When I initially decided to begin a blog it was, in large part, due to my love of cooking. I wanted to create a space where I could share recipes and opinions at the same time. I wanted to share my words and give people something to whip up in the kitchen; that's why the blog is called "Eating My Words." I thought I was so clever. I kept cooking. And not blogging. I kept baking. And not blogging. I kept living. And not blogging. See the pattern here? So, when I decided to begin blogging again I decided I would try to include a recipe here and there...at least once a week. Maybe more. We'll see.
Anyway... have had a hankering for pizza for at least a month. My favorite local pizza place is one of few that has a cheese-less pizza right on the menu. Usually I have to order something off of the menu and ask them not to put cheese on it. Usually the person on the other end of the phone or counter asks me back, incredulously, "so, you want a pizza with no cheese?" Yes. Yes I do. So, rather than go through the back and forth I usually just make pizza at home. That way I can load it up with all the toppings I want and not put cheese on it. And not feel weird. Winning....So back to the local place: they have a cheese-less pizza. And it is HUGE. So, usually I try to get it when I'm having friends over for wine; because friends+wine+anything to eat=a good time. Because we're still practicing social distancing measures I haven't had friends over, so no local pizza.
But do you know what it's like to have a craving for something that just can't be quenched until that something is eaten? That's where I was. I didn't feel like making pizza, because I have to make so many different ones for the folks in my family. One gluten free with no red sauce for the oldest child. One with red sauce, only a little cheese, and bell peppers. One with everything I can find in the fridge to put on it, with cheese. And finally mine with no cheese. Nah. I'm good on that. I began trolling the internets trying to find a good pizza on bread or sandwich recipe. A lot of sites gave me a "pizza sloppy joe" recipe, but they wanted me to crush tomatoes and use tomato sauce and do...work. Nope. I wanted easy. So I kept searching. When I put "ground turkey, bell peppers, onions, sandwich" in the Google search I kept getting sloppy joe recipes. And then it hit me: what if I tried to figure out how to make a pizza joe recipe of my own? Boom! Problem solved. So, what I came up with was my version of pizza joes. I put my family's on buns with shredded mozzarella, and I put mine over a plain baked potato and fresh spinach. It was magical. I hope you guys like it. I used turkey, but you can substitute ground beef or ground chicken or whatever you'd like. Bon appetite!
Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey breast
1 cup diced bell pepper (I used tricolored)
1 cup diced onions
1 cup finely diced turkey pepperoni
1 jar of pizza sauce (actually get 2 so that you can control how moist you want your mixture)
2 tablespoons EVOO
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon oregano
Buns/baked potatoes/whatever you'd like to put the mixture in/on top of
Shredded mozzarella cheese (to taste)
Place the EVOO in a large skillet with a cover and heat it to medium heat. Add the onions and bell peppers. Cook for about one minute. Add the ground turkey breast, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Add the pizza sauce and pepperoni. Stir. Add the oregano. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Place on buns/baked potatoes/in a plate. Devour. Fulfill pizza craving.
Here's a picture of my serving. It was amazing. I mean...like for real.
