Welcome to Week #2 of the Hunt’s Tomato Cook-off!
It’s time to Taste the Harvest! The Hunt’s Tomato Cook-off on UrbanMoms is now underway. Check out the amazing recipes
developed by two of our own bloggers, Kath & Gav. Comment on who created the best dish to donate Hunt’s tomato products to a local food bank and for your chance to win.
Made with the best quality tomatoes and ingredients, Hunt’s tomato
products can help you make delicious meals for your family every night
of the week.
You’re in the judge’s seat as you decide which of our two chefs has done the best job with three fabulous recipes featuring Hunt’s products. Your job is simple: read both Gav and Kath’s recipes, compare the pictures, and then vote by telling us what you think! We will be giving away a fabulous slow cooker prize package. Click here for details. Your comment below is your second entry to win this fabulous prize for your kitchen. For each comment up to a maximum of 100, Hunt’s will donate one can of tomato product to the Cook-off winner’s (Gav’s or Kath’s) local food bank. Now it’s your turn! Tell us who did it best, Kath or Gav, in the comments below!
As the day’s get shorter and the kids’ nights and weekends are full of homework, play-dates and extracurricular activities, there is less and less time available in the day to make meals. As time gets constrained I also feel it gets more difficult for us to cook healthily. Sure I could throw together boxed mac ‘n cheese or chicken nuggets in no time flat, but we try to make sure our kids are eating a well balanced diet whenever possible.
The following recipe is based on a Middle Eastern dish called Shakshuka. It consists of eggs poached in a tomato based sauce. For my ratatouille-like version I include zucchinis, onion, and lots of tomatoes! Tomatoes are packed full of healthy goodness and are a great source of vitamin A, C, fibre and potassium. Hunt’s gave me the garlic version of their sauces to try out in this recipe, allowing me to skip the peeling and pressing time. Win!
My kids love eggs, so talking them into trying this was not too difficult. They loved it, and so did I… It’s a one pot dinner that’s ready in no time flat and is absolutely delicious!
2 small zucchini, sliced thin
1/4 teaspoon each of salt & pepper
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with PAM cooking spray and cook onion, zucchini, salt & pepper stirring often until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Turn heat to Medium, add diced tomato and tomato paste, stirring to combine. Cook 2 minutes.
- Add tomato sauce, bring to a simmer then turn to Low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Make 4 wells in the sauce, gently break eggs into each. Cover pan with a lid and cook until whites are set, about 5 minutes.
Serve with toast.
As a single mom working full-time outside the home, I am a serious fan of the 20-minute meal. If it weren’t for a good repertoire of kid-pleasing, quick-and easy-to-prepare meals, my family would either starve or eat out way too much (so, pretty much; eat out way too much). But let’s face it: the 20-minute meals we’re familiar with are all very similar. They’re usually some kind of casserole and/or involve pasta. If you want to branch out from that mold and have dinner on the table in under half an hour, you’re probably looking at delivery.
But, believe it or not, you can actually make a homemade pizza in 20 minutes! All it takes are a few simple ingredients and some imagination.
Okay, heavy on the imagination here, because you’re going to make the crust with pancake mix! Truth be told, you can also use prepared biscuit mix, or you can make your own biscuit dough – the point here is that the thing that takes the longest when making pizza is rising the dough. And that’s because pizza dough is traditionally yeast-leavened, and therefore takes at minimum an hour to rise. Pancakes and biscuits, however, are leavened by baking powder, which rises instantly (it’s a chemical reaction of the baking powder and warm water – which, incidentally, also powers bath bombs. Cool, eh?). So, there are some options, but in my family, pancake mix is the favourite. For me, I like it because it’s the fastest, and my girls like it because it has a hint of sweetness from of the sugar in the mix.
