I know that it’s been over a week since I posted a recipe. The reason is that I’ve cooked several dishes that I’ve written about in the past. I’ve actually decided to post at least one of those recipes again, because it was so good and it’s been a long time since the original post. But first I want to tell you about the crazy, delicious pizza mashup I made on Saturday.
Dinner on Saturdays tends to be very casual. It’s often a main course salad or a sandwich. Although we don’t eat a lot of pizza, but when do, it’s usually on a Saturday.
Saturday was grandson Luke’s 12th birthday. His party was at a local park. Ken and I went for a little while, but Luke was more interested in having fun with his friends. Besides, it had rained earlier, the ground was wet, and there were still rain sprinkles. We took a baseball and our gloves along, and had some fun playing catch, but we left before the food—pizza and cake—came out.
Instead we came home and ate—pizza! It was not, however, your run of the mill pizza. It was a cheeseburger pizza, a deconstructed burger on a pizza shell.
In our house, pizza starts with a Boboli crust. Much as I love thin, crispy pizza crust, a Boboli shell just is homemade pizza to me. It’s what my mother used, and Ken loves it, too. It’s one of the quickest, easiest meals ever: throw toppings on the shell, put it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, and eat.
My cheeseburger pizza is based on a Cooking Light recipe, but I made significant changes. The toppings would have been pretty scant, otherwise.
The original recipe called for mixing a couple tablespoons each of mayonnaise and ketchup for the sauce. Instead, I made a batch of what we call “special sauce.” It’s actually Classic Burger Sauce from America’s Test Kitchen, but every time I taste it, I start singing “two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese….” I only used about a half cup, so we have burger sauce in fridge. Hmm…
I increased the amount of meat and cheese, as well. I left out the chopped red onion. Although we’re starting to slowly add some foods back for Ken, I know from past experience that onion will be the last thing on the list. I’m presenting the recipe the way I made it. If you want to include onion, add 1/2 cup chopped onion when you brown the ground beef. I also left off a thinly sliced plum tomato, which was among the listed toppings. Ken had eaten a couple thin tomato slices at lunch, plus there was ketchup in the sauce. I didn’t want to overdo it. I don’t really think it’s necessary. The pizza tasted delicious the way it was.
Cheeseburger Pizza
- 1/2 pound 93% lean ground beef
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup classic burger sauce (recipe follows)
- 1 prepared pizza crust (such as Boboli)
- 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I may have been generous here)
- 1 plum tomato, thinly sliced (optional)
- 2 ounces dill pickle chips or 2 small dill pickles, sliced
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
While oven preheats, heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add beef and salt and cook until the beef is browned. Remove from heat.
Spread burger sauce over the crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Spread beef evenly over sauce. Sprinkle cheeses over beef. Top evenly with pickle slices and tomato slices, if using. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.
Classic Burger Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons cider or distilled white vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl.
The recipe says that the pizza serves four, but that must be four sparrows. I always end up cutting a pizza I make with a Boboli crust into 6 pieces. I told myself I was only going to eat one slice; I lied. It was just too good. We had two slices left, that we ate for lunch yesterday, and, honestly, I wanted more. Ken walked by a few minutes ago and asked what I was doing. When I told him, his response was, “we need to make that again.” I’m sure it will reappear some Saturday evening very soon.
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