The Return of Pizza Night

I love homemade pizza. We used to have pizza night often on the weekends, but it fell by the wayside about when a little person with an unpredictable sleeping schedule came into our lives. After a particularly rough sleepless week, I am happy to report the pollen has abated and sleeping is much better. So much better, in fact, that we felt like we had the time to make pizza and eat it while hanging out on the porch.

The whole wheat pizza dough recipe is here. It works every time. If for some crazy reason you don't want to make two pizzas, it also freezes well.

Let's take a step back in time to last Saturday night. It was pouring rain, the kind of unrelenting pouring rain that splashes up from the ground and drenches your pants, making them uncomfortable and difficult to take off. It was also the night before a small party we were having to celebrate Colin's baptism. Part of the menu for that party was a platter of grilled vegetables. Jon, being the wonderful guy that he is, spent hours standing out in the rain trying to hold my pink polka-dot umbrella with his chin while grilling trays and trays of vegetables. They were delicious at the party, and yielded a lot of leftovers which I happily snacked on all week. The last of the grilled vegetables ended up on the first pizza.

Pizza Number One:
Tomato sauce (I use the sauce from the can, and then season the way I like it. The little cans are only about 30 cents, and then I sprinkle with dried oregano and basil.)
Chopped leftover grilled eggplant, mushrooms, zucchini and summer squash mixed with red onion, chopped grape tomatoes and garlic sauteed in olive oil.
Half mozzarella cheese and half crumbled goat cheese.

The other pizza was inspired by a combination of The Uncommon from The Upper Crust (bacon, jalapeno and pineapple), and barbecue chickpea from Mama Pea. It was a whole lot of flavors.

Pizza Number Two:
Barbecue sauce coated chickpeas. (I used spicy hot Stubbs, but would opt for something a little sweeter next time.)
Crumbled cooked bacon
Chopped pineapple
Pickled Jalapeno slices
Mozzarella for cheese eaters (You can see in the picture that my half was cheeseless- still good!)

The absolute best thing about pizza night (and the reason we make two pizzas), is, of course, leftovers. It's only 10:30 and I'm already thinking about eating them for lunch!

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