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Posted on Mon, Sep 5, 2011 : 8 a.m.

Celebrate National Cheese Pizza Day by making pita pizzas for two

By Mary Bilyeu

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Mary Bilyeu, Contributor

Any day is perfect for pizza! And today is an occasion to celebrate the simplest example of this fine food — cheese pizza.

But that doesn't mean we're necessarily resorting to a boring crust with bland tomato sauce and plain ol' mozzarella. Oh, no! Just because it's National Cheese Pizza Day doesn't mean our dinner has to be mundane and dreary, the kind of thing you order for kids who won't eat anything more adventurous than peanut butter and jelly or hot dogs.

Why not vary the crust? A baguette halved lengthwise or a sourdough English muffin would work beautifully, as would a thick slice of an artisan bread featuring, perhaps, rosemary or garlic.

Sauces don't necessarily need to be made with tomatoes. Try pesto, or maybe a lovely tapenade made from beautiful ripe olives.

And cheeses... well, there are so many varieties of cheese that your only limitations are your imagination, your family's tastes and your budget. You can enjoy anything from the strongest and smelliest specimens to the most delicate.

So make dinner simple tonight — make the immensely flavorful Two Cheese Pizza below, or even just order out. Make sure you celebrate, though — National Cheese Pizza Day shouldn't be missed!

Two Cheese Pizza for Two

2 thick 6-inch pita breads
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/3 cup milk
pinch each of salt and pepper
1/3 cup shredded parmesan
3 ounces crumbled blue cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Lay the pita breads onto a baking sheet.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter; whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk, and add the salt and pepper; cook until just thickened. Stir in the parmesan.

Spread the cheese sauce onto the pita breads, almost to the edges. Divide the blue cheese and sprinkle it onto the pita breads.


Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cheese is golden and the sauce is bubbling.

Serves 2.


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Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. She was thrilled to have her post about Scottish Oatmeal Shortbread named as one of the daily "Best of the Blogs" by the prestigious Food News Journal.


Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — on which she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Her newest feature is Frugal Floozie Friday, seeking fun and food for $5 or less ... really! Feel free to email her with questions or comments or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.


The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here.

Comments

Hmm

Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 2:49 p.m.

This actually looks really good. I'm a blue cheese nut so I will have to try this sometime.