Quick Italian Sausage & Black Olive Pizza

All ingredients come from my local Dollar Tree store for my Quick Sausage & Black Olive Pizza recipe.

It came together quickly as I found what I needed cruising the frozen deli case and store aisles. So read on to see my easy-to-make pizza recipe with tasty cheap$kate ingredients.

Click on any photo to see larger.

The first Dollar Tree item that caught my attention was pre-baked Camillo's Pizza Crusts. You get two 7 inch rounds for a buck! But sometimes you get what you pay for. While they are tasty,  (because they are already baked) when you build the pizza and bake it, the crust dries out until it has the texture of a large cracker.

Now that is fine if you like a crunchy crust. I like the outer crust hard, but prefer the rest of the crust to droop under the weight of the toppings. So, while the pizza crust is fine tasting, the texture is too hard. I even reduced the temperature, that the package recommended. I baked the assembled pizzas for 10 minutes as 400 degrees.

But the crust held up well with the added ingredients of pizza sauce, cooked sausage, cheese and sliced olives.

Further down the aisle with pizza crusts, I found plenty of canned tomato sauce, but lucked out and picked up a 14 ounce jar of Pizza Sauce by Francesco Rinaldi. It is quite tasty.

Mainly a tomato sauce, the extra spice and herbs are a subtle addition. It is very much like a typical canned pasta sauce.

The jar holds enough to sauce half a dozen of the 7 inch pizza rounds, so this is a deal I can get behind. I also found jars of Alfredo sauce as well, so I'll make a White Sauce Pizza next time.

I made my way to the Dollar Tree cold deli case against the back wall. It held all the toppings I needed for a sausage pizza.

They carried small packages of sliced pepperoni and a couple types of breakfast sausage, both made by Farmer John's. On type was just plain, while the other were links with maple syrup flavorings. I went for the plain Farmer John's Sausage, in a 12 ounce package. A darn good deal.

I figured I would fry up the sausage with a sprinkle of dried Italian herbs like oregano and basil. Also I added a little salt and pepper to the frying sausage.

I broke up the larger pieces of sausage into bite sizes to fit as a pizza topping. Farmer John's sausage is much fattier than regular link sausages, so be sure to drain off the grease after sauteing.

 And once you add some herbs, it gets close enough in flavor to a link of Italian sausage. I cooked the sausage all the way through.

When building the pizza with pre-cooked pizza dough, all you need to do is heat it up until the cheese melts and the sausage is hot again.

There was a nice selection of dried herbs across from the canned items. The main missing ingredient are fennel seeds. (But if you have some fennel seed in the cupboard then add it, too.)

I guess I could have fried up the Maple Syrup flavored sausage, adding Italian herbs, and called it Sweet Italian Sausage. Dollar Tree also carried an individual uncooked Jennie-O Turkey Burger patty. So it would have been easy to make low-fat Italian-style turkey sausage, too.

There were also small 3 ounce packages of shredded mozzerella. That's enough to take care of two small individual pizzas.

The deli case also held packages of fresh frozen vegges like asparagus and different veggie combos. I could have added a couple of asparagus spears, or just made a veggie pizza.

And one aisle over they had cans of black olives and jars of roasted red peppers. I got the olives, but next time I would try the marinated peppers. I like to thinly slice black olives as a pizza topping.

So for about 6 bucks I got enough Dollar Tree ingredients to make 4 individual pizzas (adding dried herbs I have at home,) with leftover pizza sauce, sausage, and plenty of olives.

What's nice is being able to add as much sauce, olives and sausage as I wanted on each pizza. I had just enough mozzarella though, so could not go overboard with that.

I find that may budget premade individual pizzas lacking, mainly they are skimpy with the meat and cheese. Using fresh pork sausage is so much tastier and I can crumble it into any size I like.

So on my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give my Quick Italian Sausage and Olive Pizza made with Dollar Tree ingredients a strong 7!

This pizza would could have been a perfect 9 if the pizza crust was better. So while the ingredients were satisfactory, I'm still searching for a better pizza crust...for around a dollar.

