Pizza Friday (for $12.55)

For a while now Friday nights in our house have been designated Pizza Fridays. It is Tage's favorite food and an easy weeknight meal to plan for. Up until recently we would just pick up a Safeway or Freshetta boxed pizza-- which we know isn't the healthiest meal.

When we were in Iowa we watched an episode of Man vs. Food where they were in New York and visited a Sicilian pizza parlor. They made this AMAZING looking pizza that Tage was pretty sure he could duplicate (he is definitely the cook in the family, not me.) We tried it out a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious! Not only that but we had left overs for daaays. A small piece was enough to satisfy both of us for dinner and I'm pretty sure we had pizza for breakfast and dinner the rest of the weekend.

Here is how you can make your own Sicilian pizza (thank you to my own personal Sicilian chef for obliging me and taking pictures while cooking.)

(All of our ingredients were purchased at Trader Joe's)

You'll need:

2 packages of pizza dough ($1.29 each)

(we use the garlic and herb for extra YUM)

1 jar of marinara sauce ($2.29)

(my favorite is the no salt, organic kind)

8 oz. mozzarella ball ($2.99)

shredded romano and parmesan or, in this case, TJ's Quattro Formaggio cheese ($4.69)

Step 1: Follow the directions on the pizza dough package to prepare. You have to let TJ's pizza dough "rest" before you roll it out. If you use a canned pizza dough like Pillsbury you can just open it up and unroll it in the pan.

Step 2: Roll out your dough and place in a 13 x 9 pan. If you don't have stonewear, I highly recommend it. It is extremely durable, easy to clean, and food doesn't get stuck to it. Plus we just put the entire pan in the refrigerator and keep the leftovers in it.

Step 3: Slice the mozzarella ball into about 12 slices and spread them out evenly on top of the dough. Trust me, we didn't skip a step. The sauce goes on AFTER the cheese! At this point take a moment to sip your Blue Moon (top left of the photo.)

Step 4: Now pour the marinara on top of the mozzarella and dough. We use about 2/3 of the jar.

Step 5: Sprinkle your shredded cheese on top of the marinara.

Step 6: Drizzle the pie with extra virgin olive oil.

Step 7: Bake in a 450 degree oven for at least 25 minutes. You can follow the instructions on the pizza dough package, just know it's going to take a bit longer because of how thick the crust is.

The mozzarella melts and covers the crust and it makes this unbelievable cheesy layer beneath the sauce that is even better the next day when you're eating it cold. (Don't act like you don't do that.)

Enjoy!