Podcast 80: Pizza Tonight

by The Meal Makeover Moms on November 10th, 2009

We’ve never met a child who didn’t love pizza. In fact kids between the ages of 3 to 11 prefer pizza over all other food groups for lunch and for dinner. Pizza is a quintessential family favorite, but it can also be a nutritional nightmare when topped with things like pepperoni, sausage, and gobs of full-fat cheese. To lighten things up, on this week’s Cooking with the Moms podcast we created two new pizza recipes guaranteed to keep the troops happy.


Our first recipe for Buffalo Chicken Pizza Pies uses whole wheat English muffins as the base. For the topping, we sauté diced chicken and finely diced bell peppers and then toss with hot & spicy buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing. Part-skim mozzarella cheese is the final topping.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza Pies

Makes 6 Servings

  • One 12-ounce package whole wheat English muffins (6 muffins)
  • 1 medium orange bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch dice (about 1 ¼ cups)
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into ½-inch dice
  • 1/2 cup pasta sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Buffalo sauce
  • 1 tablespoon blue cheese dressing
  • 1 to 1 ½ cups preshredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Heat the oven to 400°F.

2. Slice the English muffins in half and place on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

3. While the English muffins are cooking, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the pasta sauce, Buffalo sauce, and blue cheese dressing and mix well.

5. To assemble the pizzas, top each muffin half evenly with the chicken mixture. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of each.

6. Bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes.

Nutrition Information per Serving:  300 calories, 10g fat (3.5g saturated), 530mg sodium, 28g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, 24g protein, 25% vitamin A, 70% vitamin C, 25% calcium

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Our second recipe for Sausage, Mushroom & Cannellini Pesto Pizza is a recipe that was featured in the October issue of Kiwi magazine! It’s packed with great flavor, and the “sauce” will surely surprise you.

Sausage, Mushroom & Cannellini Pesto Pizza

Makes 10 Servings

  • One 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tablespoons prepared basil pesto sauce
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, coarsely chopped
  • One 12-ounce package chicken sausage (use your favorite flavor), casings removed and the meat crumbled
  • Two 12-inch pre-made pizza crusts
  • 2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)

1. Place the beans, pesto, lemon juice, and water in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 450°F (or the temperature indicated on your prepared pizza crust package).

3. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the crumbled sausage and continue to cook until heated through and completely cooked, an additional 5 to 7 minutes.

4. Spread the bean puree evenly over the two pizza crusts. Top each with the mushroom and sausage mixture. Top with the cheese (1 cup per pizza crust).

5. Bake according to package directions. Cut each pizza into 5 slices and serve.

Tip: The bean puree and mushroom/sausage mixture can be refrigerated or frozen for later use if you only want to make one pizza at a time

Nutrition Information per Serving (1 slice): 320 calories, 12g fat (4.5g saturated), 600mg sodium, 33g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 20g protein, 25% calcium, 15% iron

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We hope you’ll tune in to our show for lots of pizza trivia and our brand new, super-yummy recipes.

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2 Comments | Filed Under Dinner, Grains, Pizza, Podcast, Poultry 

2 Responses to “Podcast 80: Pizza Tonight”

  1. Sherman on November 11th, 2009

    Loved the podcast, ladies. Can’t wat to try the pizza recipes. You mentioned “food of the month” and here is a reference for you. I had no idea there were so many “foods of the month.” http://www.foodreference.com/html/html/januaryevents.html

  2. Sherman on November 11th, 2009

    By the way, how did you ever miss November 1st, “Men Make Dinner Day”?

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