Tag: Pizza

Brunch, Sweet Treats

Recipe—Fruit Pizza

Diva di Cucina

Fruit Pizza

Easter is just around the corner! (Does that stress anyone else out? LOL) I am someone who typically has my Easter menu planned weeks in advance but if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen that last week I was gone at a conference and between that and my sons’ baseball season being in full swing, I have just been too darn busy to pull it together. So guess what I am working on today? My Easter menu!

I made this fruit pizza for Easter brunch last year and it was a total hit! It was so easy and the kids loved it! Plus, it was delicious and looked beautiful and “springy” with all the bright colors. I am thinking this one may have to make it into the rotation again this year. You basically bake a huge sugar cookie, frost it, add some fruit, and throw a glaze down over the top. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

What are some of your go to Easter menu items? Comment below and give me some inspiration!

Notes: You can use any fruit you want. For mine I went with kiwis, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and a can of mandarin slices. Got almost all the colors of the rainbow in there! Also, this recipe will hold up for a few days in the fridge so don’t hesitate to make it a day in advance. 

INGREDIENTS
16.5 oz package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
assorted fruit, washed, chopped, and dried off
1/4 c apricot preserves (large chunks of fruit removed)

STEPS

  • Preheat oven to 375º.
  • Line a 12” round pizza pan with parchment paper or cover with cooking spray. (If you don’t own a 12” pizza pan they sell disposable foil ones at the store that are great, or you can always just use a regular baking sheet and shape the dough into a large circle. I just find the pizza pan helps maintain a perfect circle.)
  • Crumble the cookie dough over the lined pizza pan and press the  dough down in an even layer to completely cover the bottom of the pan.
  • Bake for 12–13 minutes.
  • Remove the cookie from oven and allow to cool completely.
  • In a  mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until nice and fluffy.
  • Spread the cream cheese frosting evenly over the cookie crust.
  • Top the frosted cookie with fruit. You can place it randomly or in a fun circular pattern. (Kids will have fun with this part!)
  • In a small bowl whisk together the apricot preserves with one tablespoon of water.
  • Brush the apricot mixture over the entire dish.
    Refrigerate for 2 hours.
  • Serve and enjoy!
Advertisement
Dinners

Recipe—BBQ Chicken Calzones

Diva di Cucina

One of my favorite pizzas has got to be the BBQ Chicken pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. I know I know it is totally not traditional pizza. I guess I just like how light it is and that it is completely different. They have this perfectly thin crust, light on the cheese, and then you get a flavor packed punch from all the BBQ sauce and then the unexpected cilantro. Somehow it just works!

I decided to try and duplicate this recipe but opted for calzones just for something different. They were awesome! And best of all the recipe made more than enough for the three of us so I was able to freeze them and had another nights worth of dinner for later that month.

This recipe was incredibly easy to make and I even brought my little guy in the kitchen to assist. He had a blast helping to assemble them! I don’t think this recipe took us more than 40 minutes. I spent about 20 minutes prepping and putting them together and another 20 to bake them. While they are baking throw together a quick salad and dinner is done!

Note: If you plan on freezing some, be sure to freeze them uncooked. I place the uncooked calzones on a wax paper lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer. Once they are frozen solid I place them in an airtight Ziploc bag. This keeps them from sticking together. When you are ready to enjoy them just place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake at 375º for about 20–25 minutes.

INGREDIENTS
1 can refrigerated pizza dough (I like Pillsbury)
1 c bbq sauce
1 rotisserie chicken shredded
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 c mozzarella, shredded
1/4 c cilantro, chopped

STEPS

  • Preheat oven to 375º.
  • Cut your pizza dough into 6–8 pieces.
  • Lightly flour a cutting board and roll a piece of the dough out into a nice even circle. You want to get it pretty thin.
  • Add a spoonful of the BBQ sauce to the rolled out dough and evenly spread it around using the back of a spoon. (Avoid the edges so that the dough will stick to itself when you go to close them up.)
  • Add a nice little pile of the chicken to the center of the rolled out dough and top with a few slices of the red onion, a sprinkling of the cheese, and a couple pinches of the cilantro. (Make sure none of the filling is near the edges.)
  • Carefully fold the calzone in half and go around the outside edge rolling it up tightly so none of the toppings come out when baking.
  • Place the assembled calzone on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
  • Continue assembling the rest of the calzones and placing them on the baking sheets. (Note that you will probably need two sheets to hold all of them.)
  • Once they are all assembled and loaded up on the baking sheet, bake them for 15–20 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown.
  • Remove the sheet from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
  • Optional: Serve with an extra side of BBQ sauce or ranch if you’d like.
  • Enjoy!

