Lunch Lady Square Pizza
For many folks school lunches don’t bring up happy memories of eating good food. But, if your school experience was anything like ours then there were a few stand-out lunch items that really were very good, despite the bad reputation that school food has. One of our favorite school lunches was that rectangular pizza. It was never topped with pepperoni, but instead has a mixture of sausage and ground beef that made these pizza slices unique.For this recipe you’ll start by making the dough. This mixture is made from flour, oil, and yeast, as one would expect. But, this dough has an unusual ingredient that we don’t normally see in pizza dough recipes: powdered skim milk. This ingredient was a staple in school cafeteria kitchens as it had a long shelf life and added body or flavor to many a recipe. And, we think that powdered milk is what gives the dough that same flavor that we remember from childhood.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup non-fat dry milk powder
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 packet quick-rise yeast ¼-ounce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1⅔ cups warm water
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ pound Italian sausage
- ½ pound ground beef
- 1 12-ounce jar pizza sauce
- ¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- pepper to taste
- 8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475˚F.
- Grease an 18” x13” x ¾" rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper.
- Microwave water for 30-60 seconds until just warm, about 110°F. Do not overheat.
Make the dough:
- In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, milk powder, sugar, yeast, and salt.
- Add the vegetable oil to the warm water and stir, then add to the flour mixture and stir just until a dough forms.
- Pour the dough into the pan and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.
Prepare the crust:
- Spread the dough to the edges of the pan. Make sure each corner is covered and that dough is an even thickness all around.
- Pre-baake the crust for 6-8 minutes.
Top the pizza and bake:
- While crust is baking brown the sausage and ground beef over medium heat, breaking up the meat into as small of bits as possible with a spatula or spoon.
- Top the crust with pizza sauce, Italian seasoning, and pepper.
- Add the meat on top in an even layer.
- Sprinkle the cheese on top of the meat and return the pizza to the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is beginning to brown and bubble.
Slice and serve:
- Slice into roughly 5”x6” rectangles and serve immediately.