Pizza Pizza Pizza!

Just the other night (at girl's night), I had Papa Murphy's Mediterranean Chicken Pizza for the first time, and I fell in love! It was soooo good....but on a poor-college-student budget, not so affordable on a regular basis... :(

BUT I came up with a solution! MAKE IT myself :D

I searched high and low for copycat recipes of the crust and toppings for this delicious pizza and I found 2 (not 1, but TWO) websites that gave me some great tips! I am going to share them with you, here!

For the CRISPY crust: {I LOVE crispy crust pizzas!}

(from GreatPizzaRecipes) with a few of my own adjustments ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups warm water
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1 ¼ tablespoons sugar
• 3 ¼ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. mix the water, yeast, and sugar in a glass bowl - allow to sit for 8-10 minutes
2. place flour and salt in a mixing bowl, mix/sift together
3. add liquid to flour mixture and mix for 4-6 minutes (the end result should be slightly sticky and firm - adjust with flour/water)
4. cover and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours in a warm place {I turned the oven on LOW and put it in there after turning the heat off}
5. put on 14-inch pizza sheet for thick crust and 16-inch for thin crust {I actually cut the dough in HALF and made 2 very THIN crust pizzas on 14-in pizza pans}
6. top with desired toppings (below), bake for 10-15 minutes (or until golden brown and crispy) on 450 degrees.

For topping:
(from TammysRecipes) for the papa murphy's take-and-bake pizza
Sauce Ingredients: {mix and spread over dough}

• 1/3 cup Light or Fat Free Italian salad dressing
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• dash of black pepper

Toppings: {sprinkle on sauced dough in order listed}

• 3-4 cups (12-16 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1-2 cups cooked cubed chicken breast
• 1/3 cup Sun Dried tomatoes
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/3 cup diced onions, optional
• 1 cup (or one small handful) fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1 medium-large Roma tomato, diced

This time, I didn't have very many of the ingredients listed here, so I (once again) improvised!

I made a sauce with a can of Italian diced tomatoes, sprinkled sauteed chicken/onions/green peppers, and topped it off with sliced fresh vine tomatoes and mozzarella cheese! It was still SOOO good!
Here are some pics of the masterpiece:

Fresh out of the oven! - YUMMY!

Close-up {with some grated Parmesan cheese}

I ran out of cheese on the second one, so there's only a little on it, but it was still tasty!

I highly recommend making your own pizzas!

It's so simple, soooo much cheaper, and it's completely customizable to your liking!!

It doesn't get much better than this :D