Single serve.

There are days when you’re in the mood for pizza and for me, that day’s today. I love pizza in every shape, topping, and crust; I mean, what could go wrong with a bread base, tomato sauce, and a variety of toppings? I swear, pizza is just your go, grow, glow food in a dish. Granted, an indulgent one, but still.

As much as I love eating out and ordering pizza, it has been a while since I did a homemade one. Well, mostly homemade with the exception of the crust because I am a total noob when it comes to bread making…that and buying a store-bought pizza base is way more convenient than making it. 

One thing I’m proud of is making the tomato sauce from scratch. I could’ve easily tweaked a store-bought tomato sauce but I don’t know, making sauces from scratch is very therapeutic for me. Prepping the ingredients, adjusting the seasoning, blending it all up- the process just excites me and the satisfaction of nailing the taste never gets old. Plus, I could always double or triple the recipe then store it for a rainy day. How awesome is that? Oh, a little word of caution: my tomato sauce is a bit spicy so just feel free to adjust the amount of red pepper flakes, okay?

Since this is a no meat pizza, feel free to add on whatever topping you like. My toppings are ones that I currently have on my pantry but do add on more with whatever you have. Pineapples: yay or nay? If you asked me back when I was 10, my answer is a hard no. Ask me now: if I had a can of pineapples lying around, I think I would’ve added a few pieces.

Now, you can always chuck pizza in the oven but I decided to do it on a stovetop. I guess this stems from a childhood memory where my mom would “bake” or heat up pizza on a stovetop and not in an oven. This works so perfectly with an already made crust. Just put it on very low heat to avoid burnt crust.

Hope this gets you inspired to whip up your own pizza every now and then. Enjoy!

PS. Oh before I forget, for this month, December 2018, NMM recipes will be posted weekly!  There will be five new recipes for this month, all easy and quick, and of course, meatless (but we all know everything’s indulgent, though, so there’s that haha!).

PPS. Yes, there will be a post on the 24th because I’m dedicated like that. See yah! 

PIZZA IN A JIFFY WITH HOMEMADE SAUCE

(adapted from KitchenTreaty.com)

YIELD: 1 medium pizza

PIZZA SAUCE:

2 medium tomatoes, quartered

2 tbsp tomato paste

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1 – 1 ½ tsp dried oregano

2 ½ - 3 tsp granulated sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

½ tsp salt

Pinch of ground black pepper

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (omit if you don’t want a spicy sauce)

Other ingredients:

1 medium pizza crust (homemade or store-bought)

Whole basil leaves (you can also use spinach)

1 bell pepper, cut into strips

1 red onion

Canned button mushroom slices

Grated cheese of choice (I used cheddar)

1. Make sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend/pulse until everything is broken down. You can leave it a bit chunky or pulse until very smooth.

2. Transfer puree to a pan to heat sauce up. We’re cooking the sauce to remove the raw flavor of the tomatoes and the tomato paste. Add a splash of water if needed and let simmer for a few minutes then remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature before adding to pizza base.

3. Assemble pizza: spread sauce, then top with basil, bell pepper strips, mushrooms, and onions. Add on grated cheese.

4. Place pizza in a pan and on the lowest heat setting of your stovetop. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted and the crust is golden brown at all sides but not burnt at the bottom. Slice to 4 or 8 pieces and serve.