.

If you have time to make your own dough, that’s awesome. But if you are in a pinch, Trader Joe’s has pre-made pizza doughs in the produce section. I love their whole wheat dough.

Sausage is my biggest downfall. I love it. However, it’s not always the healthiest option. Enter Target’s pre-cooked, no chemicals added, organic Italian chicken sausage. I love that all I have to do is slice it up and throw it on my pizza.

Since we are on topic of products, if you live in Madison, I highly recommend the Italian seasoning from Gino’s Italian Deli. You can’t tell from the picture, but I applied it liberally to the dough. It’s a must-have for any of our homemade pizzas.

I originally intended to use some frozen pizza sauce, but once thawed, I realized that the sauce was no longer good. No worries: Olive oil + Italian seasoning + fresh tomatoes = no need for marinara. Think beyond the typical red sauce. Lombardino’s uses a mayo-based sauce on some of their pizzas, olive oil and garlic is another great option.

For a great crust, invest in a pizza stone. You can usually throw them on the grill or in the oven. It cooks the outer crust quickly and distributes the heat evenly through the pizza.

To achieve cheese-bubbling-goodness, crank up your oven to Broil for the last few minutes of baking. Just remember to crack your oven so it doesn’t go into lock-down mode. Not like that has ever happened here…..

Meal Plan

Lombardino’s Recipes: This week I will be making Winter Linguine with Clams, Spaghetti alla Puttanesca, and Orecchiete with Sausage and Rapini.

Homemade Veggie and Chicken Sausage Pizza: See picture above. This was a great, quick Sunday night meal. By using pre-cooked sausage and pre-made dough, it was just a matter of quickly steaming the veggies and throwing it together.

Slow Cooker Black Bean, Chicken, and Salsa Soup: I am finally going to use the black beans that I received from my CSA. Yes folks, I am going to attempt dried beans in the slow-cooker. I haven’t done dried black beans since my attempts at being a vegetarian in college. At that time, I didn’t understand how much they expand during soaking and I had bowls of black beans all over our kitchen. That scarred me, but I am finally, eleven years later, ready to face them again. Wish me luck! And if you are curious, I will be doctoring up this recipe from Stephanie O’Dea.

 

Fun Stuff: I will also be making bran flakes and granola muesli to make Clean Eating Homemade Cereal.

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What do you like on your homemade pizza? Any other tips you want to share?


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