Deep Dish Pizzas & Parmesan Garlic Gnocchi

I have two more fabulous recipes to share with you from this week, both of which are very easy but so flavorful! The first recipe is mini deep dish pizzas. Tyler loves deep dish pizzas, so I tried to replicate our own homemade ones by using a muffin pan to make these mini, delicious bites of goodness :)

Deep Dish Pizzas
*I made this recipe up and it could be adapted in a variety of ways :)

Ingredients

• Trader Joe's pizza dough (I used whole wheat) but you can use any kind/brand
• Tomato sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Your favorite pizza toppings. We did a combo of red onion, red and yellow peppers, and really good salami.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray the muffin pan with cooking spray (PAM).
2. Roll pizza dough onto floured surface with a rolling pin to 1/4 inch thick. Using a small bowl or glass approximately 5-6 inches in diameter, cut the dough into circles. You may have to collect the scraps and roll the dough out again. This will likely produce about 8-9 circles depending on how thick you like your dough.
3. Place the circles into each circle and smooth the dough out with your fingers. I allowed for 1/8 inch of the dough to hang over the edge.
4. Place 1 teaspoon of tomato sauce in the middle of the dough.
5. Put a mixture of your toppings and cheese next layering until the circle is full to the top.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is nice and melted.
7. Let pizza cool for 5 minutes and then serve with a nice big salad!

Parmesan Garlic Gnocchi
*This was the easiest sauce to make and absolutely delicious....I easily could have eaten a second bowl of this!

Ingredients

• 1 pound gnocchi (or other pasta)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup pasta water
• fresh cracked pepper
• salt

Directions

1. Boil salted water (I usually pour a little salt into the saucepan) and then place gnocchi into boiling water. Cook gnocchi according to the directions on the package (I cooked mine for about 1-2 minutes or until the gnocchi is floating.)
2. Drain the gnocchi in a strainer, but be sure to reserve 1/4 cup of water.
3. In the same saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. 
4. Once the pan is hot, add the garlic and saute for 1 minute stirring constantly. 
5. Add the cooked and drained gnocchi, top with parmesan, and cooking liquid. Stir until nice and creamy. 
6. Reduce heat to a low simmer and allow the liquid to reduce (about 3-4 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste. I paired this dish with a big salad :)