We share with you our recipes, reviews, tips and thoughts on building a happy home together through food.
I don’t meat on Thursday’s, just a gentle way to practice some restraint in my eating habits I suppose. Which poses a problem while structuring my meals for the day; veggies just lack the protein, and let’s be honest, the sheer deliciousness of a slab of meat! So I have to ensure the meals I prepare for Thursday are creative and tasty enough for me to look forward to eating them without getting tempted to slip in a chicken nugget or two.
Cheese pizza is the ultimate fall-back meal for vegetarians everywhere, my lovely wife included. She will gladly pick up a greasy/oily slice at 3am after a party night – that is the lure of the ubiquitous slice. But given my intense dislike for foods that have been sitting under a heat lamp, and the sheer impracticality of rolling out my own dough every Thursday, I decided to take a healthy shortcut – Whole Wheat Pita Pizza’s! Piled high with fresh veggies and really mozzarella cheese, these beauty’s are a cinch to make, re-heat perfectly in the toaster over, and taste good enough to not even tempt me to throw some pre-cooked chicken on them!
As with many of the other foods I cook often, the pita pizza’s are ridiculously simple to make and versatile enough to keep varying the flavors while sticking with the same basic steps. The cheese (real cheese from the supermarket, none of that processed, packaged stuff, thank you) packs in the protein, while the veggies and the whole wheat base ensure a nutritional punch. Using a package of 6 store-bought pitas usually leaves us with a couple to throw into the fridge and use as a quick snack over the weekend or to pack for lunch on weekdays.
'Shrooms and Green Bell Pepper - one of my favorite pizza toppings
THE RECIPE:
YOU’LL NEED:
- 1 package of store-bought whole wheat pita bread (6 pieces)
- 1 cup of pizza sauce (store-bought, or make your own – recipe to follow soon)
- 16oz Whole-milk Mozzarella, shredded (save some dough – buy the blocks and shred yourself)
- 2 cups of fresh chopped veggies of your choice (I usually use a mixture of onions, mushrooms and bell peppers of all colors)
METHOD:
- Pre-heat Oven to 350 degrees.
- Use 2 baking sheets; place 3 pita breads on each sheet.
- Spread 2 tablespoons of sauce on each of the breads
- Divide the veggies evenly amongst the 6 pizzas, spreading them evenly on top of the sauce.
- Sprinkle the cheese on top of the veggies, dividing again equally amongst all (very democratic of you!)
- Bake in the oven for about 10-12 mins, till the cheese gets bubbly. Keep an eye on them starting at 8 mins, you don’t want the crusts to burn.
- You’re done! Remove from oven, let rest for a couple of mins, slice into quarters and forget that greasy corner pizza stand forever!
The pizza's awaiting the warmth of the oven
ADDITIONAL TIPS:
- If you have cheddar cheese on hand, substitute for some of the Mozza; the mixture of these two gives that classic pizzeria color to your pita’s.
- You can always throw on some pre-cooked shredded chicken along with, or instead of, the veggies.
- Fancy it up by tearing some fresh basil leaves and garnishing the pizza’s with it; just remember to put the basil on AFTER you remove them from the over – burnt basil aint so pretty.