What's for dinner, Honey?

Every now and again dear Hubby calls from work with that query. I must say, I'm lucky in that he's never been the kind of man who expected a hot, fully prepared sit-down meal on the table when he comes home from work every evening. He's as happy with a tuna sandwich and soup, or a frozen pizza, as he would be if I spent hours preparing a multi-course meal.

This past summer's quick dinner staple has been bruschetta pizza. The basil (still going strong) in my garden was so plentiful this year. I wish the tomatoes did as well, but all my plants kind of petered out too early. It's been killing me to buy tomatoes at the store, can I just say! Anyway, I've been whipping up bruschetta pizza in various forms once . . . maybe twice a week! Sometimes I'll add crab meat or shrimp. Last night was mushrooms - well, just on my side. Hubby won't eat 'em. Says he can't see why anyone would eat anything grown in manure. Hmmm, he may have a point . . .

I always keep the ready-made pizza crusts (specifically the thin crust) around just for time's sake. I mean, c'mon, I'm perfectly able to make my own pizza dough, or buy frozen, but when you're pressed for time, or just don't feel like cooking, it's so much easier to just zip open a package, right?

So, I just chop up some tomatoes, do a nice chiffonade (Like that fancy French culinary term??? Makes me sound like I really know what I'm doing, right? Funny how using the French equivalent for something sounds so fancy.) to the basil.

Grate the garlic with my handy-dandy rasp. Love that thing! Get one if you don't have one already. I use it to grate garlic, nutmeg, hard cheeses, sometimes my fingernails when I get too close!

I throw all the chopped goodies in a bowl, grate the garlic in there as well. I add a splash of balsamic vinegar and about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, pinch of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. I like to to keep it a little dryer than if I was serving it with crostini so the pizza crust doesn't get too soggy.

I spread the bruschetta as evenly as possible on the crust. Then I throw on an Italian mixture of cheese, sometimes even some mild cheddar. Heck, I've even used the Mexican blend (minus the spices) cheese - pretty much whatever's in the fridge.

I bake the pizza at 420 on a hot pizza stone on the lowest rack in my oven for about 10-15 minutes.

That's it! Perfect every time.

Please ignore my dirty oven.

Last night I was also in a fishy mood, and thought it would go nicely with the pizza. So, I thawed out some Tilapia filets, place them on aluminum foil drizzled EVOO, little lemon juice, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, some of the chopped tomatoes, few leaves of basil and the rest of the 'shroms.

I wrapped up the whole bit in a cute little foil present, and popped it into a 350 degree oven for, gosh, about 10 minutes, I think. I just keep checking it after about 6 or 7 minutes. Quick, easy, healthy, flavorful. I will admit that I ate all three of those filets! Hubby doesn't do fish either, and Son No.3 preferred to have a hot dog. FINE! More for me!