Deep Dish Pizza Casserole

I wish I could remember where I found this recipe because I would love to give the website credit for this yummy, healthier alternative to pizza. This dish is super easy to throw together and makes a full casserole dish, leaving you with leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day!

Ingredients

• 1lb extra lean ground turkey or beef (I use turkey)
• 15 oz chunky Italian style tomato sauce (I use Chunky Ragu Tomato, Garlic, and Onion)
• 1-10oz refrigerated pizza crust dough
• 6 slizes part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Brown meat in skillit until it crumbles. Drain and return to heat. Add tomato sauce and cook until heated through.
3. Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.
4. Unroll pizza crust dough and press into bottom of dish and halfway up the sides of the dish.
5. Line the bottom of the pizza crust with 3 slices of mozzarella cheese. (I cut them in half and do two rows of three halves...it covers more area that way)
6. Top with meat mixture.
7. Bake for 12 minutes.
8. Top with remaining three cheese slices and bake an additional 5 minutes or until crust browns and cheese is melted.

Let cool before serving.


There are lots of ways you could tweak this and add different toppings or sauces. If anyone plays around with it a bit, please comment!

Sun-Dried Tomato and Mushroom Pizza

Pizza is an awesome thing. You can make it healthy, you can make it terrible for you, but no matter what you do, its always good. This is a recipe I found on the MayoClinic.com recipe database this summer when we started our new diet. The website is amazing and full of heart-healthy, yummy, and easy to make recipes.

Keep in mind when you're making this, its PIZZA. So the ingredient measurements are more of a guide than an absolute. Put as much or as little of anything as you want. Add things, remove things, do whatever you want. Its so easy to play around with!

Ingredients

• 1 -12 inch refrigerated pizza crust. (I use Pillsbury)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup fat free ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained, patted dry with paper towel, and chopped
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 cups mushrooms, chopped
• 1 tsp thyme

Directions

1. Place the oven rack on the lowest level of the oven. Preheat to 425 degrees.
2. Spray a cookie sheet, or flour a pizza stone. Roll out dough.
3. Arrange garlic, cheese, tomatoes, and mushrooms.
4. Sprinkle on basil and thyme.
5. Bake until crust turns brown, about 20 minutes.

I think next time I might try adding some chicken. Let me know if any of you make any adjustments or additions when you make it!