Easy Potato Pizza

With the kids back to school, it means that I probably should make more of an effort to make dinner.  The summer days where I can just write “fend” on the menu board and walk out of the kitchen are behind me for this year.  While I do my best to plan my meals, sometimes I just need something quick and easy.  This Potato Pizza recipe fits the bill nicely.

Pillsbury’s Refrigerated Pizza Dough (and their Crescent Roll Dough) are things I regularly keep on hand.

I keep both the regular crust and the artisan whole grain pizza crusts on hand.  Both are delish!

Those nights when you realize you’re going end up just opening up a couple cans of soup?  It’s super easy to whip up a savory, hearty pizza or flatbread to go alongside it.  In this particular case, we had some tomato soup accompanied by this yummy Potato Pizza.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Pillsbury Pizza Crust (your choice. I used whole grain for this.)
• 1 to 2 potatoes, sliced paper thin
• red or yellow bell pepper (or both)
• olive oil
• prepared basil pesto
• Parmesan Cheese
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Goat Cheese/Chevre (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

I have an irrational fear of these pop open cans.  If you are ridiculous like me, have someone open the can for you.  Otherwise, be normal and open the can of pizza crust yourself.  Unroll the dough onto an greased cookie sheet.  Stretch the dough to reach all sides of the cookie sheet, then take a dollop of basil pesto (about 1/4 cup) and spread evenly over the dough.

Place the potato slices in an even layer over the top of the pizza, then add the peppers on top.  This is actually pretty easy to do, even though they were tossed together.  I just do this by hand.

Over the top of the potatoes and peppers, sprinkle on a bit more Parmesan Cheese and then lightly sprinkle on some shredded Mozzarella.  Bake at 425 for 10 – 15 minutes.  When the crust seems done and the cheese is starting to brown, crank on the broiler for about 2 minutes.

Remove the pizza and immediately add a little crumbled goat cheese, if that was in your plans.

Cut the pizza into squares, serve alongside a bowl of soup or a salad and you have a super easy, super fast, super dinner.  (Grant initially thought it was strange, but I told him it was Potato Chip Pizza and he’s totally down with it and had second helpings.)

How about you?  What makes an ordinary weeknight dinner a bit more interesting at your house?

For some more easy dinners, courtesy of those scary pop open cans, check out my recipes for  The Circle Sandwich and  Bacon Blue Cheese Chorizo Bites, which both use Crescent Roll Dough.