Pizza, dear God I love you. You’re crusty, cheeeeesy and I can top you with whatever I want. You’re simply delicious. You put a smile on my face whether you’re bubbly hot or cold. I enjoy your company every Friday night. During my college days you kept me fed at 4am after a frat party or three. You are that one food that I absolutely love leftover and often worship it for breakfast. Let’s be real, cold pizza for breakfast is one of the finest things ever. If I had to choose between leftover cold pizza and say eggs benedict this girl is choosing pizza every time.
Pizza is that universal food that frankly you can make out of anything. We no longer require traditional crusts of flour/yeast/water. Oh no. We’re surpassed that. From grilled zucchini rounds for pizza to my bajillion pinned spaghetti squash pizza crust the pizza dynamics has changed. Now I’m a traditionalist when it comes to pizza. Simplicity is best however don’t get me wrong – I’m probably one of the more adventurous folks when it comes to pizzas and pizza toppings. A crispy chewy crust, thick & rich tomato sauce and that ooey goey cheesy awesomeness… pure perfection.
This pizza is kinda like a cross-breed. This pizza first came in to my life back when my brother had his own pizza shop. He had this menu with a good 100+ items easily and almost all were for pick up or delivery. Now that food was good but to be honest, what was even better were the items not on the menu. That’s where I had free reign to create…invent. And that’s where some of my best pizza creations were born. The one thing we didn’t have there was our own pizza dough. Yeah I know, they choose to buy their dough and shells. However this girl, when I made pizza at home, it was always homemade dough.
So back to this pizza and the shop. We’d sell a variety of pizzas as well as hoagies. Now we had calzones, strombolis and wedgies. Before I go on, let me explain the difference of those. A calzone is pretty much a pizza that has the ‘stuff’ only one side and then rest of the crust folded over top. It’s half-mooned shaped and baked. A stromboli is kinda like a calzone but not. The dough is stretched thinner and the filling with dough is rolled. A wedgie is made like a calzone with one exception. Instead of pizza toppings it’s anything that goes on a hoagie goes inside of the dough. Then when the wedgie is done it’s cut open and the inside is filling with condiment toppings – lettuce, onion, tomatoes and so forth.
This, this is one of those pizzas I’d make that wasn’t on the menu but honestly was such a popular item. It was cooling being a pizza shop with a ‘private’ menu. The menu that was kept on the down low. Every Saturday I’d open up the pizza shop, this was my go-to lunch. Sure I’d mix up the toppings – grilled steak/mushrooms/onions or turkey/bacon/club but it was always a pizza meets hoagie marriage.
These days my weekends are filled with errands, recipes and photo shoots. I tend to not eat real meals for breakfast or lunch as I’m so busy working. I just end up snacking or picking at what I’m shooting. However when I make these, this deserves a time out and my sitting at the table with a chair. This doesn’t deserve my standing up, eating this over the counter like I tend to do with most foods while I’m working.
For this recipe I make my own flatbread pizzas. They are super easy and honestly the shells freeze beautifully! I personally recommend doing that but I won’t judge you if you buy pre-made. Well, not too much anyway *wink*. LOL For the ham I personally like the Virginia Baked ham. It’s not a watery ham like others however this one holds up beautifully when it’s grilled. And the cheese. As you can see I went with a mixture of mozzarella and provolone. I like that combination with pizza. It’s a good balance. And for me I kept it simple and went with chopped lettuce. If you prefer you can use onions and tomatoes. And the thing that makes this all work together is the Italian dressing.
This pizza you can make on traditionally pizza dough where it’s chewy and the like but I’ll be honest the flatbread works best. It’s crispy and more personal sized. This pizza is perfect for your next football game party, poker night, game night with the family or because it’s Friday night. When you make it on flatbread like this and cut it into finger food sized strips you can have a slice in one hand use the other to hold your cards or cheer on your favorite team.
My goal with this recipe is start giving you more pizza recipes since, after all, that is my most favorite food ever. As you’ve seen I have a bunch of pizza recipes on here but I want to give you more selections, choices. So dish… what are you favorite types of pizzas? Toppings? Do you prefer a specific type of crust?
PrintGrilled Flatbread Ham & Cheese Hoagie Pizza
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Ingredients
- 4 Grilled Flatbreads *using this recipe or store bought
- 8 ounces thinly shaved Virginia Baked Ham
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1 cup shredded provolone
- 2 cups chopped iceberg lettuce
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 cup Italian dressing
- chopped tomatoes *optional
- chopped red onions *optional
Instructions
- Follow the directions to make your own Grilled Flatbreads.
- Lightly brush either an indoor or outdoor grill with oil and preheat to medium.
- Mix together the 2 cheeses; set aside.
- Atop each flatbread brush a thin layer of Italian dressing.
- Evenly divide the ham over top of the flatbreads extending almost to the edge.
- Add a quarter of the cheese mixture over top each flatbread and sprinkle with a quarter of the oregano.
- Drizzle on a teaspoon of Italian dressing over top.
- Place on the grill, close the lid or if you do not have a lidded grill, cover with foil to encapsulate the heat.
- Grill for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the grill, garnish with the lettuce and additional Italian dressing (if desired).
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