Chickpea Salad with Chorizo

I get recipes from everywhere - from websites to newsprint - but I never duplicate them word-for-word. Mainly, that's because a lot of recipes rely on expensive ingredients (which I must change,) or the list is so long that I have to take a machete to it! But, I've managed to pull a rabbit out of the pan more times than not. It's easy to substitute cheaper chicken for costly bovine, or peanuts for pine nuts. However, every once in a while I manage to find all the ingredients in a recipe for the right price.

I always look forward to the food section that's published every Thursday in our local newspaper, the Los Angeles Times. I've also gotten my share of recipe ideas from the Times' food blog Daily Dish (click here.) They generously encourage their readers to try out the published recipes. In the first week of January they highlighted the 10 Best Recipes of 2011 (for all the recipes, click here.)

One entree really caught my eye: Chickpea Salad with Chorizo, which uses Spanish Chorizo. This chorizo is a cured meat, somewhat  like prosciutto and salami. (But very different from easier-to-get Mexican Chorizo, which I've used for several recipes, like here.) I picked up a few packages of thin-sliced Chorizo at my local 99c only Store. For this entree, the chorizo comes straight from the package - just roughly chop and mix with veggies for a Spanish-style tapas. (A tasty cheap substitution would be easy-to-find salami.)

It's a luscious dish made with budget priced chickpeas (or garbanzo beans,) black olives, cherry tomatoes, parsley, green onion, and garlic; in a tart dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Of course, I couldn't help changing the recipe a little bit -- you should feel free to do so as well (original recipe is here.) I doubled up on the amount of black olives and tomato. I served the recipe during an impromptu viewing party for the Golden Globes earlier this month, and it was a hit -- eaten up even before Ricky Gervais' opening monologue was through!

So, props to the Los Angeles Times food section for serving up another hit recipe -- and I get to bask in all the glory! You will too, if you give the chintziest of chef's latest recipe a try, literally ripped off the pages of my great daily big city newspaper.

Ingredients (about 2 servings)

• 1 can chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) - 15 ounce can drained.
• 1/2 package of chorizo - about 1.5 ounces. I used 1/2 package of Hormel brand Chorizo that was thin sliced. A tasty substitution is salami, or your favorite cured meat. Chopped or sliced.
• 1/4 bell pepper - L.A. Times recipe used red bell pepper. I used orange, but any color is fine.
• Handful of parsley - chopped, about 2 tablespoons. Optional. I have an herb garden so it's free!
• 2 green onions - chopped. Original recipe called for one -- not enough for me.
• 8-12 cherry tomatoes - slice tomatoes in half. Okay to use a regular medium tomato, chopped.
• 16 black olives - drained from a can. Original recipe called for 12, but I wanted more.
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic - fresh or from jar.

Chickpea Marinade

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice - fresh or from a bottle. Okay to substitute with vinegar (any type.)

Directions
Drain chickpeas and lightly rinse. In a bowl, add chickpeas, olive oil and lemon juice (or vinegar.) Mix well and allow to marinate for a few hours, or overnight. (To be honest, I made this for a Golden Globes viewing party and just mixed everything together at once, then served it a half hour later -- it disappeared in a flash.)

Slice cherry tomatoes in half. Roughly chop the parsley and garlic (if garlic is fresh.) Slice the green onions. For the olives, slice depending on size - I left half of them whole and sliced the rest.

Real Spanish Chorizo comes as a link about the size of a jumbo hot dog wiener. The chorizo I found for 99.99 cents was thin sliced and quite large in diameter, so I just roughly shredded the slices into bite sizes. If you use hard salami (or a favorite cured meat,) then slice or chop into bite sizes.

Finally just add the marinated chickpeas (including the marinade) in a large bowl with all the other chopped and sliced veggies. Mix well. It's ready to serve at either room temperature or chilled. Store any leftovers (not likely) covered in the refrigerator.

White Beans, Black Olives & Tuna

White Beans and Black Olives with Tuna - can we all get along? Of course so, when The 99 Cent Chef brings them together as a delicious bean salad.

It's a hardy serving with earthy black olives, tender beans and pungent chunks of tuna. I also add some red onion for crunch and sweet heat. And, I drizzle on good olive oil for richness, and some vinegar for a tangy finish.

