Stuffed Crust Pizza

Yes, I admit it. This is not really a true recipe. But being a little short on blog fodder lately I have this tidbit to offer you today.

In our family when someone accomplishes something of a milestone or it happens to be a birthday or other such special day we celebrate with food. (Is it any wonder I'm overweight? Wait a minute, how come nobody else in this family is fat? It's just not fair! Anyhow...) When Wil passed his driving test he got to choose what he wanted for dinner, even though he didn't actually get his license just yet.

His first choice, as I knew it would be, was pounded pork cutlets. But since we just had something very similar two days prior we had to go with his second choice, which was stuffed crust pizza.

I didn't want to order it and I had to go the grocery store anyway. When I was there I checked the multitude of frozen pizzas but alas, none of them were "stuffed crust" varieties. Then I got a brilliant idea.

Next door to the grocery store is a Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza store. I didn't think they had stuffed crust but it wouldn't hurt to stop in and check. And just as I thought, they did not make a stuffed crust pizza (ala Pizza Hut). Then the second part of my brilliant idea popped into my head.

I would buy a ready-to-bake pizza and stuff the crust myself. I knew we had a big block of Monterey Jack cheese at home and I was pretty sure it would work.

So I set about to see if I could make a stuffed crust pizza for my favorite son.

I bought a large pepperoni pizza. When I got home I pushed the toppings about an inch to 1 1/2 inches from the edge toward the middle. I got out my giant block of Monterey Jack and cut it into about 2 X 1/4 inch lengths (yes, mozzarella sticks would probably have been a better choice but I wasn't going back to the store). I placed the rectangles carefully around the cleared edge of the pizza.

Then I pulled the edge of the pizza up and around the cheese, pressing to the other side to seal the cheese into the edge. I did this all around the pizza.

The pizza was then baked according to the directions and VOILA! Stuffed Crust Pizza!

Oh, I know you probably didn't need this tutorial to figure out how to make your own stuffed crust pizza. But it was fun and it made me feel oh-so-clever!

Have a good weekend and HAPPY ARBOR DAY!