Easy Hawaiian Upside-Down Deep Dish Pizza Recipe ~ Ragu #NewTraDish

What are your favorite meals to cook? I love experimenting with new recipes, and this Ragu Hawaiian Upside Down Deep Dish Pizza Recipe is perfect for a quick, satisfying for the entire family.  It was easy to prepare, tasted great and everyone loved it!

My friends at Ragú asked me to put a unique twist on a recipe from Ragu.com. There were so many amazing recipes to choose from, but I was drawn to the recipe for the Upside Down Deep Dish Pizza.  When I think of pizza, "Hawaiian" is one of our family favorites. So, I decided to add diced ham and pineapple to this recipe and it was even better than I imagined it to be.

As a mom who is always trying to get my family to eat more veggies, it's great to know that each jar of Ragú Old World Style Traditional Sauce is made with 11 juicy tomatoes making it Ragú's thickest, richest sauce. 

Here are the ingredients for my Hawaiian Upside Down Deep Dish Pizza

• 1 lb. very lean Ground Beef (I used the kind that was 96% fat free) You could substitute Ground Turkey too.
• 1 jar (1 lb. 8 oz.) Ragú® Old World Style® Traditional Pasta Sauce
• 10 ounces of Pineapple Tidbits (very well drained)
• 4 ounces of cooked diced Ham 
• 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 can (13.8 oz.) refrigerated pizza dough
  
  

Here's how to make it: 

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Brown ground beef in large nonstick skillet and drain any excess fat.
2. Stir in Pasta Sauce and bring to a boil; turn into 2-quart deep dish pie plate or baking dish.
3. Top with pineapple tidbots and diced ham, then cheese. Place pizza dough over dish, sealing edges tightly.
4. Bake 20 minutes or until crust is golden. Let stand 10 minutes.

It's that easy!

To make it even simpler, the ground beef mixture can be even be cooked ahead of time and refrigerated in the baking dish until assembly time. Just heat it in the microwave until hot before topping and baking.  Perfect for those busy nights when we're coming home from a sports practice around dinner time!

If you're family likes ham and pineapple pizza, I think they'll really like this recipe. It was hot, rich and very satisfying! Plus, it was so easy to make, that it didn't leave me with a mess in the kitchen - which I love too!

Visit Facebook.com/RaguSauce for more quick, easy and delicious recipe ideas.

Check out the Ragú Better and Better Sweepstakes for a chance to win Italian themed prizes and a trip to Venice, Italy, for a family of four! www.RaguSweeps.com

Easy Summer Recipe: Grilled Pizza

Have you been inspired today?  I always see or read things online that inspire me. There are so many yummy recipes, creative crafts and home DIY projects that I want to try, but I don't often get to put my plan into action.  Lately, I've seen some different recipes for grilled pizza and they looked amazing. So, I gave it a try and my family loved it! 

I used pre-made pizza dough from Trader Joes. When you grill pizza dough it makes it really nice and crunchy.  Too many times, I've given a slice of pizza to my sons and ended up cutting it up on a place. That is not the case with grilled pizza!  The crust is light and crispy which makes it great for kids. 

As soon as the dough was cooked on the underside, I quickly flipped it and added my toppings.  I kept the grill on low heat, and luckily, the crust came out perfectly and all of the cheese melted nicely.

A big reason to love grilled pizza is because the mess is all kept outside. Whenever we've made pizza inside, there are little bits of cheese that don't make it onto the pizza. Doing it this way, I didn't need to clean up anything in the house, and I was able to watch my kids in the yard while I was cooking. This perfect for those summer afternoons when they want to do anything but come inside.

The pizza was a success!  My son didn't want his picture taken, but he was more than happy to show off his slice of mushroom, basil and oregano pizza. We will definitely be making this again!  

Do you want to try it? Stephanie, from Confessions of a Stay-at-home Mom, has a video that shows you exactly how to make grilled pizza. If you've never made pizza on your grill before you definitely want to check it out.

What's your favorite thing to grill in the summer?