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Basketball Pizza

I wanted to make something savory and basketball-themed. When searching brainstorming ideas, I was surprised as to how few orange foods that looked delicious enough to incorporate into my recipe.

And then, light a bright ray of light from the sky.

Who isn’t addicted to Cheez-Its? I can easily eat an entire box in one sitting. Also, Cheez-It is dedicated to using only 100% real cheese, which is baked into every delicious cracker. So this is a win for everyone.

Apparently, they came out with two new Cheez-its:

• Cheez-It Crunch’d:
  • Flavors: Cheddar Cheese and Hot and Spicy.
  • It’s a completely new product; Crunch’d is Cheez-It’s first-ever crunchy puff made with 100% real cheese. Puffed-Up Crunch with Real Cheese.
• Cheez-It Grooves:
  • Flavors: Zesty Cheddar Ranch, Original Cheddar, and Sharp White Cheddar.
  • Thin, crispy and made with 100% real cheese, Cheez-It Grooves combine the best of Cheez-It and a chip into one delicious snack.

I decided to go ahead and try the Cheeze-It Grooves for my basketball pizzas. I also made a super cute tutorial for DIY basketball court plates!

Tools for your Basketball Court Plates

– Bamboo plates

– Basketball-themed cake toppers

– Non-toxic wood glue, FDA approved for indirect food contact

–Cotton swabs

Note -> I got in touch with the glue company, and this is what they informed me:

“Indirect food contact means that if something is adhered, the glue when dried is such a small amount that according to the FDA it will not affect you. You should not COAT a plate with it. Also light hand washing will work, but do not soak or place in dishwasher. Most of the glue should remain in the “joint” between the plastic and wood.   This is intended for only wood, and not plastic, however, so the bonding strength for the cake toppers will not be incredibly strong. In other words if someone throws the plates around they likely will not stick.”

To begin your basketball court plates (to serve your basketball pizza on, of course), have your supplies ready and clean of dust.

Pipe glue onto the bottom of your cake toppers. Adhere to the corner of a plate.  Hold together for about a minute.

Use slightly moistened cotton swabs to remove any excess glue. It is important to remove as much glue as possible. Be careful not to bump into, push, or knock cake topper as it can fall from the plate.

Allow to fully dry.

Ingredients for your Basketball Pizza

Dough:

2 1/2 cups of bread flour
1 tsp of sugar
2 T olive oil
1 1/8 cups warm water (or 1 cup + 2 T)
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 T salt
All-purpose flour and/or olive oil (for rolling)
Corn meal

3 T butter
3 T flour
3/4 tsp minced garlic
3/4 cup reduced fat milk
3/4- 3 cups shredded cheese (+ extra for topping)
1 teaspoon oregano
Pepper to taste

Black olive paste
Cheez-it Grooves

For dough: Heat 1 1/8 cups of water on the stove. Use a cooking thermometer to gage when it reaches 110 degrees. Add in 1 1/2 teaspoons of yeast. After yeast has foamed up (about 5 min) add in olive oil, bread flour, and sugar. THEN add salt. (salt can affect the yeast, so you want it to come in contact with the other ingredients first.)

Mix together, knead for about 9 min on lightly flour-dusted surface or in a mixer with the dough attachment.
Form into ball, place in bowl coated with olive oil. Cover and wrap in warm spot for 2 hours. You can prep the day before, so once the dough rises, then wrap well and place in fridge. Take it out and allow to warm up to room temperature before rolling.
For white cream sauce: melt butter on low. Whisk in flour until it becomes a roux (thickens up into a brown paste). Slowly pour in milk while whisking. Whisk garlic, oregano, then cheese, a little at a time while whisking in… (You may need more or less so add until just thick) and pepper to taste. Let cheese melt and sauce thicken. Remove from heat.

To put together your basketball pizzas: Process Cheeze-It Grooves to make crumbs. Pat olive paste with paper towel to remove oil and spoon into a piping bag with circle tip.

Lightly oil or flour surface and cut dough into 4 pieces. Roll out into circles. Fold over crust and pinch well with a fork to secure.
Bake just dough at 415 degrees on a cornmeal covered baking sheet for about 12 min, remove and add sauce with a sprinkle of cheese, then bake another 5 -10 min until bubbling. Add Cheez-It Grooves crumble on top, then bake for about 3 more minutes until crust is brown.

Pipe two perpendicular lines of black onto pizza. Pipe two more curved lines on each side to form the lines of a basketball.

It’s gooey, cheesy and super addictive.

Also, those plates.

TIPS and Options:

*If you want your olive paste a more vivid black, you can mix it with a dot of black Americolor food coloring, if you like).

*Be mindful of the fact that the white sauce will thicken substantially as it cools. Your sauce should be a lot thinner and runny than you want it to be.

*Some shortcuts for this basketball pizza recipe are to buy pre-made pizza dough and an Alfredo sauce, if you’re looking for the lazy cook’s version.

*Yeast should foam up after you add it to the water. If it did not then either yeast is inactive or water temp it off.

***If you are considering posting up photos or ideas from the Basketball Pizza on Basketball Court Plates any other posts I am truly happy that you are excited and find my recipes interesting enough to share with others.  Writing and photography are copyright protected under the DMCA. Please see copyright standards in the footer (bottom) BEFORE you use photographs and/writing from this website

Don’t forget to enter the Most Valuable Cheese Contest now through  April 2015. You can vote on your  favorite flavors/varieties from six popular Cheez-It flavors and play games for a chance to win $10,000.

Enter here:  http://cbi.as/3ckv.

Also, check out some other tasty sports snacks to make for the game:  http://cbi.as/3cxh

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