Today we make frozen pizza night more fun.
Unless you don’t like goat cheese….in which case you are going to hate this.
But assuming you like goat cheese, let’s get into it.
In my world, I would much rather buy a frozen pizza than order a pizza to be delivered. That is because you can customize frozen pizza with vanilla bean goat cheese. I guess you could customize a delivery pizza too, but not today. Today we talk frozen pizza. Specifically, this frozen pizza…
It’s fine on it’s own. But my problem with frozen pizza is that there is NEVER enough cheese. I think my belief that all things rarely have enough cheese may be a personality flaw.
To achieve the proper cheese:crust ratio, I added vanilla beans to a creamy goat cheese + ricotta mix and piled it high on the pizza. Then added a heavy grating of clothbound cheddar. And voila, cheesy perfection.
Now. Vanilla beans cost a small fortune. I bought 3 bean pods for $9.95 and used them all within 1 hour. I’ve heard rumors of vanilla bean paste, but have yet to get my hands on it. Where are you hiding? I’ll find you.
I do say that one of the best parts of vanilla beans is that they look like crushed up oreos and crushed up oreos are joyful. Especially if you’re a 10 year old kid at a pool party and someone brings out dirt cake (ya know, crushed up oreos + cream cheese + gummy worms…I once made a slightly different version minus the oreos/gummy worm and plus chia seeds). Oh yesss. Someone get me that and a glass of milk. To me most desserts aren’t even worth it if milk isn’t involved to gulp down after.
But today we’re not talking about desserts, we’re talking pizza.
So go to your grocery store.
Buy your favorite frozen pizza. If you don’t have a favorite frozen pizza then just close your eyes and grab one.
Bring it home.
Then top it with anything gourmet-ish you have in your home…
i.e. blue cheese, real mushrooms (not those styrofoam-y things they sell at my grocery store), arugula, fresh tomatoes, basil, pesto, kale for you kale lovers with stomachs of steel who can handle fiber overloads, kalamata olives, chicken sausage, fontina, romano, vanilla bean goat cheese, and brie (I won’t be adding brie because I really dislike brie, which is weird because I love cheese and brie is cheese).
And BOOM. Frozen pizza got classier.
Elevate frozen pizza night by adding you own toppings...and vanilla beans.
Yield: serves 2-4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Your favorite 12"-16" frozen pizza
2 vanilla bean pods
½ cup whole milk ricotta
2 oz goat cheese
1 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
¾ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
2/3 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
2 handfuls arugula
½ cup extra sharp cheddar, finely grated (I used cabot clothbound)
balsamic glaze drizzle (which NO pizza should be without!)
Preheat oven according to frozen pizza package directions. Cut ends of vanilla bean pods and then slice in half lengthwise. Use a knife to scrape vanilla beans from pod. In a bowl, combine vanilla beans, ricotta and goat cheese.
Remove frozen pizza from packaging. Top with tomato paste (just add drops around the pizza), vanilla bean goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, rotisserie chicken, arugula, and cheddar. Place in the oven and bake according to frozen pizza directions. Remove from oven and drizzle with balsamic glaze.
What toppings would you add? I wanna know.