Simple white pizza at home

Everyone loves pizza and if you want to make a quick and simple white pizza at home there are several ways to do it. First, you have to decide how involved you want to get in making the crust. You can make your own if you have a few hours. If you are pressed for time, you can pick up a bag of pizza dough at the supermarket or you can buy frozen bread dough. With the frozen bread dough, you need to plan ahead at least a day. It needs to thaw and rise. If you have no time then pick up a Boboli at the store and build your own pizza from there.

A family favorite at my house is a Hawaiian pizza. It is what is commonly referred to as a white pizza. What that means is that it is constructed without a layer of tomato sauce. What you will do is pour some extra virgin olive oil on the crust. Make several circles on the crust with the olive oil, right along the edge of the crust. Use a pastry brush and spread the oil over the entire crust.

Place 10 slices of bacon on a piece of paper towel, cover with another sheet and cook according to package directions, about 5 minutes in the microwave. Open a small can of chunk pineapple and drain. Cut each slice of bacon into four pieces spread on the pizza crust. Place the pieces of pineapple around the crust. Take one package of Italian blended shredded cheese and sprinkle over the top of the pineapple and bacon.

Preheat the over to 400 degrees. Move the rack to the top position. Place your stone in the oven and allow it to get warm. Move the pizza onto the stone. Cook for 20 minutes or until the crust is golden underneath and the cheese is melted.

There is something decadent about the combination of salt and sweet that you get from a pizza covered with pineapple and bacon. If the combination sounds weird to you that’s okay try it anyway, you never know, you may be the latest convert. If you don’t have any bacon you can use ham, the taste is slightly different but the sweet-salty components are still very evident.

Another white pizza that is a favorite at our house is barbecue chicken. You can pick up the precooked fajita chicken and that will work great with this recipe. You will also need a jar of barbecue sauce, use whatever is your favorite, I like Masterpiece.

Place the chicken into a large bowl and pour one cup of the barbecue sauce over it and mix well. Prepare the crust in the same way as you would for the Hawaiian pizza. Place the chicken on the prepared crust and then cover with 1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese. Place on a stone in the oven on the top level of the oven and cook for 25 minutes.

This is one of the most delicious pizzas you will ever eat. Make sure that you have plenty of napkins available to wipe the barbecue sauce off of your chin. It is a little messy to eat but the mess is worth it. If you want to have the sensation of eating ribs on a pizza try using pulled pork instead of the chicken. There is only one word to describe it, awesome.

Sugar and Spice Mendon, Vermont

We have been coming to Sugar and Spice for more than 30 years, maybe even 40. It is located on Route 4 and has rustic brown exterior. They serve breakfast and lunch and in all these years we have only come for lunch once, breakfast is what we come here for. 

Pancakes are king at Sugar and Spice but you can also get waffles, French toast, eggs done a variety of ways of ways and things like oatmeal or a fresh fruit plater with yogurt or cottage cheese. 

On this visit, I ordered 2 scrambled eggs with home fries, and instead of toast a pumpkin pancake. Pancakes are served with real maple syrup, if you want anything artificial, it will cost you extra!! This is Vermont after all. 

Al and Dora both got an egg sandwich and were both equally surprised when it came served on an English muffin, both were expecting toast. Fran got an egg white omelet which was a three egg one with lots of stuff inside including cheddar cheese. 

On this particular visit, service was not the best, We had to ask for a refill on our coffee and ask twice to get our bill. Still, we were in and out in about half an hour so we didn't really complain. 

They sell a variety of Vermont products and it is very tempting to pick up some buttermilk pancake mix or Vermont made jams and jellies. Of course, maple syrup in lots of different sizes is also offered. 

While this is not necessarily our favorite restaurant in the area, it does have a very nice atmosphere and the pumpkin pancake was excellent.