Sloppy Joe and Veggie Pizza

We enjoy having pizza two or three times a month, usually on a Friday night.  I've made this sloppy joe version several times and I really liked it.  Last night I decided to tweak that particular recipe and sneak in more veggies.  I wanted to make it an even healthier, more filling pizza.  Thankfully I succeeded without compromising the amazing taste.  Below is the recipe.






Sloppy Joe and Veggie Pizza
(Makes two pizzas, 6 to 8 slices each)


2 whole wheat pizza crusts (I use the store bought kind and keep the packaging for freezing purposes)
1 pound of lean ground turkey
2 cups of of reduced fat shredded cheese, any variety
1 and 1/2 cups of barbecue sauce (whatever your favorite kind is)
1 can of corn, drained
1 large onion, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup of green onion, diced
1/2 cup of pureed carrots
1/2 cup of pureed spinach
1/8 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
dashes of Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bake your two pizza crusts for 8 to 10 minutes (on a greased pizza pan), until lightly browned.  Set crusts aside to cool while you make the pizza mixture.  Generously grease a large skillet with cooking spray. Cook your lean ground turkey in a greased skillet along with chopped onions.  Drain or blot away any grease or fat.  Add in the pureed carrots and spinach.  Simmer for about five minutes.  Pour in the drained corn.  Add in your barbecue sauce, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, all of the Parmesan cheese, oregano, garlic powder and a dash each of salt and pepper.  Cook for about seven minutes.  Taste.  Add any additional seasonings or cheese, if needed. 

Scoop out half the sloppy joe mix onto one pizza crust.  Then scoop the remaining half on the second pizza crust.  Use a spatula or fork to spread evenly over each pizza.  If you think the pizzas need additional sauce, then you can gently pour a few teaspoons of barbecue sauce onto the sloppy joe and veggie topping to give it a wetter texture.  Top both pizzas with the remaining 1 and 1/2 cups of shredded cheese.  (Use more cheese if desired).  

(Cook's Note:  Don't worry about your kids seeing or finding out about the veggies you hid into the pizza.  Just like my picture shows (below), once you top it with cheese, you can't see what's in it.  You can't really taste it either with all the seasonings and the great barbecue sauce on it!  :-)

Bake for about 20 minutes in the oven.  I baked both of mine at the same time on different oven racks (see picture below but pay no attention to my dirty oven please!) 

Let pizzas cool for about five minutes before cutting into 6 or 8 slices each. 

We ate one for dinner and froze the other pizza for a future Friday night.  To freeze, I placed the whole pizza on the pan in my freezer overnight.  The next morning, I removed it from the pan and wrapped it in both seran wrap and aluminum foil.  I then placed it back in the original packaging it came in for safe keeping.  I will keep mine in the freezer for up to three months.  

When reheating pizza, I defrost mine in the fridge for a few hours then place back in the oven for about ten minutes at 400 degrees.  I usually top with additional, fresh cheese on top! 

Enjoy!