Bowtie Pasta and Ricotta Pizza

Having grown up in Chicago, there are a couple hometown favorites that I make sure to have on trips back to the Windy City - Chicago-style hotdogs from Portillos and deep dish pizza from Unos. When I moved to New Jersey, I kept hearing how great their pizza was. Nothing compares to a double crust, cheese and sausage filled pie which have made Chicago famous. How could this Jersey pizza stand up to a Chicago institution?

I chuckled when I finally spotted my first oversized, thin crust pizza from my new hometown's local pizza joint. This is pizza?!! I'll have to eat 3 or 4 pieces to equal one deep dish slice. My hope for Jersey pizza was not very high. And then I spotted a pizza topped with ziti, ricotta, and tomato sauce. Now that looks like something I could dig my teeth into. It is a whole meal that could be held in one hand.

I set out to recreate the pasta pizza. My rendition is Bowtie Pasta and Ricotta Pizza which is a favorite of My Oldest. I cheated tonight and picked up premade pizza dough from the pizza joint. You can even find decent dough at the grocery store. I made a quick batch of marinara sauce, boiled up some pasta, and assembled the pizzas. 2 of us had the pasta pizzas while the other 2 ended up with plain pies. A very satisfying dinner. And a snap to make with a little help from you local pizza parlour.

Try it. You'll like it.

Bowtie Pasta and Ricotta Pizza

premade pizza dough or use this recipe
jar marinara sauce or homemade sauce
pasta - I used bowtie, but any shape will do, cooked and drained
mozzarella cheese, grated
ricotta cheese
fresh basil

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. If you don't have a pizza stone, use a heavy baking sheet.

Pinch off a fist sized piece of dough and roll it out very thin. I like to roll out the dough and then put it on a cornmeal dusted cutting board to make transferring the pizza to the oven easier.

Top the dough with a thin layer of the marinara sauce and then a layer of the pasta. Sprinkle with some of the mozzarella cheese. Drop heaping teaspoon-sized globs of the ricotta cheese on top of the pizza.

Bake until crust is nicely browned and the cheeses are bubbly about 7 - 10 minutes. Top with thinly sliced basil leaves.

Let cool slightly before cutting into wedges.