Weeknight Deep Dish Pizza – Holy Shizz

I guess I can’t really call my breakfast yesterday a quiche because there is no crust and I baked it in a square dish, so let’s just call it a breakfast bake?

Bacon and Broccoli Breakfast Bake (4 servings – each one is 5 WW points)

• 3 cups chopped fresh broccoli
• 2 slices bacon
• 1 carton of egg beaters (16 ounces)
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 ounces cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Saute the broccoli and bacon together, until the bacon is crisp.  Let cool slightly.  In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together and mix well – then pour into an 8×8 inch square pan.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until the eggs are set.

My plate – 1 serving of the bake, 1 ounce of toast, and canteloupe – breakfast comes in at 8 WW points.

This actually kept me full for quite a while.  It was super busy at work because one of the other secretaries is out this week.  I don’t mind at all because I am busy and she does different stuff than I normally do, so its a nice change of pace.

It was overcast and chilly – around 30 degrees when I decided to go for my walk.  It wouldn’t have been so bad if the wind wasn’t so strong, and I need to remember to bring gloves today – that was the only part that was cold was my hands.

I walked for a brisk 50 minutes. 😀  I was happy to come back to the office for soup and salad – although I overdressed the salad and it was gross – luckily it was late in the day and this 7 point serving of chicken noodle soup held me over until dinner just fine.

Two tablespoons of Newman's Own light balsamic was a tad too much 😦

When I was doing our meal plan over the weekend I asked Tony if he felt like anything and he shocked the shit out of me by asking for deep dish pizza!  The original recipe found in this post is quite labor intensive, while not difficult.  It rises two times.  I wanted to see if I could make a simpler weeknight version, with equally delicious results.  Um, success!

Yesterday morning I made the dough (everything but the 2 tablespoons of room temp butter) – since everyone was still sleeping I just used a wooden spoon and some elbow grease and when it was almost all incorporated, put it on my floured counter and kneaded it for all of 5 minutes.  I put it in a bowl with olive oil, put plastic wrap on the top and set it on top of my stove for the day.

Dough  updated:  this dough makes 2, 9 inch pizzas, or 8 servings – the dough is 7 points per serving – with my toppings of sausage/pepperoni/mozzarella – each slice is 12 ww points 😀

• 3 1/4 cups (16 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (2 3/4 ounces) yellow cornmeal
• 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1 1/4 cups water (10 ounces), room temperature
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted, plus 2 tablespoons, softened
• 1 teaspoon (plus 2 teaspoon olive oil for the cake pan)

As soon as I walked in the door I set my stove for 425.  (My oven takes a while to come to temperature).  After kissing Tony hello and chatting for a couple minutes, I got to work.  I divided the dough in half.  I rolled half of the dough out, and with 2 tablespoons of room temperature butter, spread that all across the dough.

I then rolled it back into a ball, and rolled it out again to fit my 9 inch cake pan.  Be sure to be about 2 teaspoons of olive oil in your cake pan before adding the dough.

Then I put 6 ounces shredded cheese on the bottom, then 4 ounces of Italian sausage, 2 ounces of pepperoni, and then my pizza sauce.  I cheated and bought Dei Fratelli Italian sauce that I just doctored up with more Italian seasoning and garlic.  I added about 2/3 a cup of sauce over the top, then drizzled with 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese.

Dressed with the sauce and Parmesan cheese – ready for the oven:

The original recipe says to bake 20 – 30 minutes, I find 25 minutes to be perfect.  You do have to wait a minimum of five minutes before slicing, which let me tell you, is super hard to do.  I mean, look at this crust??!!

I cut this into 4 pieces, and after I ate one slice, I had 1/4 more, it was that good.  This weeknight version made a lighter version without the second rise in the refrigerator.  I got home from work at 5:45, and the pizza was ready to eat at 6:25 = pretty sure that’s faster than delivery!

I haven’t figured out the points yet, but my guess is around 15.  I’ll update it later when I figure out the points.  So worth the points though!  Mara, let me know if you make this weeknight version!

Stats for Tuesday:

• 30 WW points
• 50 minute walk
• average blood sugar 142

Question of the Day:  Thin crust or deep dish?  While I love my supa crunchy thin crust, I think I have to give it up for this deep dish.  Next time I want to make a deep dish spinach pizza!

Make it a great day!