So guys…have you been infected with the madness that is college basketball? Dan and I – not so much. Basketball wasn’t really a big thing at our school (or any other sport, really) so neither of us has a horse in the race. As a result, Dan is much more excited about spring training, and I’m mainly just waiting for March to end so that it actually starts feeling like spring around here.
If I were a college basketball fan though, I would definitely use the games as an excuse to make loads of game day eats. Crispy wings dripping with sauce, nachos loaded with cheese, and tender, juicy sliders…mmm mmm mmmmm. Junk food is definitely the best part of watching sports, am I right? Yeah. I am.
Wings and burgers aside, pizza is another one of those things that just has to be eaten when watching sports. So, when BlogHer asked me if I wanted to participate in a blog series about game day eats, I immediately knew I was going to make pizza. These deep dish pizza cups are the perfect March Madness treat — portable, mess-free, easy to eat, easy to share, and super delicious. And, if you use store-bought dough and pizza sauce, they’re fast and easy to make too. This is a tasty, no-fuss party treat you’ll definitely want to try, even if you aren’t a basketball fan!
- 1 package store-bought pizza dough, room temperature
- 1 jar Ragu pizza sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- ½ cup grated Parmesan
- 1 to 1-1/2 cups pepperoni, chopped into small pieces
- Olive oil
- Preheat oven to 450. Lightly grease two muffin pans.
- Remove pizza dough from the package.
- Liberally flour a flat surface, and use a rolling pin to flatten dough until it's about ¼ inch thick.
- Using a biscuit cutter or round cup/drinking glass, cut dough into smaller circles. (I think my circles were something like 3-inches in diameter.)
- Roll (or gently stretch with your fingers) each circle of dough until it's about ⅛ inch thick.
- Press thinned out dough into each muffin cup, smoothing the dough up the sides of the cup.
- Lightly brush each dough cup with olive oil.
- Spoon chopped pepperoni into the bottom of each cup, using as much or as little as you like per cup.
- Divide your shredded mozzarella evenly between each cup, sprinkling the cheese on top of the pepperoni.
- Spoon 2-3 tsp pizza sauce over the cheese/pepperoni in each cup.
- Sprinkle grated Parmesan on top of each pizza cup.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until dough is browned and cheese is melted/bubbly.
- Allow cups to cool slightly, then remove from the muffin tins.
- Plate, serve, and enjoy!
This post is part of BlogHer’s March Madness Game Day Eats editorial series, made possible by Kettle Brand Chips.
Great party food!
🙂
I love pizza, and this minis look adorable!
Thank you!
I am going to make this for my grandchildren for their after school snax. I’ll let them be the judges and let you know the verdict.
Wonderful! Can’t wait to hear what they think 🙂