Beans, black olives and canned tuna are dollar store staples, so you know this tightwad recipe is right up the chintzy chef's alley. And, I'm happy to share this delicious budget recipe with everyone.

My cupboard tinned treat requires some minimal assembly, but no cooking. Serve as a side, or load on an extra scoop or two, and it's an entree.

Ingredients

• 1 small can (5 ounces) tuna - in oil or water. Canned tuna or from a pouch.
• 1 small can (15 ounces) of white beans - drain and rinse. Okay to use any favorite canned whole bean.
• 1/2 can of black olives - drain and roughly chop. Okay to use pre-sliced.
• 1/2 small red onion - chopped. Okay to use white or yellow instead.
• 2 tablespoons olive oil - or any tasty oil. Skip oil if you use canned tuna in oil.
• 1 tablespoon vinegar - white, rice, balsamic, or any you have on hand. Can also use lemon or lime juice.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions
Drain beans and rinse off any sauce. Roughly chop 1/2 can of drained whole black olives (okay to use pre-chopped 1/2 can of olives.) Chop 1/2 of a small red onion.

Into a medium bowl add beans, olives and red onion, and mix. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of vinegar.

Add a can of drained tuna. If tuna is in oil, then add the oil, too (you can leave out the 2 tablespoons of oil mentioned above.) Lightly mix until tuna is incorporated - I like to leave the tuna chunky. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Italian Antipasto Salad

No cooking, but some assembly is required, for The Chef's latest recipe. This can-opener cuisine is perfect for cleaning out your pantry.

My Italian Antipasto Salad uses canned, bottled, marinated and precooked veggies. All that this dollar store shelved produce needs is a sweet and tart vinaigrette to pull it all together.

Antipasto Salad is versatile. You can keep it vegan, or you can add some cheap salami -- even baloney (okay, Mortabella then.)

I've had it from my local deli as a mixed salad, or colorfully separated and artfully laid out on a party tray. For more crunch, you can also throw in raw sliced red onion and tomato, and serve it on a few leaves of lettuce.

When I run across bottled eggplant or zucchini in olive oil, on sale at my local 99c only Store, I always grab a couple of jars. Artichoke hearts are usually canned in water, but I've also brought it home bottled in an herb-infused vinegar.

A simple vinaigrette of olive oil, sugar and red wine vinegar completes the recipe. Save the bottled marinade if it is olive oil or vinegar. This can be the base of your vinaigrette -- plus it's free!

This Italian Antipasto Salad would go perfectly with my Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Bacon Bits; or at your next party, lay it out on a platter with toothpicks as an appetizer. 

Ingredients (serves 2 - 4, depending on size of jars and cans)

• 1 can of artichoke hearts - about 14 ounces.
• 1 can of black olives - drained. Or any favorite olives, including green.
• 1 - 2 jars of marinated veggies - including zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, bell peppers, asparagus, etc.
• 4 to 8 ounces of sliced or whole salami - optional. Or any favorite deli meat. Slice into bite sized pieces.

Marinade

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar - okay to use any vinegar you have on hand, or any vinegar marinade from your bottled veggies.
• 1/4 cup of olive oil - or oil from any jarred veggies.
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar - or sugar substitute. Add a little at a time to taste.
• Pepper to taste - optional. I find that canned or jarred veggies have plenty of salt.

Marinade Directions
Drain bottled and canned veggies of water, marinade and olive oil -- reserve olive oil and vinaigrette. Mix 1/4 cup each of red wine vinegar (or reserved vinaigrette) and olive oil (or reserved oil). Whisk together. Add a little sugar (I used 1/2 pack of Sweet 'N Low) and black pepper to taste. No salt needed as I find canned and jarred veggies have plenty.

Whisk again just before you pour it over the Antipasto Salad.

Assembly
You can just mix all the drained veggies and salami together in a large bowl, or lay it out on a party platter with tooth picks.

Whisk marinade just before serving and mix it into salad, or drizzle it over the party tray. Okay to serve cold or at room temperature. Keep refrigerated if you are not serving for half hour or more.

