Let them Eat Pizza

Once in awhile, I like to cook for 15 minutes and produce a dinner. I grew up in a house where my Mom fixed these complex, from-scratch, balanced meals every night, so it still feels like cheating, but I can live with the guilt if it comes with pizza.

Here is a very easy recipe I threw together tonight, based on what was in our refrigerator:

Take a can of Pillsbury pizza dough. You can get this in the cold foods section at Stop & Shop. I like making dough, actually, but sometimes it’s more fun to just stab a can and have it instantly. Also, this dough must have a kind of oil or egg wash on it, because the crust is always nice.

Toss a bunch of ground beef in a skillet & brown. Put some olive oil in another pan with chopped peppers & onions. When the meat is brown, throw in a (big) spoonful of pizza sauce (available in a jar, I like traditional Ragu), then dump in the sauteed vegetables. Mix it all up.

Spread some more sauce on the pizza dough, which, if you are a good person, is laid out on a pizza peel that has been sprinkled with corn meal.

Dump the beef & veggie mix on top of the dough. Sprinkle a bunch of mozzarella cheese on top.

Put the pizza on a pizza stone that also has been sprinkled with corn meal. It makes a difference – the stone makes a nice crisp crust and the corn meal adds the sweet gritty taste you associate with takeout pizzas.

Bake for however long the dough container tells you. I think it’s 15 min at 400 degrees. Feast like beasts.