The pizza enthusiast in you will caper over the following article. What could be more satisfying than melted cheese stretching out in all its glory as you take a slice of pizza 🍕? And it’s even better when it’s a homemade pizza! But there’s more to life than cheese pizza 😉. Today, I’m sharing my 12 favourite recipes for homemade pizzas for appetizers, with or without dough as main courses and sweet pizzas for dessert!
3 recipes for pizza-style appetizers
A pizza appetizer is a great way to start a meal. And as my boyfriend Golden Beach (whose nickname inspired my famous homemade potato spices) so aptly puts it, it’s “dé-bi-le” (French expression) because it’s so good.
We all ate pizza pockets when we were young. Here, I’m taking you back in time with this pizza, rolled rather than pocketed. It’s also a great pizza recipe for your Grey Cup or Super Bowl snack (in French).
Portobello mushrooms come into their own as a base to be topped with your favourite ingredients for a successful homemade pizza. My favourite toppings? Everything is simple: sauce, cheese, olives and basil.
How can you resist melted cheese, marinara sauce and chorizo on a good potato? I can’t, and I’ll eat it any day 🤤.
3 recipes for crustless main course pizzas
For the following 3 pizza recipes, just because they’re not on “standard” pizza dough doesn’t mean they can’t be called homemade pizzas 😉.
Pita breads are versatile enough to create homemade pizzas in no time! If you don’t have time to make pizza dough or don’t have any frozen, this is a great alternative. No pita bread? Naan bread is also excellent! You can also use whatever ingredients you have on hand... like sliced leeks from Les Cultures de chez nous, for example 😉.
Well, well! The potato can also replace pizza dough for the main course. Pure genius!
Broccoli for pizza dough? You bet! It adds great colour to your dishes. With a white or red sauce, it’s just as good. Try it with cauliflower, too 😉.
3 main-course pizza recipes on pizza dough
Before I start giving you my best pizza recipes made on pizza dough, let’s start with the basics: the dough. And who better to have one of the best recipes than Ricardo? I always make pizza dough for 8. As for me, once the dough is ready, I separate it in 2 and freeze one part. That way, when I feel like making a pizza in the evening, I put the frozen dough in the fridge in the morning and have a pizza dough ready to be topped when I get home from work! Now that you’ve got my stuff, here are the recipes 🍕.
Pizza with leeks is so good. Imagine when you add asparagus, even better when it’s from my chums at Les Cultures de chez nous when it’s in season! I always look forward to mid-May when the asparagus harvest begins. I can’t wait 😊.
We often see homemade pizzas with tomato sauce, but have you ever tried it with white sauce? No?! You’ve got to try this! In this recipe, you can follow the instructions and ingredients for the sauce (butter, garlic and cream), but you can also replace it with an Alfredo or béchamel sauce if you’re so inclined. Most importantly, the arugula is the crucial ingredient in this recipe. As well as adding a touch of freshness to your homemade pizza, arugula will give you a peppery/lightly spicy kick in the mouth.
Pizza with leeks, corn, red peppers and eggs
You may know me well enough that I love to cook and don’t always follow recipes. I also sometimes invent recipes with what I have in the fridge. The following recipe for leek, corn, red bell pepper and egg pizza is nowhere to be found other than in this article and… in my head! I couldn’t not put one of my creations in my article 😉. So, I’m giving you an exclusive list of ingredients (quantities to taste and depending on what you have at home) that I use for my homemade pizzas:
- Grated cheese (your favourite)
- Béchamel or tomato sauce
- Sliced leeks Les Cultures de chez nous
- Frozen corn
- Eggs
- Red bell pepper, cut into strips
Sometimes, I even add pumpkin seeds to add crunch to each bite.
Preparation is pretty straightforward:
- I spread my homemade pizza dough on a bit of flour in a baking tray.
- I add the sauce and the other toppings.
- I bake my homemade pizza at 400°F (205°C) for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is toasted and the egg yolks are soft and not runny.
Let me know how it goes!
3 dessert pizzas for sweet teeth
Still, feel like pizza for dessert? So do I! To finish our meal with pizza, I’ve come up with 3 sweet pizza recipes you’re sure to love.
You can never go wrong with chocolate. On the BBQ, in the oven or over the fire while camping, this s’mores-style dessert pizza is ma-la-de (French expression)! For my part, I like to add strawberries sliced in 2 once the pizza is cooked... especially when they’re strawberries I’ve picked myself in the fields of Les Cultures de chez nous! If you also go pick-your-own strawberries in Sainte-Brigitte-des-Saults or Saint-Cyrille starting in mid-June, we might run into each other 😊.
This dessert pizza has it all:
✅ Chocolate with brownie crust
✅ Fruity with a garnish of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries
✅ Sweet with cream cheese spread
What more could you ask for than a big glass of milk to go with it?
Here, I give you the perfect filling. All you have to do is put it on the pastry of your choice. Just imagine momentarily taking a slice of puff pastry topped with a banana caramel sauce. Yum 🤤!
Pizza and ideas
I love pizza. If I only had one thing to eat for the rest of my life, pizza would be intense competition for pasta and poutine! In fact, there are several pizza recipes available on the Crazy Leeks website.
There’s also the article on the 30 best pasta recipes, which I’ll reread to make an informed choice. Unless I make myself poutine with pulled pork and leeks before making my final choice?
Well, this has made me hungry. I’m going to eat 😊!
See you and enjoy your pizzas,
—Serge