It’s hard to get bored of pizza, but sometimes you want to change things up a bit. In addition to trying new toppings and cheeses, consider using an alternative to tomato sauce on pizza.
Pizza night is a cherished tradition in many households, but sometimes, it’s good to break away from the routine and experiment with new flavors. One of the easiest ways to do this is by trying out different alternative pizza sauces.
The other day Brion & I were in a Winners/Homesense store. Of course, my favorite spot is always the area where they have all the cookware and specialty food items. I saw bottled sauce made with artichokes and garlic. Immediately my thoughts were as to how I could use it. It was quite pricey, so I opted to try and make a copycat version at home.
While tomato sauce has long been associated with traditional pizza, there is a whole new world of flavors waiting to be discovered by breaking from tradition. Tradition of course has its place—there’s a reason classic tomato-topped pizza has been a staple for generations. But there is more to pizza sauce than regular tomato. There are exciting flavors, interesting textures, sweet things, spicy things, cheesy things, even exotic things!
Here are some ideas for making pizza without tomato sauce:
- White pizza – Make a white sauce with olive oil, garlic, parsley, and a dash of salt and pepper. Spread it on the pizza dough instead of tomato sauce. Top with cheeses like mozzarella, ricotta, or feta, and veggies.
- Pesto pizza – Spread pesto sauce on the dough instead of tomato sauce. Top with veggies and cheeses.
- BBQ chicken pizza – Use BBQ sauce as the base instead of tomato sauce. Top with chicken, red onion, cheddar cheese, etc.
- Mediterranean pizza – Make a tahini sauce base. Top with artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, feta, red onion, etc.
- Breakfast pizza – Scramble eggs with veggies and meats. Spread it on the dough. Sprinkle with cheeses.
- Buffalo chicken pizza – Spread buffalo wing sauce on the dough. Top with chicken, blue cheese, mozzarella, celery, onion.
- Thai pizza – Make a spicy peanut sauce base. Top with chicken, carrot, onion, cilantro, mozzarella.
- Carbonara pizza – Spread an alfredo sauce base. Top with bacon, onion, Parmesan, egg, parsley.
The best thing about pizza is that there are endless ways to enjoy it. So here you have it … shrimp pizza with artichoke & garlic sauce. Yum!
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Shrimp Pizza w/ Artichoke & Garlic Sauce
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Rating: 5
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Sauce
Place all ingredients except oil in food processor. With motor running, Add olive oil in a slow stream to make an emulsion. Place in a dish & set aside.
Pizza Toppings
Fry bacon until done but not crisp. Drain on a paper towel then chop into bite-sized pieces. In the same skillet, sauté shrimp until just cooked & remove it from skillet.
Sauté sliced mushrooms & sliced onions until just cooked.
Slice cherry tomatoes in halves & prepare fresh herbs.
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Assembly
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Spread each naan bread with artichoke & garlic sauce.
Top pizzas with onions, mushrooms, shrimp & bacon. Sprinkle shredded cheese over all then dot with halved cherry tomatoes & herbs.
Bake 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly & tomatoes are roasted. Serve.
Recipe Notes
- You will no doubt have extra artichoke & garlic sauce. Store it in an air-tight container for up to one week. Enjoy it on toasted bread or swirl into cooked pasta.
Classic German staples come together in this lasagna to make a very unique version of the classic dish.
There are six main ingredients in this recipe. The first is spaetzle, the German equivalent of pasta. The second is onion. By caramelizing the diced pieces you turn it into little velvety pieces of heaven that add incredible depth and sweetness to the dish. Third is Bratwurst, a fresh link sausage characterized by its many different spices and seasonings. Fourth is sauerkraut, bratwurst’s classic sidekick. Fifth is bacon and the crowning touch and grand finale is the Emmentaler cheese.
I would like to talk a bit more about spaetzle which, in my opinion, elevates this lasagna to a whole new level. Compared to traditional pasta dough, spaetzle is softer and quite moist.
Native to Germany, ‘spaetzle’ is made all over the world now, having a different name in each country. The lines have become blurred between what is a spaetzle and what is something else.
The dough is quite basic, made from flour, eggs, water and salt. Although these little ‘dumplings’ can be eaten with almost anything, I thought they added something real special to this German lasagna.
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German Lasagna
Votes: 6
Rating: 4.17
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Votes: 6
Rating: 4.17
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Instructions
Spaetzle
In a large bowl, mix the flour with salt & make a well in the center. Add eggs to the well & whisk the flour into the eggs. Gradually whisk in the water until a very thick batter forms. Cover with a damp cloth & allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Place spaetzle dough maker above the pot with the water. Load with dough & slide back & forth or press to squeeze the dough through & form the spaetzle noodles.
Once the spaetzle begins to float to the surface, scoop with a large slotted spoon & transfer to a colander placed inside a bowl for the drained water to collect. Continue process until all of the dough is used.
Caramelized Onions
Heat oil in saucepan, add onion & sprinkle with salt. Cook & stir about 15 minutes or until moisture is evaporated & onion is soft. Reduce heat; sprinkle with cider vinegar. Cook & stir until golden. Stir in brown sugar; cook & stir until caramel brown in color. Set aside.
Sauce
In the saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, bouillon, garlic powder & salt until smooth. Gradually stir in milk & broth. Bring to a boil; cook & stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat to a bowl & set aside.
