A Writer's Snack: No-Guilt Mini Pizzas from Cleo Coyle

   

Writing novels for a living appears to be a perfectly safe occupation. As my fellow authors know, however, the writing life comes with one major hazard. No, we don't dodge flying bullets or psychopathic killers (though our characters may). What we combat every day is a more sinister villain: Excess Calorie Man. He lurks behind every extra handful of peanuts, chunk of cheese, or silver of pie.

As you can imagine, it’s even worse for a culinary mystery writer. Testing recipes, especially delicious ones like the chocolates in Murder by Mocha or firehouse recipes in Roast Mortem, gives Excess Calorie Man free reign. Well, today I’m going to show you one way this writer reigns him in...

May you eat with joy
and in good health!
~ Cleo

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here and here.

Cleo Coyle's

No-Guilt
Mini Pizzas

Journalist Mark Bittman became famous with his 101 foodie idea articles. I swear my Italian-born mother and aunt could have written one on 101 things to do with squash. 

As a kid, I took all my pop's homegrown veggies for granted. As an adult, I miss them dearly. This recipe makes good use of zucchini, especially baby ones at the start of summer. It makes a fun, quick snack or lunch. It's kid-friendly, too; my mom and aunt used to make it for me as a little girl. 

Of course, my family used homemade red sauce. And if you'd like to make your own meatless Italian spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes, click here for that recipe (or click the link below to download a free PDF of that recipe).

Click here to download a free PDF of
Cleo's homemade, meatless Italian
spaghetti sauce recipe from
fresh tomatoes.

Today, I took a shortcut in my recipe and used jarred pizza sauce. The brand I picked up was quite tasty, and I can recommend it as a time saver.

Ingredients:

- Small to medium zucchini 

- Pizza sauce (jarred or homemade)

- Mozzarella, shredded (whole milk or part-skim)

- Toppings (see note*)

*Note: Use your favorite pizza toppings from veggies to meat, just be sure any meat is already cooked. Topping suggestions: sauteed, chopped mushrooms; sliced olives; chopped peppers; regular, turkey, or
meatless pepperoni or cooked and
crumbled sausage, etc.

Directions: (1) Cut the zucchini into slices of 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. You want the slices thin enough to cook fast under the broiler but thick enough to hold their shapes for handling after toppings are added. Place the slices on a sheet pan. 

Tip: for easy cleanup, line the pan with a sheet of aluminum foil and lightly coat with non-stick cooking spray. 

(2) Spoon pizza sauce onto each slice. To save time, use jarred. (If you need a recommendation, I like the Ragu Homemade Style Pizza Sauce, "100% Natural.") Sprinkle on your shredded mozzarella and toppings. As noted, because these pizzas are finished in a flash, make sure your meat toppings are already cooked. If using mushrooms or peppers, I would chop them finely and saute them in a bit of olive oil before adding. 

(3) Place the pan of mini pizzas under your broiler for 1 to 3 minutes--time will depend on the intensity of your oven's broiler. No matter what, keep a close eye on these because they cook very quickly and the cheese can burn fast. Remove and...eat with (guiltless) joy!

F o o d i e 

P h o t o s

To download a free PDF of this

recipe that you can print, save
or share, click here.

Eat and Drink

with Joy!

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author of

The Coffeehouse Mysteries

Yes, this is me, Cleo (aka Alice). 

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Coffeehouse Mystery
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Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and each of the

13 titles includes the added bonus of recipes. 

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by clicking here.

*** 

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