Quick Weeknight Meal: 5 Pizzas for Late Summer

Beet and goat cheese pizza, with chopped beet greens, a little tomato sauce, and minced chives.

Pizza is one of the quickest, most fun, and most rewarding weeknight meals we know. If you make up a batch of dough in the morning and then have a few toppings sitting in the fridge and pantry, dinner can be ready in about half an hour after coming in the door. Here are five recent pizzas, perhaps with toppings that will get you thinking.

• 1 Beet pizza! I thinly sliced one baby beet from the garden, and then topped a pizza with these and the chopped beet greens. It was perfect with some goat cheese and Parmesan too.

• 2 A basic summer pizza with tomato, mozzarella, and basil. It's the classic.

• 3 Eggplant pizza, inspired by a local pizza place, and including goat cheese and reduced balsamic vinegar.

• 4 Potatoes with mascarpone, ground hazelnuts, and basil. Oh, and a touch of red pepper for some unexpected spiciness.

• 5 Fig and prosciutto — an unexpected yet classic combo. Sweet and savory!

Want to make pizza tonight or tomorrow? Here are some recipes and tips.

• Recipe: Homemade Thin Crust Pizza
• http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/italian/recipe-stovetopbroiler-pizza-with-asparagus-shiitake-and-fresh-mozzarella-083037
• Recipe: Spinach, White Bean, and Taleggio Pizza
• Recipe: Breakfast Pizza

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (9)

Beets! Yes! And mascarpone with hazelnut? Be still my beating heart. Now I want pizza for dinner.

http://www.abreadaday.com

Yum! Beets are my favorite food! Thanks for the inspiration.

r2girls design

I just put a prosciutto and fig pizza in the oven! It is my husband's FAVORITE.

I use this recipe from Chow Mama.

Oh my goodness...they all look delicious.

A good recipe for sauce:
The key is UNCOOKED. IMO, you want that fresh, bright tomato taste. A can of good whole or diced tomatoes with the addition of some fresh oregano (or good dried) and salt is all you need. Mash with a potato masher or zizz with an immersion blender for a couple of seconds. You want it a bit chunky.

For tomatoes, San Marzano's are the obvious choice, but real ones are .05% of the Italian tomato crop so unless you want to pay $20 a can, look elsewhere. Homegrown or local fresh is the next choice. Dip in boiling water and peel, then dice and proceed as above. For canned, I like Muir Glen, or there are some San Marzano knock-offs in a giant can at Costco for like $3 that I'm sort of in love with. I portion them out into sandwich bags and freeze, then thaw and doctor just before pizza time.

If you want to make things even easier, and especially if you're cooking for one and don't need/want leftovers, I am a HUGE fan of pita bread pizza! I usually toast the pita briefly in the oven, then add any number of toppings, but my favorite is mushrooms.

I just had the most amazing pizza EVER: It was fresh peaches, prosciutto, arugula, goat cheese and red pepper (for a kick). AMAZING. I'm in the market for a pizza stone so I can recreate it. Any suggestions?

Also - try grilling your pizza!!!

Once your charcoal is lit and hot your dough won't sag through the grate - and a single pizza will take less than 5 minutes! Grill one side (with a bit of olive oil), flip, add the toppings, and close the cover to melt the cheese. Mmm...