Foody Friday - Pizza Braid

What kid doesn't like pizza? We LOVE making pizza...the only problem is my kids and I don't agree on toppings. I found a fun way on Pinterest for kids to make their own pizza but also make it portable, more like a calzone. 

First roll out your preferred pizza dough and pile it with toppings right down the middle. Me: sauce, mushrooms, peppers, onions and cheese. 

My boys: sauce, pepperoni, cheese 

Then use a pizza cutter to slice the dough on each side of the toppings. Tuck in the ends and then criss cross the dough ribbons across the toppings. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 

Cool, slice, dip in the leftover pizza sauce and chow down. 

Like I said, there isn't anything special about making a pizza braid other than it just LOOKS different and if funny pizza helped get my boys excited about making dinner (they actually WANTED to help) I'll gladly do it again. It wasn't that hard and I was surprised the braid stayed together, I kind of expected it to fall apart once it came out of the oven. The best part was I sliced it with a knife and my three year old could eat and I didn't have to worry about the toppings falling off! 

Foody Friday - Zucchini Pizza

Zucchini and Okra is taking over my summer/fall diet. But, on the positive side, it's forcing me to be more creative in the kitchen. And it's forcing me to finally learn how to spell the word zuchinni....zuchhini....zucchinni...

ZUCCHINI! There we go! 

Zucchini Pizza

Make up your favorite pizza dough recipe. I used 1/4 of Pioneer Woman's Pizza Crust Recipe.  Then I set it aside to rise. 

Slice up one medium zucchini. Zucchini have their best flavor when they are small, don't let them grow huge before you pick them. Pick them when the vegetable is about 2-3" in diameter. If you can't wrap your wrap your middle finger and thumb around it and touch (or almost touch) it's way too big. 

Saute the zucchini in butter or olive oil for a few minutes until just beginning to brown. Set aside. 

Prepare pizza dough. Cover dough lightly with Parmesan cheese. Layer zucchini on top. Sprinkle zucchini with dried basil. Place shredded Mozzarella cheese on top of zucchini. Place in 500 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly. 

This pizza was great! Even though I cooked it a bit long :)

Don't make more than you can eat though because although it was wonderful, warmed up days later it wasn't quite as good. 

ZUCCHINI!! I done learnt how to spell it!