I love making homemade pizza, because it is so much more nutritious than the order-in variety. You are much more in control of the amount of fat, sodium and other ingredients. I also love that you can load up on veggies in a very kid-friendly way. My kids have been known to ask for everything from broccoli to pickles (true story!) on their pizzas, but the current favourites are onion, peppers and tomatoes. And don’t forget the sauce: tomato sauce is also a great source of vegetables in your meals. Tomatoes are a source of vitamin A, C, fibre and potassium. Canned tomatoes are also high in the antioxidant lycopene, a natural antioxidant that research has found to help protect against the damaging effects of free radicals in the body.
When Hunt’s sent me a sample of their tomato sauce, I decided to give it a try in one of my family’s most tried and true quick recipes. And the results were, simply put, delicious! I opted for the Hunt’s Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce, and I was truly wowed by the flavor. Instead of being overpowered by the garlic, the sauce actually retained a lot of natural, true tomato flavour, which is a real change from most commercially-available sauces. My kids loved how smooth it was – they’re not big fans of chunks of tomato in their sauce, and now I can honour that preference while still delivering a punch of genuine tomato flavour.
So, here’s what you need to make 20-minute homemade pizza*:
Yields: 10 slices of pizza
Ingredients:
4 cups pancake mix (make sure it is the complete variety – all you add is water)
1 cup water
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
2/3 cup Hunt’s Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce (Hunt’s Original, if you prefer a milder sauce, or Hunt’s No Salt Added to cut down on sodium)
1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella melts best, but cheddar’s a favourite in my family)
your choice of toppings – get creative!
Preparation:
1. To make the pizza crust, mix the first four ingredients together until it forms a sticky dough. Unlike with pancakes, you want to mix it fairly well and get a smooth, soft dough.
2. Press dough evenly on a pizza stone or spray a pizza pan with PAM. Use well-greased fingers to press dough out from the centre to the edges.
3. Evenly cover the dough with Hunt’s tomato sauce, leaving about 2 cm diameter of crust on the outside edge.
4. Sprinkle with cheese, then layer your toppings on top.
5. Bake in a 375° oven for 16-18 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Allow pizza to set for 2 minutes before slicing, then enjoy this fast, fun and delicious family meal.
*Ingredients can be easily halved or doubled to make smaller or larger pizza.
Kath and Gav were provided with Hunt’s tomato products for participation in the Hunt’s Tomato Cook-Off. All content is true, based on their personal experience.
Click here for Contest Rules and Regulations.
UrbanMoms members are eligible to win so don’t forget to sign-in. Not a member yet? Click here to join.
I vote for the 20 minute pizza. I never would have thought of pancake mix, which is something I always have at home
I vote for the 20 minute pizza because I know that everyone in the family would enjoy it!
20 minute pizza – made with my own healthy ingredients? It’s a dream come true! I vote for Katherine.
Going with Kath’s Pizza.
I vote for Kath`s Homemade Pizza in a hurry..
I voted for Katherine’s Recipe: Homemade Pizza as i think we all would enjoy this in our family.
I’m for the shakshuka because something new is always welcome
shakshuka for me
I am voting for Gav. I love that it is filled with fresh veggies and lots of tomato sauce. Then if that wasn’t enough, he added incredible edible eggs!
i’m voting for gav – looks great and i don’t think you can go wrong with eggs and zucchini.
Pizza with Kath, please!
I vote for Katherine’s Recipe this week!
kath get’s my vote – very good idea of using pancake mix.
Gotta go with Kath this week, pizza made from pancake mix? Brilliant!
Katherine gets my vote! Her pizza recipe is the perfect dinner for a family of 4!
they both sound great, but I will have to go with Gav on this one.
I have to send my vote Gav’s way again. That Shakshuka looks great and like something interesting for me to try myself!
Kath gets my vote, anything pizza yum!
Pizza is always a hit in our house, so with that I have to vote Katherine’s Recipe: Homemade Pizza in a Hurry
I have to side with Gav on this one. I can’t get my head around pancake batter for pizza dough.
First of all i love Pizza, so I am voting for Katherine’s Pizza, thanks , yummy
Chef Dad’s recipe made my tastebuds do a dance!! So my vote’s with him, but Katherine’s pizza recipe got my attention, too…love homemade pizza!!!!!! 😛
My vote is for Katherine, my husband is too picky to eat chef dad’s recipe, but the pizza sounds fabulous!
