Monday, January 10, 2011

Homemade Mini Pizzas - a family tradition

My family has been making mini pizzas for Christmas Eve dinner for as long as I can remember. It is a tasty and interactive dinner that is great for any age. Normally pizza is a little underrated for Christmas Eve dinner, but not in my household! We love the tradition and it is even something you can do anytime of the year.

Over the years we have experimented with a variety of ingredients and explored all the different crust options. This year was the best by far - we added pesto and basil to the ingredients. If you have read any of my previous posts, you know how much I love basil.

It all started with the kid-friendly pizza - english muffin crust, marinara sauce, cheddar cheese, pepperoni and sausage. (There may have been veggies to choose from, but as a kid, I was not interested).

Now we have stepped up our game with the option of making our own crust with pre-made pizza dough or already baked eight inch pizza crust rounds. My mom even bought some pizza crust rounds layered with cheese. Yum!

Here are some toppings we used - try these or experiment with your own!
Our toppings

Fruit
Tomatoes
Pineapple

Meat
Ham
Sausage
Pepperoni

Cheese
Mozzarella
Cheddar
Parmesan

Veggies
Mushrooms
Olives
Basil
Green Peppers
Scallions

Take a look at the finished product!



Next year I think we want to try a BBQ chicken pizza or maybe a Thai chicken pizza? 

Let me know what sounds good to you!

Update 10/2/12: Where to get the crust? Check out Trader Joe's pizza dough. They have it in three different flavors - whole wheat, traditional and garden herb. Also, you can buy pre-made pizza crust rounds too. I have had luck buying them at Winco but I believe Trader Joe's sells them too. 

16 comments:

  1. Looking good. I love pizza, so this works for me.

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  2. Pizza crust lined with cheese? I haven't seen them around for almost a decade. It made things a little easier.

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  3. Those look really good! I like mine with tons of cheese, any meat you can throw on them, mushrooms, minced garlic, and cheese. Great, now I want one :)

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  4. Hi, I stumbled upon your blog from Blogs of Note (I was one too - I have a fiction/style blog). Anyway, I love this post on homemade pizza. When time allows, we buy bread dough from our local grocery store's bakery and par-bake with a little olive oil and garlic (garlic salt or fresh garlic) it before adding the rest of the good stuff. It always comes out amazing and every time we make it I ask myself why we ever order delivery. ;)

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  5. If you're interested in a vegetarian pizza, my favourite topping is pieces of grilled capsicum, tomato, onion and paneer (substitute tofu if u wish). Marinate everything in a bit of ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, salt, chilli powder and yogurt for 3 minutes beforehand. Its called Paneer Tikka Pizza.

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  6. Yummy!!! I love pizza but I normally have just cheese or a veggie. Maybe I'll include this idea for our next family night. I'm always looking for something different to do. Thanks

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  7. whooo whooo, yummy very tasty verities food n info...

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  8. I've really been enjoying your blog posts, and I know this is silly but I've passed some blog awards to you. Please feel free to stop by and check it out.

    Or not, if that's not your thing.

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  9. Thai chicken pizza sounds amazing.....think i'll try that too

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  10. These look yummy, thanks for sharing.

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  11. I stumbled across your blog while looking at Blogs of Note and LOVE this post! I'm gonna try this with my three year old daughter since she is always wanting to help cook dinner. I hope you don't mind, I added a link to you fom my blog too! http://mommyswayornoway.blogspot.com

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  12. Me and my husband are gunner try this when my family are down next.
    great post

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  13. I love making homemade pizza. It's great to experiment with different toppings. The Thai chicken sounds great though. Last time we made homemade crusts with white sauce, roasted eggplant, purple potato slices, and brussel sprouts. They turned out fantastic! Thanks for the post!

    = Josh
    http://thechefenamateur.blogspot.com

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