Italian Pizza Bake

This Italian Pizza Bake is ready in no time ... with no freezer burn in sight. It may not be quite as quick as pulling a pizza from the freezer case or as easy as calling for pizza delivery (if that were even an option around here!). But it is a great choice for supper - whether you're sitting around the kitchen table or serving it up on paper plates.

The guys were finally were able to work wheat stubble ground after it rained a couple of inches in early August. So it was Meals on Wheels time at the County Line kitchen. The guys are fans of Taco Pizza, which uses a crescent roll dough for the crust.

But I saw a version of this recipe on the biscuit mix box and decided it was time for something new. The original recipe was made in a loaf pan, and I knew it wouldn't make enough for both guys. So I looked at my Bisquick cookbook and came up with a dough to fit my pizza pan, then multiplied the topping ingredients.

The end result was a success. Even my farmer, who prefers beef over chicken any day, gave me a thumbs up. It's going in the "keep" pile.

Italian Pizza Bake

2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup diced green or yellow bell pepper (I used yellow)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used green onion, both bottoms and tops)
1 cup canned diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
1 1/2 cups cut-up cooked chicken breast (I had grilled extra at the noon meal for this purpose)
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (Original recipe called for mozzarella. I used a fiesta blend)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pizza pan with cooking spray. Stir together Bisquick, water and garlic powder until a ball forms. Using a little extra Bisquick, knead the dough about 10 times on the counter, adding a little Bisquick if it's too sticky. Using floured or Bisquick-coated fingers, spread dough in pizza pan.

Cook peppers and onion in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until tender (I had to add a little water so it wouldn't burn before the veggies were softened. It cooked off.) Stir in chicken, tomatoes and seasoning; heat until hot and liquid reduces some. Spoon over dough in pan. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake 12-15 minutes (depending on your oven) or until golden brown and cheese is melted. Cut into 8 pieces and serve.

If you prefer, you can use a use a yeast dough pizza crust. Click here for a recipe. Or, if you're short on time, you could purchase a refrigerated pizza crust from the grocery store.

A few photos of the process:

Pat the biscuit dough crust onto a pizza pan.

Cook the yellow bell pepper and green onion (with tops) in a nonstick skillet. I added a little water so they didn't burn before they got tender. No oil necessary!

Here's the mixture after I added the tomatoes, chicken and seasoning.

After the liquid reduces, spread it on the pizza crust.

Top with shredded cheese. (Measure if you must: I usually just put it on until it looks "right.")

Serve it up. (I put a piece on a plate for the photo. In reality, I put pieces on paper plates and took them to the field for the guys, along with grapes and homemade cookies.)




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