Both recipes sound wonderful and I will try both of them. I think I will give my vote to Chef Dad’s Recipe: Shakshuka, however, it sounds wonderful!
Definitely Shakshuka! The reason for this, is that we eat many dishes from that region! We were able to take a family vacation in the middle East a couple of years ago and this dish is very popular for breakfast. Over there, they serve it with yummy pita bread! Delicious! A very good alternative to a regular breakfast! Great recipe!
I vote for Katherine’s Pizza since I think kids would like that more than the poached eggs.
Chef Dad’s recipe looks delish, but my picky eaters would opt for Kath.
I vote for Katherine’s Recipe. Homemade pizza in a hurry looks fantastic and my kids love pizza.
I love the pizza!
I vote for Katherine’s Recipe: Homemade Pizza in a Hurry. We love pizza in our house.
I like the Chef Dad’s Shakshuka and will be trying it soon!
My vote is for Katherine’s pizza as well…hard to judge as I have never tried eggs that way but it does not make me eager to try it.
I am voting for Kath’s pizza.
I think we would try Katherine’s pizza this time. Thanks
Katherines homemade pizza gets my vote! Yum!
I’mgoing to have to vote for Gav because he made a unique dish that I’ve never tried…but it sounds great!
My pick would be Katherine’s Homemade Pizza, we love pizza here.
Katherines homemade pizza is my pick for this week.
Gotta Say Pizza will win every time.
Katherine has my vote.
I’m going to try it this weekend.
Thanks.
Gav’s sounds yummy!
I vote for Gav’s; love the idea of eggs cooking in tomato sauce.
yourstrulee(at)sasktel(dot)net
My vote is for Kath for the ease and no need for thought in the prep! What is great is the kids can throw the toppings on after the crust is prepared – less time in the kitchen for the main cook!
My vote is for Gav’s Shakshuka. It looks delicious!
I will vote for Kath’s pizza on this round. I’m always looking for new and easy ideas for pizza since it is a fab. favorite in our household of 5. Thanks for another great idea!!!
I love the fast an easy aspect of Kath’s pizza recipe. Using pancake mix…genius! I think my kids would willingly eat this.
I’ve gotta go with Chef Dad on this one! The pizza looks good, and is a clever recipe, but I think the Shushkamybushka (or something like that!) looks and sounds yummy enough for the family (ie, kids) to eat, but exotic enough that the neighbors might be jealous. And that is what I’m going for. 😉
I have to go with Chef Dad, it looks and sounds so delicious and so easy. It seems so tasty that I’m going to make it for tomorrow’s dinner 🙂
I have to go with Chef Dad. I love unique recipes and I love eggs. This makes it easier for me to pass them off as a dinner item, too 🙂 Pizza is a regular item on our menu, too, but we are VERY picky about our crust and I am not so sure this one would go over with my family.
I’m voting for Chef Dad Gav – my wife is a big fan of Shakshuka – will have to try this version!
This was hard to decide, but since I have to choose I am voting for Gav’s, just because it is so unique to add eggs to tomato sauce! Gotta try both of them though, never would have thought of using pan cake mix for pizza dough, very interesting!
Wow Gav did it again. this recipe is so different I would love to try it
I like Gav’s recipe
I’m going to vote for Katherine’s pizza recipe because you can never go wrong serving pizza; everyone likes it.
I like Gavin’s, the Shakshuka. That is really a different way to enjoy eggs, think I will try out this recipe.
y’know i’d go with gavin on this one only because i make so much pizza 🙂 and the name rocks. although no matter what i try, getting it past the lips is the hard part. what do you do when the kids won’t even try it?
Both these recipes are so unique it’s hard to choose a winner. I will definitely have to try the pizza made from pancake dough but I also know that my husband would love the shakshusa recipe. For ease and quick preparation I will have to vote for Chef Dad.
Kath gets my vote – never would have thought of pancake mix for pizza dough. Not sure I could sell eggs poached in tomato sauce to my kids, although might try it for myself.