In the saucepan, cook bacon (not too crisp); remove to a cutting board to coarsely chop. Add bratwurst sausage meat (which has been removed from casings) to saucepan & scramble fry until cooked. Drain on paper towel. Add chopped bacon, bratwurst & caramelized onions to your prepared sauce.
Cottage Cheese / Other Ingredients
In a small bowl, beat eggs; add cottage cheese & pepper. Set aside. Drain sauerkraut & rinse. Squeeze dry. Grate cheese
Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Spread 1 cup sauce mixture over bottom of pan. Layer with 1/3 of the spaetzle noodles, a 1/3 of sauce mixture, 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture, 1/2 of the sauerkraut & 3/4 cup grated cheese. Repeat layers ( spaetzle, sauce, cottage cheese, sauerkraut, spaetzle, sauce). Save grated cheese for last 5 minutes of baking.
Cover & bake for 50-60 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining GRATED CHEESE; bake 5 minutes longer until cheese is melted. Allow to stand 15 minutes before cutting.
Recipe Notes
- If you do not have a spaetzle dough maker, just drop spoonfuls of dough into the boiling water to form spaetzle noodles. Dip your spoon into water to prevent it sticking on the spoon.
Hunter’s chicken is a dish consisting of a chicken fillet wrapped in bacon, smothered in barbecue sauce then topped with cheddar cheese. This particular ‘style’ of chicken was originally adapted from a classic British pub food favorite.
Before I could give it a try, I saw a video of someone making lasagna by tucking these same ingredients into small folded ‘pockets’ of pasta instead of layering everything in a large pan. It seems there is always something unique about having your own individual serving as opposed to a chunk of the whole.
Lasagna is simple to eat but intricate in its appeal. Satisfying on three accounts …. pasta, gooey cheese and a savory sauce. In many ways, lasagna is the result of the interaction of cultures across generations …. an organized combination of different ideas and flavors.
No matter how you slice it, making lasagna is a big production. These lasagna pockets take a bit of work to make, but they are totally worth it!
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Hunter's Chicken Lasagna
Votes: 2
Rating: 4.5
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Votes: 2
Rating: 4.5
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Instructions
Chicken
Preheat oven to 350 F. Season chicken breasts with salt & pepper. In a small roasting pan, melt butter & brown chicken slightly on both sides. Add water, & herbs & roast until cooked thru. Shred the cooked chicken breasts with two forks.
Cook bacon in microwave until done but not crisp; coarsely chop. In a bowl, combine bacon, BBQ sauce, crushed tomatoes, sliced green onion & shredded chicken; mix well.
Pasta & Sauce
Boil lasagna noodles, shred cheeses & prepare the béchamel sauce.
In a a saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour & cook until bubbly. Slowly add milk, stirring until sauce is smooth. Add shredded mozzarella cheese & salt.
Assembly & Baking
Spread a dollop of béchamel sauce in the middle of a cooked lasagna noodle. Place another noodle on top of the first noodle so that it is perpendicular & spread béchamel sauce in the middle of the second noodle.
Spoon a portion of the BBQ chicken mixture on top of the béchamel sauce in the center of the noodle & sprinkle some shredded mozzarella & cheddar cheese on top.
Fold the ends of the two noodles over the filling to create a lasagna 'pocket'. Repeat the process with the rest of the lasagna noodles until you have 4 lasagna pockets.
Place 2 lasagna pockets next to each other in a 9 x 5-inch casserole dish, cover with béchamel sauce, sprinkle with shredded cheddar & mozzarella cheese over the top. Place the other 2 lasagna pockets on top of the shredded cheeses, followed by another layer of béchamel sauce & more shredded cheese,
Bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
The best thing about quiche is their ability to taste just as good reheated as they do fresh from the oven. I love quiche, which of course, if you are following my blog you already know that. A classic dish made popular in the 1970’s, is so simple and yet can be the star of an elegant brunch or quick mid week supper.
Very often, quiche is thought of as ‘taboo’ due to all the fat it may contain. When you think about it, pizza is full of fat and we certainly don’t stop eating it. Quiche is totally customizable in terms of how healthy you want to make it.
As far back as I remember, I have always enjoyed ‘all things vegetable’. My mother grew a large garden on the farm, so vegetables always played a big part in our family meals.
Brussels sprouts seem to be an unlikely ingredient for quiche. It is one of those vegetables most people either love or hate. My husband, Brion, kind of ‘sits on the fence’ when it comes to both quiche and brussels sprouts. So I derived a plan to help make it work. I thought if I make the crust from rice, which he loves, that would be a good start. The sliced brussels sprouts, wild mushrooms and onions are all sauteed first to bring out the natural flavors. Add some bacon and Gouda cheese — what’s not to love?!
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Brussels Sprouts & Wild Mushroom Quiche
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Rice Crust
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Blend crust ingredients. Using the back of a large spoon, press into a baking dish & bake for 15-20 minutes.
Filling
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In a saucepan, cook bacon until nearly crisp. Remove bacon to a paper towel. Add sliced brussels sprouts, mushrooms & onions to bacon drippings; saute until until tender-crisp. Blot veggies on paper towel.
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Layer bottom of rice crust with vegetables, bacon & cheese. Whisk together eggs, half & half & seasonings. Pour egg mixture carefully over veggies, bacon & cheese. Bake 40 minutes. Quiche should be puffy & golden & set in the middle.
Recipe Notes
- For extra flavor you may prefer to roast the brussels sprouts instead of sauteing them.
- Don't hesitate to use the cheese or cheese combo of your own choice instead of the Gouda in this recipe.
