Football season is 4 parts fun, 1 part stress. And the stress always revolves around getting the boys in their pads and food in their bellies before 5:15. This forces some creative thinking during dinnertime. Meals need to be simple, quick to prepare, and easy to clean up (not to mention economical and  healthy).

Hence, the easy homemade pizza. Starting with the crust, there are many ways you could begin here…bagels, english muffins, prebaked dough, homemade dough if there’s time, or indian naan (thank you Costco for selling this most tasty, soft form of bread). I chose the naan this particular evening.

Next, the sauce. I mixed together the following: 1 4-oz. can tomato paste, 1 tsp. oregano, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, enough water to make a thick pizza sauce consistency.

After spreading the sauce on the naan, I topped it with cheese and sausage. I had purchased the Italian sausage in bulk some time ago, cooked it, crumbled it in the food processor, and froze it in 1 lb. portions. So for this night’s dinner, I just pulled a pound out of the freezer to thaw and put on the pizzas.

Finally, the pizzas baked at 425 for 15 minutes or so and came out delicious.

Somewhat defeating the purpose of “easy to clean up”…

…my sous-chef helper. She mistakenly thought pasta was on the menu and got a jump start on the preparations. Who knew you had to moisten the pasta pieces before cooking them in boiling water?