Matzah pizza

I love that the name for this sounds so much like Machu Picchu. . .

I remember three favorite lunches from my childhood: Kraft dinner, Chef Boyardi ravioli, and English muffin pizza. I will admit to still having Kraft dinner from time to time, but the others have fallen away. This Passover, looking for something else to make with matzah for lunch one day, I hit on this--make pizza with matzah as the base instead of an English muffin. Actually, there was an intermediary step, which is that I've been doing this with pita bread. But pita bread is a bit of a hassle, having to cut it cross-wise into two pieces. The matzah makes this so easy that I will definitely have it outside of Passover as well! 

I've made this twice, with feta cheese and kalamata olives as the only toppings. So the other toppings on the ingredient list below are just things I happen to think would be good.

My mother's English muffin pizza was a little different: the muffin half, tomato sauce, then a slice of mozzarella cheese. Maybe she sprinkled a little oregano on top. I don't know why I've never made it that way myself.

MATZAH PIZZA

serves 2

two squares of matzah

about 6 oz. tomato sauce (canned or home-made)

shredded or crumbled cheese (mozarella, Monterey jack, feta, blue cheese)

whatever other toppings you would like to add, e.g.

            kalamata olives, halved

            anchovies

            sautéed mushrooms

            a handful of chopped kale or spinach

            roasted red peppers

Preheat broiler, putting rack about 8" below the heat.

Place the two squares of matzah on a rimmed baking sheet.

Spread tomato sauce over the matzah.

Add toppings, and then sprinkle on cheese.

Put under the broiler for about 5 minutes.

Sheet pan chicken sausage and veggies

I clipped this recipe from an insert in my local newspaper. It combines two things I often make—roasted veggies and smoked chicken sausage, but I never thought to combine them in a sheet pan. The recipe also includes a marinade that looked like a great addition. Now, the original recipe called for butternut squash, but in my new routine of buying groceries for two weeks of cooking rather than one, by the time I got to this recipe, I realized I had added the butternut squash to a soup made the week before, forgetting it was for this dish. But I had plenty of potatoes on hand, so I cut up those instead, and cooked them for a while on their own. I'm curious to try the dish with butternut squash, but it was certainly delicious with potatoes! If you use squash instead, you can mix everything together and bake it all at once for 30-35 minutes at 450 degrees.

SHEET PAN CHICKEN SAUSAGE AND VEGGIES

adapted from Relish magazine (p. 14 in this link)

4 servings

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 T. Dijon mustard

3 T. olive oil

1/2 t. garlic powder (or two minced garlic cloves)

1/4 t. pepper

5 medium red potatoes (no need to peel), cut into about 1" cubes

12 oz fresh green beans (I used pre-trimmed/washed beans from a steam-in bag, uncooked)

1 medium red onion, roughly chopped

12 oz. Aidells chicken sausage (or other brand), sliced diagonally

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with aluminum foil.

Put cubed potatoes into a large bowl. Drizzle with 1 T. of olive oil and toss until coated. Spread potatoes on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. (Set aside the bowl to use again for the veggies; no need to wash it.)

While the potatoes are baking, prepare the marinade and the rest of the vegetables.

Marinade: In a medium bowl, whisk together the syrup, mustard, 2 T. olive oil, garlic powder, and pepper. (Add salt if you wish.)

Veggies and sausage: Put the beans, onion, and sausage in the bowl. Pour over the marinade, and toss to coat.

When the potatoes have baked 30 minutes, take them out of the oven and turn the oven up to 450.

Add the potatoes to the bowl with the veggies, sausage, and marinade and toss until all is coated. Put everything back on the baking sheet and bake for about 35 minutes, or until veggies are done.