Cooking with Kids: Quick and Easy Pizza Sandwich Recipe

Our kids love to cook—and cooking with kids is a wonderful way to teach reading and math skills while encouraging them to try new foods and learn valuable, real world life skills.  If your house is like ours, lunch time sometimes requires a little mom (or dad) creativity!  This recipe is actually based on one created by my mother-in-law long ago.  It was one of those quick, easy, and cheap recipes that used an assortment of items on hand and took only minutes to make.  These pizza sandwiches are a favorite lunch recipe that the girls make with their dad whenever we have the ingredients.  We love pizza sandwiches because the girls are able to create their own, individual lunch with little mess and fuss--and no need for special "crust" ingredients!

Ingredients for a Quick and Easy Pizza Sandwich

• 4 Slices of Bread (Use whatever sandwich bread you have on hand!  We use whole grain bread and it is actually sturdier against the sauce in this recipe idea!)
• 4 Slices of Cotto Salami or Large Pepperoni
• 8 Tbsp. Pizza Sauce or Marinara Sauce (We ALWAYS have leftover marinara sauce and it works fine for these sandwiches.)
• ¼ c. Each of your Favorite Pizza Toppings (We usually use black olives and mushrooms—but, this is a great way to use up extra chopped peppers, onions, tomatoes or really any favorite pizza veggie.)
• 4-6 Tbsp. Shredded Mozzarella or Italian Blend Cheese

Instructions for Cooking Quick and Easy Pizza Sandwiches with the Kids

Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Pan.  Preheat oven to 375F.  Line a cookie sheet or pizza pan with aluminum foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

Build the Pizza Sandwiches.  Place the sandwich bread onto the lined baking pan.  Spoon two tablespoons of pizza or marinara sauce onto each slice of bread and spread to cover the bread to the edges.  Lay out the salami or pepperoni on a cutting board and create four radial sliced from the edge toward the center—taking care to not slice the meat in half.  Place the meat on the sauce covered bread.  Top with a heaping tablespoon of shredded cheese and sprinkle on your favorite pizza toppings.  Our girls get pretty creative with this step—making black olive smiley faces or random shapes and designs. 

Bake the pizza sandwiches and serve.  Bake the sandwiches for 7-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted, and meat begins to curl slightly along the edges.  Serve with salad, fruit and milk.  Sometimes the girls fold the sandwiches into contained, half-sandwiches--or simply pick them up and eat them as open faced pizza sandwiches.  T