Thin Crust Pizza

If you're making a shopping list for Quick-Clean Cuisine, you should already have included paper towels, eggs, bacon, grated cheese and tortillas. 

If you did the extra credit and made toast with butter, then of course you need bread and a buttery spread.  Very high fiber bread will literally force you to not overdo those tempting carbs found in most baked goods, and that is what I recommend, whether Sara Lee 45 Calories Delightful, Oroweat Double Fiber or some funky flaxseed loaf from Sprouts or Trader Joe's.  Margarine is generally the cheapest spread, but a lot of studies indicate that old fashioned butter may be better for you, even if some traditionalists still say otherwise. I personally use butter for cooking, and on toast, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! There's always that balance between nutrition, taste and cost, so you'll have to decide what is best for you.

I could continue on with more egg recipes, but by the time you alternate bran flakes with low fat milk (put those on the list) in with scrambled eggs and bacon quesadillas, you should be set for breakfast for a couple of weeks.  Adding sugar free syrup, hot sauce, sugar-free jelly and other condiments make simple scrambled eggs taste entirely different.

Tortillas come in packages of a dozen or more, and grated cheese is cheaper in larger quantities, so let's find another use for those with a delicious Quick-Clean dinner like thin crust pizza.  Put some pasta sauce and pepperoni on your shopping list.  While you're at it, here's another staple for Q-C C: parchment paper, or better yet, Reynolds Wrap Pan Lining Paper, which ingeniously combines the non-stick surface of parchment paper with the non-mess features of aluminum foil.

I never considered buying parchment paper until my daughter Amy needed it to make a copy of the Declaration of Independence as part of an elaborate scheme to steal the Declaration of Independence in order to decode the secret map on the back of it. Actually, she just needed it for a school project.

After creating the faux Declaration of Independence and scorching it with flames for aging, I saved the rest of the roll of parchment paper in case I should decide to steal the real Magna Carta.  One day I was cleaning out the cupboards and realized parchment paper could be used to line a cookie sheet for baking.  I decided to use it in my project to make crumpets out of Bisquick, believing a fast food restaurant starring the seemingly ubiquitous but surprisingly nearly never-tasted British roll might have less risk and moral dilemma than a life of British capers.

The experiment went quite well from the standpoint of proving that parchment paper kept food from sticking to pans, and I began using parchment paper regularly for anything I baked, probably beyond its recomended usage. The meat loaf pan still required cleaning, for example, but at least the meat wasn't baked onto the glass pan like enamel. For what it is worth, my crumpets weren't bad, but I have no idea if they even approximated a real crumpet. Then again, I don't know of anyone who could prove that they didn't.

Anyway, line a cookie sheet or pie pan (or whatever you can put in an oven at 400 degrees without breaking it) with parchment paper.  As you pre-heat the oven, put a tortilla on the cooking sheet.  I think flour tortillas work much better for most purposes, but if you like corn better and wonder if you can use it, the answer is, "Yes, you maize."

Sprinkle a little grated cheese on the tortilla, and then add a tablespoon of pasta sauce.  If the mixture doesn't cover the tortilla, add a little more sauce.  Next, add the pepperoni.  I like to cover the whole tortilla, but as with everything, you can put as much or as little as you personally like.  Sometimes, if I have leftover mushrooms, I'll add those, and anything you like on a pizza that you happen to have in your refrigerator can be added.  Finally, put a serious topping of grated cheese on there.  I used to spread olive oil on the bottom of the tortilla to add crispness, but I have since found that using a metal pan rather than a glass one makes it plenty crispy while at the same time less messy and lower in calories.

Bake your creation at 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes, and enjoy a simple dinner or snack.  Crumble up the Pan Liner and throw it away.  By the way, you can cook as many as you can fit on your cooking pan, as it tastes good as a leftover if your roommates don't snag it after they smell it cooking.

Of course, the pizza, in contrast to the crumpet, is truly ubiquitous, and making this version might seem tedious for a New Yorker who can buy a great slice for a couple of bucks on any given corner.  The tortilla crust, however, makes this a low carb, high flavor meal for a lot fewer calories than what you get from most pizza places.  In all fairness, I love Chicago-style deep dish pizzas, and I used to believe that not opting for thicker crust was just silly when feeding a hungry family, but if you're watching your weight, this is an easy substitution that's quick and easy to make and clean up.

And once again, you decide on your variations.  If you have some leftover roasted chicken, use that and barbecue sauced instead of pepperoni and marinara for a California Pizza knockoff.