If you like this unique pizza recipe then you should give this one a try too!

Shrimp and Pesto Pizza 

Appetizers, Dinners

Recipe—Fig, Goat Cheese, Prosciutto, and Arugula Flatbread

Diva di Cucina

I have this coworker that lives on a real genuine farm. (In the Sacramento Area that’s not very common.) Throughout the year we are the very lucky recipients of various homegrown goodies. A couple weeks back he brought in the most gorgeous figs. I will admit, I look forward to his figs every year. Figs always inspire me to make fun and creative recipes. Well we were having some friends and their kids over the other day for a bbq and some slip n’ slide fun. I knew we would be sitting out on the patio and wanted to come up with a fun appetizer we would all enjoy with a nice bottle of white wine. This flatbread was amazing and so perfect! This took 15 minutes total and was super easy to whip up. The figs are mildly sweet and go great with the richness of the goat cheese and saltiness of the prosciutto. The finishing touch of fresh arugula gives it a nice peppery flavor and the sweet honey just pulls it all together. This rustic flatbread is just layer after layer of fabulous flavors.

Note: I used the Pillsbury whole grain pizza dough and thought it turned out great!

INGREDIENTS
1 can refrigerated pizza dough (I like Pillsbury)
olive oil
4 figs, thinly sliced
3–4 oz sliced prosciutto
4 oz goat cheese
salt and pepper
2 tbsp honey
2 c arugula

STEPS

  • Heat oven to 400°F.
  • Grease large nonstick cookie sheet with cooking spray.
  • Unroll and press out the dough onto the prepared baking sheet to make a 10” x 15” rectangle.
  • Drizzle the crust with olive oil.
  • Place the fig slices on the crust in a single layer.
  • Tear off pieces on the prosciutto and scatter it over the top of the figs.
  • Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle it over the flatbread.
  • Season the flatbread with salt and pepper.
  • Bake for 12–14 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden color.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool.
  • Drizzle the honey over the flatbread.
  • Scatter the arugula over the flatbread.
  • Slice the flatbread into squares and serve.
Dinners

Recipe—Shrimp and Pesto Pizza

Diva di Cucina

The other day I made some homemade pesto for the first time ever. I really wanted to create an awesome pizza combination to use my pesto on and this is what I came up with, a delicious shrimp and pesto pizza. Yes it is a complete departure from your typical pizza and yet it was ahhh-mazing! It was really light and refreshing. The shrimp were cooked to perfection and went so well with the pesto. I didn’t go too crazy with the toppings. I just wanted to keep it pretty simple and it really allowed all the flavors to come through. We love making homemade pizzas during the week because they are incredibly quick and easy and usually cheaper than ordering one from your local pizza parlor. This may have just been my best homemade pizza to date!

Note: If you don’t have the time to make my homemade pesto recipe, I recommend getting the store bought kind and stirring in a splash of lemon juice. The hint of lemon really sets off the shrimp.

INGREDIENTS
1 tube Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust
12 large raw shrimp, cleaned and peeled
salt
lemon pepper
1/2 c pesto (see my recipe here for homemade pesto)
2 c mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 thin slices red onion, cut into quarters
1 tomato, chopped
Italian seasoning

STEPS

  • Preheat oven to 400º.
  • Slice your shrimp in half lengthwise. This will help them to cook quicker and will be easier to eat.
  • Season the shrimp with slat and lemon pepper and set aside.
  • Unroll the pizza dough onto a greased cookie sheet.
  • Starting at the center press, the dough out until it is your desired thickness.
  • Spread an even layer of the pesto onto your dough.
  • Top with cheese, onions, shrimp, and tomatoes.
  • Dust your pizza with Italian seasoning.
  • Bake in the oven for 12–14 minutes or until crust is a golden brown.
  • Turn on the broiler for an additional 2 minutes to given the cheese some nice golden brown spots.
  • Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before slicing.