Naan pizza

Saturday night I had hungry kids and zero energy. While this usually equals a lackluster standard grilled cheese and top ramen for dinner (honestly, top ramen is on my comfort food list), I wanted to do something fun and different for my crew. Roaming through the fridge I stumbled on an idea (I’d been to Costco earlier that day which explains both my exhaustion and my superpack of naan): using naan, which is an Indian flatbread kinda like a pita but with more heft and a dose of clarified butter (called ghee) that I thought might make for a crispy crust with pizza fixins.

I made two version of naan pizzas: a traditional ham and cheese pizza and a margarita version. The meal was quick and easy. More important, it passed the ‘mom, can-you-put-this-in-my-lunch-for-school’ test.

*Next time I might try going for more traditional Indian flavors, maybe sauteing spinach and putting it with a creamy cheese for riff on palak paneer.

Here’s how I put it together.

Naan-traditional pizza (Ok, I liked this pun, but my teenager just rolled her eyes)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and slather each naan piece with spaghetti sauce. Top with pepperoni, green peppers, sausage, olives, or whatever you have on hand, cheese, and pop in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden.

Margarita naan pizza

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lightly brush the naan with olive oil. Top the flatbread with thinly sliced tomatoes, fresh ground pepper, fresh or dried basil and mozzarella cheese. Normally, margarita pizza has fresh mozzarella on it, but since I didn’t have any I used pieces of a Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese wedge and then grated mozzarella. I like the creamy cheese combined with the broiled.

Your turn–Have you ever tried naan? Are you a fan?