Party Foods - Main Dishes

Quick Homemade Pizza

Heat oven to 425°F. Mix 4 cups biscuit mix with 1 cup water to form soft dough. Knead for 20 strokes. Pat dough onto lightly greased pizza pan or jelly roll pan, pressing rim around edge to hold ingredients. Sprinkle dough with 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese. Spoon on two 8-ounce cans of tomato or pizza sauce. Top with 8 ounces sliced pepperoni. Saute one cup fresh sliced mushrooms, 1/2 cup chopped onions, and 1/2 cup chopped green peppers in butter or margarine until soft. Remove from heat. Add mushroom, pepper and onion mixture to pizza. Sprinkle with 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 2 teaspoons oregano, and 2 teaspoons garlic powder. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

• 1 lb. ground meat
• 1 1-oz. pkg. Taco seasoning mix
• Water
• Taco shells or flour tortillas
• Shredded lettuce

• Shredded cheese
• Sliced olives
• Salsa
• Sliced green onion
• Sour cream or yogurt

Super Sub

• 2 packages (11 ounces each) refrigerated French bread dough
• 1-1/2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 medium tomato
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 4 oz. thinly sliced American cheese
• 2 Tbsp. sweet pickle relish
• 8 oz. thinly sliced deli meat such as bologna, ham, or turkey
• 1/2 tsp. prepared yellow mustard

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place bread dough, seam side down on baking sheet. Join ends of dough together to form one large circle and pinch ends together to seal. Cut 6-8 diagonal slashes (1/2-inch deep) on top dough.

Bake 26-30 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove bread to cooling rack and cool completely. Cut bread loaf in half horizontally.

In small bowl mix mayonnaise, pickle relish and mustard until well-blended.

On cutting board, cut lettuce into thin strands. Set aside. Remove stem of tomato and coarsely chop. Cut cheese slices in half diagonally.

To assemble the sandwich, spread mayonnaise mixture evenly over the cut side of the bottom half of the bread. Top with lettuce and tomato. Arrange meat and cheese over the lettuce and tomato. Cover with top half of the bread. Cut into wedges to serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Option: Use already baked French bread.

• 4 (6 to 8-inch) pita (pocket) breads or pita folds
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
• 4 oz. (1 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 400°F. Place pita breads on ungreased cookie sheet. Top each with 2 tablespoons pizza sauce, spreading to within 1/2 inch of edges.

Top each with onion, bell pepper and mushrooms. Sprinkle each with 1/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Makes 4 pizzas.

• 4 cans (10 oz. each) refrigerated pizza crust
• Variety of shredded cheese: parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar
• Variety of meat: pepperoni, Canadian style bacon, cooked sausage, cooked ground meat
• Variety of toppings: chopped tomatoes, pepper, onion, sliced olives, mushrooms, oregano, basil, Italian seasonings

Lightly grease 4 cookie sheets or pizza pans. Sprinkle lightly with yellow cornmeal if desired. Open refrigerated dough, unroll contents of each 10-ounce can onto a cookie sheet. Cut into quarters; press each into 6-inch circle or square, pinching a rim of dough around the edge to form a crust.

Top as desired.

Bake in preheated 425°F oven 10 to 14 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is lightly browned.

Makes 8 servings.

Optional: English muffins may be used in place of pizza crust for individual servings. Microwave until cheese is melted.

Taco Grande

• 1 lb. ground meat
• 1 one-oz. pkg. Taco seasoning mix
• Water
• 1 16-oz. jar salsa
• 8 (6-7 inch) flour tortillas
• 2 cups (8 oz.) shredded co-jack cheese
• 1 green onion
• 4 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 8-10 inch round pan. Set aside.

In skillet, cook and stir ground meat over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until it is no longer pink, breaking it into small pieces. Add taco mix and amount of water as directed on package. Continue cooking according to package directions. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in one cup of salsa.

Arrange 4 tortillas in bottom and up the side of the prepared round pan. (Tortillas will overlap on the bottom, but not all of the area on the sides of the pan will be covered.)

Spoon meat mixture evenly over tortillas. Sprinkle with one cup of the cheese. Slice and sprinkle half of the green onion over cheese.

Top with remaining 4 tortillas, overlapping them to create a scalloped edge effect. Press tortillas down over filling. Spread remaining salsa over tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and onion.

Bake 30 minutes. Remove and let stand 5 minutes. Cut into wedges. Chop lettuce into thin strands. Serve taco wedges over lettuce and top with sour cream.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.