Busy Gourmet: Pizzas

This one is great and you will be able to pass it off as gourmet if you just hide the packages or add a couple fancy toppings. I hate to reveal the secret, but this one is just too good to keep to myself.

How many of you have enjoyed a hot, tasty, veggie-loaded pizza at local Italian eatery, Pesto Cafe - formerly known as Ghazi's? Or have you tried their Pesto Pizza-pepperoni, pine nuts and pesto sauce? Sure, they make a mean pasta dish and have a secret, off menu chocolate cake that makes everyone's grandmother's scratch recipe seem boring...but if you have a hankerin for a crispy thin crust pizza, THIS is your place. Choose from red sauce, or pesto (which tastes much more fancy if you asked me--your kids wont mind. I PROMISE.) Here's their pizza menu if you need ideas.

Well, they have an ULTRA simple recipe and you can do it right at home. No need for a pizza stone or a special oven. Yes, when I have time, I have whipped up scratch crusts (and will be happy to share the recipe if you ask). But, this is about the nights when you gotta HURRY and most of the ingredients you need will keep for quite a while, so go ahead and keep them on hand.

I tried to get a pizza pic for you, but they disappear too fast!

Busy Gourmet Pizza

Ingredients:
~Cheese: mozzarella and any other Grated white cheeses if you have them (shredded parm, asiago, bag of mixed italian cheeses, whatever) NO YELLOW CHEESE unless you just don't have anything else.
~Sauce: a jar of spaghetti sauce, a can of "tomato/basil/garlic blend" tomato sauce with a few of your own spices added to the can, or a jar of pesto sauce
~Toppings: pepperoni, steamed veggies, cooked chicken, sausage, toasted pine nuts, drops of goat cheese, drops of ricotta mixed with garlic salt and basil, ...whatever you like on your pizza (wing sauce instead of pizza sauce, chicken, cheese and blue cheese crumbles?)
~Crust: Large flour tortillas (yep! I did say that!)
~softened butter

Instructions:
Heat a large pan over medium heat. Preheat oven to 420*. Thinly spread one tortilla for each pizza with a THIN layer of butter on one side. Saute the tortilla, fipping frequently until crispy but not burned.

Place toasted tortilla on a cookie sheet. Spread with a thin layer of sauce all the way to the edge. I use about 2 tbsp.

Sprinkle with a handful of cheese all the way to the edge, but only so thick you can still see some sauce peeking thru. Add meat toppings such as chicken (leftover is fine), pepperoni or sausages.

Bake on middle rack until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown at edges. Don't go too far (where all the cheese is browning) or your pizza will be dry.

If you have other toppings such as steamed veggies (well dried), artichokes, pine nuts, goat cheese...add those only the last couple of min of baking.

Remove from oven and cool on wire rack (flat surface will make pizza a bit soggy). Cut and serve. One pizza usually serves 1.5 people, so make a couple.