pizza muffins

i got lazy a couple of weeks ago and didn't want to roll out my homemade pizza dough...i got the idea of just putting them on the bottom of muffin cups and making little pizza muffins...lo and behold, they were delish! i told a co-worker about the recipe "a-ha" moment...she said i should enter a contest...

a taste of home just happens to have a pizza recipe contest that closes tomorrow...i have spent the last week perfecting a writing down the how-to of it all...

the top prize? 500 clams...i am totally envisioning winning this grand prize...

here's the scoop:

These deep-dish, oregano-infused pizza muffins make a great meal with a green salad or as an appetizer. Use a bread maker or hand knead this easy dough recipe. Use the ingredients recommended or substitute your favorite pizza toppings: chopped olives, pineapple, Canadian bacon, artichoke hearts, pepperoni--the sky's the limit. The key is to chop all toppings into small pieces. Pop these into a lunch bag--they reheat in a microwave in one minute. Freeze a batch for later.

SERVINGS: 12

CATEGORY: Main Dishes

METHOD: Baked/ Broiled

TIME: Prep: 90 min. Cook: 20 min.

Ingredients:

• DOUGH:
• 1 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbs. oregano
• 2 tsp. baking yeast
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 cup + 2 Tbs. warm water
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• TOPPING:
• 3/4 cup favorite pizza sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 lb. ground Italian sausage
• 1/2 cup diced bell pepper
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced mushrooms
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 
  
• OTHER:
• non-stick oil spray
• 1/4 cup corn meal for dusting muffing cups
• standard 12-cup muffin tin
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• 
  
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Directions:

DOUGH:
Place room temperature ingredients into bread maker in the order recommended by the machine instructions. Hand mixing is simple! Mix dry ingredients well in a bowl, drizzle olive oil over dry ingredients then slowly add warm water while mixing with a spatula until dough ball starts to form Begin, then, to knead by hand for approximately 3-5 minutes. Transfer dough to a bowl lightly coated with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area (70 degrees) for 1 1/2 hours to rise.

When dough is almost done rising, pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Place rack in the middle position. Saute' ground sausage until almost brown. Add onion, mushrooms, bell peppers and salt. Continue to saute', stirring until sausage is well browned and the veggies are tender.

Spray muffin cups with non-stick oil spray and sprinkle corn meal,making sure all sides of the cups are covered.

Pinch off about an 1/8 cup-sized piece of dough, gently patting into a circle bigger than the bottom of the muffing cup and about 1/2 inch thick. Place dough in the bottom of muffin cup and pat into cup shape. In the dough cup add 1 Tbs. of pizza sauce then 1 heaping Tbs. mozzarella cheese, then 1 heaping Tbs. sauteed toppings.

Place in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Remove when done. Let sit for 5 minutes. The pizza muffins will be easy to remove with a small spatula or fork. Enjoy. Yield: serves 12