Nix the salami for a vegetarian version. And for more fresh crunch, mix sliced red onion, tomato, or any raw veggie you have on hand into my Antipasto Salad. You can also serve on lettuce leaves.

Roast Chicken With Green & Black Olives

No chopping, peeling or sauteing was used in the preparation of this recipe -- in other words, it's easy.

Among my favorite canned or bottled pantry ingredients are green and black olives. Just check out my Fish Veracruz and my wife's delicious tuna salad, both made with green olives; I'll also add canned black olives to most any pasta dish .

It was only a matter of time before I came up with adding both to 69 cent per pound chicken leg quarters (in 10 lb. bags) from my local Latin market . And olives are a dollar store staple.

Sometimes you take a chance and it all works out. Briny green olives and plump black olives roasting in the juices of dark chicken meat meld and compliment each other - the sourness and salt from the olives are made mild, adding just the right amount of tartness. This dish is a little bit Middle Eastern and a touch Italian.
I especially enjoy making a simple dish with great flavor -- I hope you do too.

Ingredients (serves 3 - 4)
1 small jar of green olives - with or without pimentos, drained. They can be chopped, sliced or whole, whatever is on sale.
1 can of black olives - drained.
3 - 4 chicken leg quarters - or any chicken pieces on sale.
Pepper to taste.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add chicken to a large pot or pan. Drain green and black olives. *Sprinkle olives over and in-between chicken pieces. Season with pepper. Roast uncovered for an hour and a half. If you use white meat, reduce time to about an hour. Done when chicken juices run clear (no red) when pierced with a knife or fork. Skin-on chicken will render more fat, so you may need to skim off some of it (but do leave a little, it's such a delicious decadent pleasure, especially drizzled over rice or couscous).

 

* For extra flavor add any fresh or favorite herb you have on hand, a teaspoon of chopped garlic and a cup of white wine, along with the olives.

Black Olives, Sundried Tomatoes & Salmon with Pasta

Those are a few of my favorite 99c Only Store things. For my latest budget recipe, I combine four prepackaged ingredients to create an earthy entree. Plus, this is a pantry-emptying meal.

Cans of tuna and anchovies along with pouches of salmon are on my top shelf; you'll find cans of plump black olives and jars of sun-dried tomatoes on my middle shelf; and further down are bags of every kind of pasta you can image.

 If you're lucky you'll find these packaged edibles at your local dollar store (or at least some of them), and the rest are inexpensive at your regular grocery store.

Pungent dried tomatoes in olive oil provide the base flavor, and the oil combined with pasta water, or 99 cent white wine, is the sauce. Very simple and quick to cook.

I add the olives whole -- heated through, their flavor intensifies as they soften. Flake-in cooked salmon or tuna including the water or oil. Mix and heat through and serve over pasta - it is ready in 10 minutes - no slicing, peeling or chopping!

This is a cheap, quick and starkly flavorful pasta dish you can serve to guests - they will be impressed.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 7 oz. pouch (or can) of salmon - okay to substitute tuna in oil or water.
• 1 can of black whole olives - chopped is okay.
• 6 - 10 sun-dried tomato halves - add 2 tablespoons of oil marinade, too.
• 1/2 cup of 99 cent white wine - okay to substitute broth or pasta water.
• Fresh Italian herbs, if you have any - or teaspoon of dried.
• Black Pepper to taste - there is plenty of salt in canned or packaged cooked fish and canned olives.
• 3/4 package of pasta - whatever type you have on hand.

Directions
Prepare pasta according to package directions - I usually shave off a minute or two of cooking time for al dente. Drain and set aside. I like to drizzle in a tablespoon of olive oil or a pat of butter to keep it from clumping together. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, if needed.

While pasta is cooking, in a medium hot saute pan, add sun-dried tomatoes including 2 tablespoons of oil from the jar. After a couple of minutes, the sun-dried tomatoes will be soft enough to break into bite-sized pieces (unless they are already chopped). 

Add one can of drained black olives. Heat a couple more minutes. Pour in 1/2 cup of white wine, pasta water or broth. 

Bring to a low boil, reduce heat, then add packaged salmon or tuna with their water or oil. Mix and heat through for about 5 minutes. Serve over pasta.