The MOM 100 Blog
English Muffin Pizzas
by Katie Workman • August 21, 2012 Serves 2 to 4Tomorrow morning, when your sleepy, groggy, possibly grumpy kids drag their butts to breakfast and mumble incoherent complaints, try saying this: “Who wants pizza for breakfast?” Their little necks will snap up so fast they may pull something.
English Muffin Pizzas
Somewhere along the way, certain foods were identified as breakfast foods, and most of us are content to face a plate of eggs, some fruit, or perhaps some oatmeal in the morning. But sometimes it’s nice to shake it up (and by the way, you will likely get a similar reaction if you offer up pancakes for dinner every once in a while). The main point of breakfast, the piously anointed “most important meal of the day,” is to give you energy to go forth and conquer. Or at least go forth and do well on the spelling quiz. So, pretty much any food that sounds good at 7 a.m. and isn’t riddled with sugar is fair game. Charlie in particular is often delighted to encounter things like a bowl of vegetable soup or leftover meatballs or chicken piccata first thing in the morning, as am I, which some people find irresistible and others just find weird and confusing.
English Muffin Pizzas come together in the same amount of time it takes to make hot cereal or scramble some eggs. Follow these up with some fruit, or just serve them with a glass of OJ, and all of the consecrated food groups are present. Think of these for an afterschool snack, too, not to mention lunch.
2 English muffins, preferably whole grain (see Note), split
1 cup store-bought or homemade tomato sauce (see page 174)
4 slices (1⁄4 inch thick) mozzarella, preferably fresh
- Preheat a toaster oven or standard oven to 350°F.
- Toast the English muffin halves until very lightly brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Spoon 1⁄4 cup of the tomato sauce evenly over each English muffin half. You can continue with Step 3 or go directly to Step 4.
- See the Fork in the Road suggestions on this page for optional toppings.
- Top each English muffin with a slice of mozzarella.
- Bake or toast the pizzas until the cheese is melted and a bit bubbly, about 4 minutes. Serve, making sure your kids know that the pizzas are hot!
Note: I have yet to find an English muffin that beats Thomas’. They just know their nooks and crannies.
Fork in the Road
Once you spoon on the tomato sauce, you can add anything to the pizza that you would use to top a regular pizza: slivered cooked onions or peppers, sliced olives, chopped cooked broccoli, and so on. My gang finds plain works just fine first thing in the morning, but yours might appreciate a nonvegetarian addition like bacon crumbled between the sauce and cheese.
What the Kids Can Do:
Spoon the sauce on the English muffins and lay on the cheese—although on a weekday morning your kids may well be too busy trying to find their shoes or indignantly informing you of a test they forgot to study for and why it isn’t their fault.
THERE ARE 2 COMMENTS ON THIS POST:
@ 21:10 PM
Sally says ....
I’ve made these with bagels, too. I like them both and which I make just depends on what I have on hand.
@ 09:21 AM
Katie Workman says ....
Bagel pizzas are great! Mini bagels, especially, if you can find them.