Nacho Pizza Recipe

Nacho Pizza!

This funky mashup is perfect for family game night or even watching the world cup! The Nacho Pizza is one of the more contrived pizza recipes we have ever made, yet it still tastes amazing. How could it not? The pizza dough base basically turns into a giant soft taco shell for the “deep-dish” nachos to sit inside. If you do it right, the Nacho Pizza can even be cut into slices.

Pizza Nachos Recipe

The Crucial Step 

The most important part of making the Nacho Pizza is making sure the pizza dough base holds up. We used the aluminum deep dish pan and par-baked the dough in the Pizzeria Pronto® so that it would keep its shape.

Par baked Nacho Pizza

First, get the Pronto (or your conventional oven) to about 500ºF, place the prepared dough in the pan with the excess dough flopping over the sides. Press the edges into the sides of the pan to form its shape. Next, par-bake the dough for about 3-4 minutes until it just starts to firm up. Remove from oven and trim off excess dough. Now it’s safe to add the toppings and not have a soggy bottom!

Ingredients  

Once your deep-dish is par-baked and ready you can add your favorite nacho toppings. For ours, we went the triple-decker dip style, layering ingredients and chips.

Nacho Pizza

Ground Beef (pre-cook)Three Blend CheeseBeans Olives Salsa Tortilla Chips – We recommend thick ones! 

Avocado, sour cream, lime, and cilantro to add after cooking if desired.

Bake for 5-6 more minutes at about 500ºF to melt all the cheese without burning the chips. Top with your favorite nacho toppings. 

To remove final pizza from the pan, we lifted up one side and slide a plate under to keep its shape. Eat from the pizza bowl or cut your own slice!

pizza nachos

For other fun recipes check out:

 Twisted Pizza Braid How To Make Crepes 

Try out the Nacho Pizza this week. If you make your own we would love to see on Instagram @_pizzacraft  #pizzacraft. Next week will choose our favorite pizza to feature right here on the blog! 

The Best Vegan Cheese and Meat For Pizza!

Crafting A Vegan Pizza 

I will admit, at Pizzacraft® we have a lot of traditionalists. They love their classic pizza recipes and when I said we were making vegan pizza there were eyebrows raised. Even though I am not vegan myself, I have a lot of family and friends with a dairy intolerance or a lifestyle free of animal products that are snubbed when it comes to pizza. We have made concessions for gluten-free dough, so why hasn’t vegan cheese been given a chance to be MVP yet!? After all, a vegan lifestyle is becoming more and more commonplace.

Restaurant menus are offering vegan options; vegan substitutes (like flax seed for egg) are very popular, and we have noticed vegan cheese stepping up to stake its claim on pizza.

FYI: If you don’t add cheese to a veggie pizza, then you got yourself a vegan pie – but that doesn’t seem to step up to the full challenge. I wanted to experience what all the vegan cheese/meat hype was about and craft a pizza that would satisfy all parties.

The Best Vegan Cheese For Pizza

The best vegan cheese for pizza

I did some research and the most recommended vegan cheese for pizza is pretty consistently cashew nut cheese. At our local Whole Foods, I was able to find two types of cashew mozzarella. It cost about the same price per ounce as regular mozzarella cheese but does appear a little bit grey in color.

With a few more recommendations I decided we should also test a vegan meat option, so we got the Tofurky Italian sausage and made three different vegan pizzas.

Pizza One – Vegan Tomato Pizza

Vegan Pizza Recipe

Ingredients

>Cashew Nut Mozzarella Cheese Tomato Sauce Fresh Tomatoes Basil Plain Dough 

Results

Personally, I was very surprised at the taste of this pizza. The cashew nut cheese didn’t melt entirely or get gooey, but the pizza tasted good. In fact, a few people wandered into the kitchen and took a blind bite with no complaints (that’s pretty promising with this picky crowd). I was also told that if you are looking for a vegan cheese that melts more you could try the brand: Sheese.

Pizza two – Vegan Sausage Pizza

Vegan Pizza Recipe

Ingredients

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Tofurky Italian Sausage Shiitake Mushrooms Cashew Nut Mozzarella Onions Tomato Sauce 

Results

This was my favorite pizza by far. It still has the vegan cheese but I was twice as impressed with this Tofurky sausage. It really gave the pizza a boost in flavor (and protein) and just like a regular pizza night I could not help but take multiple slices. As for the look and consistency of this fake sausage, I have no complaints, and that’s coming from an avid meat eater. I would highly recommend you try this recipe if you’re looking for a meat alternative.  

Pizza Three – Hummus Pizza

Cheeseless Pizza

Ingredients

>Tofurky Sausage Plain Hummus Diced Tomatoes Onions Shiitake Mushrooms 

Results

While we kept the vegan sausage on this pizza, we replaced the tomato sauce with hummus and made a cheeseless pizza. Using hummus seemed to be a popular vegan option so I thought it would be a good addition. While it started to stray from what a pizza taste like… it was still delicious. As one friend said, “it’s just like eating hummus with some yummy baked bread” and there is nothing bad about that.

Other Pizza Alternatives: 

> Making Naan In The Pizza Oven Gluten Free Pizza Dough Recipe 

 No matter what your eating habits are I encourage you to try these pizzas! The flavors are there without some of the negatives that come from eating cheese and meat on every pizza. If you make your own I would love to see on Instagram @_pizzacraft  #pizzacraft. Other vegan pizza recipes to try? Shout them out in the comments below!

