Shirt and Tie Pizza

Make a homemade pizza for your hardworking dad! This Shirt and Tie Pizza is the perfect meal for Father’s Day, and it’ll give him a good laugh!

 

This pizza was created in honor of my father. As a child, I was really totally unaware of my parents’ lives, other than how they related to me. I knew my father worked, but had no idea why he did what he did, if he enjoyed it, or how he landed in his profession. It wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that I came to find out that he had professional dreams that went unfulfilled.

When my father was in his twenties, he found himself working for a company selling flour.  He and a buddy both had visions of running their own business and together came up with a clever idea to open a drive through/carry out pizzeria. Back in the 1960’s, this would have been a very novel concept, one which they were certain would be a success. At the time, however, both men had very young children and virtually no disposable income, but they were determined to make their dreams a reality. Then, as it so often does, life got in the way.

Although my father wanted to be his own boss, wear an apron over his jeans at work, bake pizzas all day, and spend time engaging in lively conversations with his customers, he found himself working as a traveling salesman, dressing in a suit, wearing a tie, and working the hard sell with his customers.   He did this all, so that we would have everything we needed to live a comfortable life. He sacrificed his dream so that the four of us kids could one day live ours (more about that in my next post.)

This pizza represents my father’s professional dream and his reality. He is happily retired now-enjoying life in Florida, playing golf several times a week, and, hopefully, getting some much deserved rest and relaxation.

Make one of these imaginative pizzas for the hardworking man in your life to celebrate Father’s Day, a promotion at work, a new job, a retirement, or any other special occasion you see fit.

Shirt and Tie Pizza (serves 4-6)

 

Ingredients:

1/2 bulb of garlic (about 6-7 cloves)
1 teaspoon olive oil
2-3 slices of mozzarella cheese
2 slices cheddar cheese
1 Pillsbury Thin Pizza Crust
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 (6 ounce) jar of marinated artichokes, drained well and chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Special Equipment Needed:

baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil
Cheese Slicer
Xacto knife, or small sharp knife

pizza wheel
pizza peel or oven spatula

Instructions:

Print out a copy of the template below. Click on this link for a full page printable template. You will need to use a copy machine to blow up the image so that the shirt fits within the dimensions of your baking sheet (every pan size varies but make it about 11″x12″.) Cut out the shirt and all of the shapes.

 

Roast your garlic:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I went ahead and roasted the whole bulb of garlic, but you just need half for this recipe. Cut garlic bulb in half (or use 6-7 whole cloves). Set on a piece of tin foil. Drizzle olive oil over garlic.  Fold foil and pinch edges closed. Roast in oven for 35-45 minutes until garlic is golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature. Squeeze the halves of the garlic to expel the soft roasted garlic. Don’t turn oven off, you’ll need it heated for the pizza.

Cut collar, tie, and pocket shapes out of cheese slices:

Set the cut template pieces for the collar and the pocket on mozzarella cheese slices. Use and Xacto knife (with a clean blade) or a small sharp knife to cut out around the template pieces. Set the tie pieces over slices of cheddar cheese and cut out around the template pieces.  I used long slices of cheddar cheese, but still had to cut my tie at the dotted line.  If you use shorter cheese slices, you will have to move the cut line closer to the middle of the tie. Arrange the cut cheese pieces together. You may have to cut the edges so they match up just right. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Make shirt pizza:

Unroll pizza crust onto non-stick foil lined baking sheet. Set the shirt template over the crust and stretch the crust to completely fill the area of the template. Remove template.  Brush oil over surface of crust.

Bake for 8-12 minutes until crust is golden brown. (I should have baked my crust longer, it was too white.)

Remove crust from oven and let it sit until it is cool enough to handle.  Move crust to a cutting board.  Set shirt template over crust and use a pizza wheel to cut out around the template.  Spread roasted garlic over entire surface of crust. Cover crust with chopped artichokes and shredded chicken.  Use your hands to press the artichokes and chicken down into a flat layer on the crust.

Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.  Use a  wooden pizza peel or an oven spatula to pick the pizza up and place it back on the baking sheet (not pictured.) Heat in oven for 5-8 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove pizza from oven and use the  pizza peel or oven spatula to move your pizza to a nice serving platter or a nice cutting board. Add the collar, tie, and pocket cheese shapes and serve immediately.

Need some more ideas for Father’s Day? Well go check out the attached link and shower your dad in goodies!