The Problem With Pizza

With its soft doughy crust, savory tomato sauce, and melted mozzarella cheese, pizza is practically perfect in every way. Except one. I always want more than one slice, but even the personal-size pizzas are getting to be too big to finish by myself! Cold pizza leftovers can taste pretty good, yet nothing beats that fresh-out-of-the-oven taste.   

 

So I set out to make a pizza I could finish by myself without feeling guilty about eating the entire thing. The crust proved to be the trickiest part, seeing as even an 8” Boboli serves 2 people. Although I could have made my own pizza dough and only used a tiny bit, it still required lots of time to rise, and I was already hungry! My next thoughts drifted to tortillas, naan, and pitas, all of which were not in my fridge. Darn.

 

While standing in my kitchen desperately trying not to dial Round Table, I spotted my Panini press. Bingo! After grabbing the ingredients and layering sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, I heated my “pizza” on the grill. Even though it looked unconventional, it still turned out wonderful—cheesy, saucy, and delicious.

 

 

Pizza Panini

serves 1

2 slices bread

12-16 slices of pepperoni

1 slice mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp tomato paste

1. Preheat a Panini press.
2. Spread tomato paste across one slice of bread. Put cheese, then pepperoni, over the sauce. Top with second slice of bread.
3. Put sandwich on Panini press and close the lid. Let cook for 3-5 minutes, until bread is toasted and cheese melts. Serve immediately.