Easy Artisan Pizza

Delicious, homemade pizza, start to finish, in less than an hour!

Did you ever think of pizza as a wonderful way to use leftovers?

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of leftovers. But taking a few leftovers and transforming them into a delicious pizza? Now that's another story... I never really grow tired of that kind of leftover dinner!

What do I mean? Well, earlier this past week, we had family visiting and grilled steaks one evening. I purposely prepared extra steak so we'd have leftovers. Later in the week we enjoyed two different steak pizzas, one with a Thai theme, including a Thai-inspired barbecue sauce base, thinly sliced steak, shredded cheese and bits of fresh pineapple. It was garnished with chopped peanuts, basil and cilantro - delish! The second one was last night, with a pesto base, thinly sliced steak, shredded cheese, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives and fresh basil - also quite wonderful. That was two meals from one leftover steak!

A little leftover chicken? There are a zillion different kinds of pizza you can make with a handful of shredded chicken breast. Just google it! Check out what I mean!

Pizza with shredded chicken breast.

Same is true with leftover pork, shrimp, bacon, sausage or...? You can make a yummy pizza with just about anything. I've got a recipe coming up for a breakfast pizza that features ham, eggs and a surprise host of other fresh ingredients. Everyone who tries this unusual pizza seems to love it. I think you will too!

You can purchase pre-made pizza crusts or dough and keep them in the freezer for a quick and easy meal. But what if you could make a homemade pizza, with a super delicious (tender on the inside and crisp on the outside) crust, start-to-finish and on-the-table, in less than an hour?

It's true! I created this recipe for KitchenAid back in February and I've tried and tested it lots of times since then. It's been my go-to recipe on busy days, when I know I need dinner in a hurry. And if I don't have leftovers? Well I almost always have a few tomatoes in a bowl on the counter, a bag of shredded cheese and some fresh basil either in the fridge or (even better) out in the herb garden. That makes the delicious Pizza Margarita you see in the pictures less than an hour away! Which always makes for happy faces around my dinner table!

You definitely want this Easy Artisan Pizza crust in your arsenal. For a step-by-step tutorial and instructions on how to make the Pizza Margarita you see in the pictures, just click on over to The Kitchenthusiast, the official KitchenAid blog, where our recipe's being featured. Meet you over there!

P.S. We'd love to see your pizza creations. Snap a picture, tag it #cafesucrefarine and post it on Instagram. Oh, and speaking of Instagram, be sure to take a minute and follow us. We share lots of great inspiration as well as a daily DINNER IDEA.