A Pizza Fit For Father’s Day!

Father’s Day Discount! 

Tomorrow (June 13th) is the last day to get 25% off of anything in the Pizzacraft® store! Use offer code #1dad

What Every Dad Wants

There are many ways to surprise the Dad in your life this Father’s Day. Yet, we know that sometimes Dads are hard to shop for because they tend to buy the things they want as soon as they want them. Personally, my Dad makes things easy for Mom and me by circling what he wants in the hardware store ads, or even buying it for himself the week before and saying, “this is my Father’s Day gift”. If he doesn’t do that, it’s pretty easy to assume he just wants the family home for a nice dinner.

So whether or not you already have the perfect gift for dad, here is a special pizza recipe sure to make dad’s night by bringing the family together over some freshly baked pizza.

The Sausage Apple Pizza

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Sausage Apple Pizza Recipe

– A little gourmet twist on the basic sausage pizza by adding thin cut apple slices. The sweetness of the apple is a nice contrast to the flavors of hot sausage on this pizza. Ever had chicken apple sausage? Well here is the pizza version.

Ingredients:

Uncooked Hot Italian Sausage
Fuji Apple Slices
Marinara Sauce
Shredded mozzarella
Pepper Flakes

sausage apple pizza

Instructions

1. Slice apple in half and then into thin wedges
2. Prep dough and add marinara sauce
3. Add a thin layer of shredded mozzarella
4. Place apple slices in a circle on the pizza (yes, they get cooked too)
5. Pull sausage and place sausage bits around the pizza. Make sure they are not too big of pieces or they will not cook evenly with the dough.
6. We cooked this pizza on the grill to add a bit of smoke flavor. To do so you can use a pizza stone safe for the grill, or the PizzaQue® Pizza Baking Kit for Kettle or Gas Grills.

Pizza baking stone

Pizza Baking Gear For DAD

>The Pizzeria Pronto® Stovetop Pizza Oven!SALE – SAVE AN EXTRA 10% Reaches cooking temperatures of over 600°F in 15 minutes to cook a pizza quick on your gas range.Glazed ThermaBond® pizza stone with handles is perfect for creating an amazing pizza in your oven or on your grill and double as a serving piece.

Pizza Recipes For The Rest Of The Year

>Breakfast Pizzas You Can Eat All DayBeer Pizza Crust! 
No matter what you cook for dad this Fathers Day we hope he feels the love! If you made the sausage-apple pizza or your own creation we would love to see on Instagram @_pizzacraft  #pizzacraft.
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.topthispizzaco.com/?p=300

Cheese Stuffed Garlic Knots!

Knot Your Average Love Story

I love garlic knots. I love them with a passion; I might even love them more than pizza. Hi! I’m Liana, your guest blogger this week.

When I was in high school I worked at a small pizza restaurant and they made the best garlic cheesy bread I have ever had. When I reminisce about the old days, I get hungry and make these garlic knots. They are cheesy, gooey, garlicky, and addictive!

Warning! If you don’t like garlic stop reading now. This is not a recipe for you.

garlic knot pizza

How To Make Double Garlic Knots

Makes 8 knots

½ cup Olive Oil

¼ cup Grated Parmesan*

4 (or more!) cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning or dried Parsley

1 teaspoon salt

Provolone Cheese

8oz of prepared pizza dough

Instructions:  

*Here is one of the few times I will recommend not using freshly grated cheese. This recipe prefers the store bought type that’s almost powder-like.

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. We used our own Pizzeria Pronto® Outdoor Pizza Oven. Mix all ingredients together. Consistency should be approaching a paste but still runny. Add more Parmesan if needed. Ingredients will settle, so stir the mix well before application. Set aside. 

2. Shape proofed pizza dough into a rectangle. Cut into 8 equal 1oz strips. Don’t stretch them out too far. You want a puffy dough strip no longer than 10 inches. Tie a loose knot in the middle of the strip.

Garlic Knots Recipe

3. Stuff some provolone cheese right in the middle and make sure it isn’t falling out the bottom. Take one end of the knot and tuck it in the top. Take the other end and tuck it on the bottom. Repeat for each strip.

garlic knot recipe

4. Give your garlic mix a few stirs and then completely drench the raw knots with it. Saturate completely. I mean it. Don’t be shy. This can get messy, so I recommend using a pizza screen with something underneath to catch the dripping olive oil.

garlic Knot Pizza

5. Add more of the mix to the top of the knots because more is better. Bake on a cookie sheet or pizza stone for 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to finish.

Cooking tip: This will make or break the results! You’re looking for slightly undercooked dough. Watch them closely in the oven. The mix on the top will have just begun to brown, but the dough itself is pail and soft vs. browned and crunchy.

Garlic Knot Recipe

Show Your Crust Some Love

If you want to cook them a bit longer – then do so! But they are best when soft and gooey. There are also many ways to tie a garlic knot and they are also delicious without the cheese stuffing, so experiment and play with your food.

I love this flavor so much that I often add it to the crust of any garlic knot pizzas I’m making at home. The garlic mix is easy to whip up and I just add it to the crust before baking off my pie. It’s an extra treat at the end of a slice (unless you go crust first – don’t hate) and a nice supersize for my dinner guests. Garlic rules in my house!

More Fun Pizza Recipes:

Pizza With A Twist! How To Make The Perfect Calzone

We hope these knots get you experimenting with some fun side dishes. We would love to see what you create on Instagram @_pizzacraft  #pizzacraft.