It's My Birthday!

It is true...this day, 27 years ago, I rolled into the world. And just look how far I've come with all my pizzas and exercise things. It nearly brings a tear to my own eye.

So let's get down to business. There aren't too many great restaurants in my small town, and of the handful of ones I like I really wasn't craving any of those for a birthday meal. Yes, despite the time and energy, I made my own birthday pizza because I wanted to. 

I found a recipe for "Antipasta Pizza" on Pinterest last week and decided I'd like to try this as a birthday meal. The basic idea of it is that it's covered with things you'd find on an antipasta platter...but it's on a pizza. It's so genius, I wish I'd thought of it myself. My pizza philosophy is that you can make any meal into a pizza. If you love mac & cheese, buffalo chicken, tacos, or stuffed mushrooms, you (or I) can think some way to top a pizza in those sorts of things. Instantly you have the best of both worlds. Your favorite food and pizza. Instantly! It blows my mind sometimes, I'm sure you just experienced that too. 

Antipasta Pizza toppings:

• 1-2 cups pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup pesto sauce
• 1 6-oz. jar of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped into smaller pieces
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup pickled banana pepper rings
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
• 6 to 8 slices of large, round genoa salami (Boar's Head at the deli counter is always good)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 500 with the pizza stone inside. 
• Chop all toppings into pieces that are a size you would like to eat. I chopped my artichokes and tomatoes pretty small because they're a little too chewy when they're left as-is. I also cut the salami into fourths because those pieces were sort of massive on their own. The banana peppers and olives came pre-sliced in just the right sizes.
• When the pizza stone is ready, take it out of the oven and place your prepared crust on top of it. 
• Spread the pesto sauce evenly around on that and then spread the sauce on. 
• Add all the toppings on next, starting with the veggies, then the salami, the mozzarella, and finally the parmesan. 
• Pop that stacked za into the oven for 10-12 minutes. Let it sit and cool for a bit when it's done because it is 500 degrees, duh. 

Go as spicy or mild as you want with all those toppings. I used hot banana peppers, making this za very spicy and tangy. It was good. So, so good, and I'm glad I had it for my birthday. I also left it in the oven a little longer than I meant to, which is why the cheese on top looks extra golden. No biggie, as long as it wasn't burnt we're doing good.

Naturally, good friends and good conversation complimented the pizza too. We had our friends Farrah and Anne over to enjoy the meal with us and there was never a dull moment with those two. It's just further encouragement for me to keep making and sharing pizzas!

Look at those magical slices. You may not be able to tell by looking, but they are absolutely mouth-wateringly incredible. Pizza like this isn't dull or even average. It is so flavorful and exciting for your taste buds that it really does not take much to satisfy you. As good as it was I only had one slice with my dinner...never mind all the other stuff I ate. But even still, when it comes to cheap pizzas (or any cheap foods for that matter) you keep going back for more, just hoping and expecting that it will taste better with the next piece. But it never does. Actually, it only gets worse. So make this damn pizza already and experience some good satisfying food for once!