Easy Mini Pizza Recipe

You want pizza; of course you want pizza. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want pizza? But making the dough is a pain by scratch, you don’t want to go out to buy a crust or ready-made dough and whatever else you’ll need, your taste buds are crying out for a good pie so frozen pizza is out of the question, and you’ll be damned if you’ll pay $15 to have a flavorless dough disc delivered—or $25 and up for a decent pizza—and you’ve come to your wits end and are ready to take it out on all innocents within earshot. What do you do? What do… you… do?

Just be sure you keep all of the following on hand at all times. It’s pretty easy to do, as all of the ingredients can be used in oh so many other ways.

For this you will need:

• English muffins (1-2 per eater, halved)
• Tomatoes (1 medium for every three mini pizzas, in ½ inch slices)
• Italian seasoning
• Olive oil
• Toppings of your choice (smaller ones stay on top better)

Cheeses:

• Mozzarella (sliced thin)
• Cheddar (shredded)
• Jack (any kind, shredded)
• Parmesan (shredded)

The procedure:

1. Lightly toast the halved English muffins; do not let them get crispy.
2. While they toast, sprinkle Italian seasoning onto the sliced tomatoes. Heat a large skillet over high heat, add just enough olive oil to slick the pan and add the tomato slices, seasoned-side down. Fry for 1 minute; sprinkle with Italian seasoning and flip the slices. Fry 1 minute more and remove to a dish.
3. Preheat oven to as hot as it will get (450 degrees, generally).
4. Place the muffins on a cookie sheet face up and cover with seasoned fried tomatoes. The tomato slices will be falling apart and easy to mold to the crust.
5. Sprinkle equal parts of shredded parmesan, jack and cheddar (it helps if you combine them ahead of time) over each muffin, enough to cover the tomatoes. Cover each muffin with 2 slices (1 if they’re thick) of mozzarella trimmed so they don’t overhang and garnish with toppings. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is thoroughly melted and the raw toppings are cooked.
6. Eat, me hearties.

NOTE: If using meat toppings, always use raw ingredients if possible for better flavor (as in sausage, meatballs, etc.). Always use fresh toppings if you want it to turn out good.

Toppings Suggestions: Italian sausage (or any pork link sausage), seasoned hamburger (mini meatballs), slices of chicken (raw), pepperoni, chorizo, bacon bits, salami, ham, anchovies (yes, some people actually do like salty little fishes on their pizza… go figure), raw garlic, black olives, sliced mushrooms, pineapple chunks (cut into small pieces), artichoke hearts, sliced peppers (jalapeno, bell or whatever), onion, slices tomatoes; fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, etc.).