Oh my goodness, these are amazing! I’m not just saying that from an adult culinary point of view either. I made these for 8 kids, age 20 months to 5 years old and even the 5 year old who supposedly hates everything gobbled them up. The best part is that the “crust” is a vegetable (not more bread), but they look just like pizzas.
The big bonus is that they took me no time to prepare and I had barely any clean up. I was kind of scared the kids would say “wait, this isn’t REAL pizza,” but not a word. Happy kids make happy mommies. What could be better?

Portobello Pizzas (4 Big Kids)

1 15 Oz Can Tomato Sauce
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/4 Tsp Thyme, Basil and Oregano
1 Tsp Salt
4 Portobello Mushrooms, stems removed (wiggle the stem back and forth gently to remove)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a bowl to combine.
2. Preheat the oven the 400 degrees.
3. Place a piece of foil on a cookie sheet and brush lightly with olive oil.
4. Place the mushrooms stem side down on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. If there’s a lot of excess liquid on the cookie sheet, discard.
5. Place the mushrooms stem side up, cover with 2-3 tablespoons of tomato sauce and 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese.
6. Bake the mushrooms for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
7. Serve.

I can’t even begin to tell you how incredible this sauce tastes. So good, in fact, that when I finished pureeing it, the weelicious team stood over the food processor eating spoonful after spoonful. Wait, wasn’t the sauce supposed to be for Kenya?
I don’t know if it’s the particular mix of vegetables, the fact that all the produce comes straight from the farmers market or the that everything is roasted and caramelized in the oven, but whatever the reason, the taste is amazing. It’s so good that you could easily serve this recipe to a 10 month old as a puree minus the tomatoes (you don’t want to give them to babies under 1 year in case of allergies).
Plus, it only took me minutes to prepare, which is always great when you have a a million things going on.
The vibrant colors in the vegetables create a sauce so rich and visually beautiful, the uses for it are endless. It’s so versatile you could spread it on toast, fish, chicken, pasta….or just eat it on a spoon like Kenya and I did.

Roast Vegetable Sauce (2 Cups)

1 Small Eggplant, cubed
1 Whole Garlic Clove
1 Tomato, cut into 6 wedges
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Cup Carrots, chopped
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce
Pasta (I used tortellini filled with parmesan cheese from Trader Joes, but any pasta your little one enjoys will work)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a large glass dish dish or cookie sheet and combine. Make sure all of the vegetables are evenly coated with oil.
3. Bake for 45 minutes.
4. Cool for several minutes.
5. Place the vegetables in a food processor with the tomato sauce and puree until smooth.
6. Toss some of the sauce with pasta and serve.

Kenya’s up to his 5th word and it is the cutest thing. Every time he sees something out of the oven or if the water is on, he looks at me with big eyes and says “hot, hot, hot”. When I handed him his first pizza bagel, he could see the cheese just out of the oven bubbling and of course he uttered, “Hot”!
I made 12 of these and Kenya enjoyed them so much, he even wanted to eat them at breakfast.
These pizzas are super simple to prepare and incredibly economical. Why bother buying pizza sauce for $3 when you can make it for less then $1. The best part is that you can refrigerate all the ingredients separately and have them on hand for 2 weeks. These are guaranteed winners for little ones!

Mini Whole Wheat Pizzas (Makes 12 Mini Pizzas)

1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 Tsp Italian Herbs
6 Mini Whole Wheat Bagels, split in half
3/4 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Stir the tomato sauce and herbs in a bowl to combine.
3. Place the bagels on a cookie sheet and coat each one with sauce.
4. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the mozzarella.
5. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Cool and serve.