Science Experiment Gone… Right!

I made a pizza but wanted it to be uber-healthy. Besides the cheese and the crust, I think I accomplished it nicely. I should have taken pictures along the way, but quite honestly, it looked like a train-wreck. That is, until I pulled the finished product out of the oven. So many times I leave my camera in the car on purpose but later I regret it. This was one of those times. You could have seen the ugly duckling changing into a beauty of a swan. The taste was even better. Even next-day leftovers were delicious. Here’s how –

Boboli pizza crust (I know, I know)
Boboli pizza sauce (I know, I know)
Crushed red pepper
Cayenne pepper
Thiiiin sliced red onions
Sliced garlic
Sliced mushrooms
Fresh Basil
Spinach
½ Orange pepper sliced into thin strips
½ Red pepper sliced into thin strips
Blue crab meat
Scallops
Shrimp
Cheese = some from Mexican blend and some from bag of 4 cheese mix




I put a crust on a pizza stone, and I put another crust on a cookie sheet. I had 3 packets of the pizza sauce, and I used all of them. I sprinkled crushed red pepper and Cayenne pepper onto the sauce. I put down a thin layer of cheese. You could still see the sauce. While I was doing this, I pan roasted the sliced red onions and garlic. I began to lay down the flat toppings so down went the basil, shrooms, spinach, garlic/onions straight from the pan, and the orange/red pepper strips. Another thin layer from each of the two bags of cheeses. A little more than last time, however. Finally, the scallops and shrimp went down and topped it off with the blue crab meat. The meat was crumbled, and I tried to make crab balls; that didn’t work too well. I sprinkled the meat on top, so this pizza was looking thicker and uglier and uglier. I topped everything with some more cheese, and into the 375 degree preheated oven they went for 27 minutes. When the timer sounded, I was kind of worried on what I will see. When I opened the door and turned on the oven light, I ran to get my camera. It was a thing of beauty. I let them sit for about 5 minutes so the roof of my mouth won’t turn to bloody spaghetti, and dove in. Yum-o. (Hi Rachael!) It was nice to have a scallop or some other morsel in every bite. The presentation was nice with shrimp and other bits rising from the cheese. I did notice a big difference from using my pizza stone to the cookie sheet where the stone won. The sides were crispy, and made it more enjoyable. The only downside was the center of the crust was much softer than the outer edges. I think the way to cure it is to add fewer toppings in the middle and use a hotter oven.

Next time, I’ll make the sauce and either make my own crust or get one from the local pizzeria.