It's the time of the year when there never seems to be enough time and the to-do list is ever-growing. So that means it's time for another in the Weeknight Shorts series. This time, your slow cooker brings you a new twist on chicken and dumplings. Instead of creamy chicken and veggies swimming with tender dumplings, it's getting a pizza makeover:
This idea was my daughter's. I make a similar slow cooker chicken and dumplings dish and she took a look at it and said we should do that, but with pizza. I have no idea if this is actually what she had in mind when she said that, but I put this one together and she had seconds … so I'm calling that a thumbs-up!
Now, I bet you know what I'm going to say. Yep — you can tweak what you add according to pizza loves. Add peppers instead of pepperoni. Add anchovies instead of olives. Mix it up with different kinds of cheese. The result is amazing and it takes so little of your time, you'll be packing up your slow cooker to bring along to picnics, potlucks, and the ball park all summer long!
Slow Cooker Pizza and Dumplings
- 1 quart tomato sauce — choose your favorite variety
- 1 (6 oz.) pkg. pepperoni
- 1/2-1 c. cooked, crumbled Italian sausage
- 1/4 c. sliced black olives
- 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced into thin wedges
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 can refrigerated biscuits, cut into quarters
- 1 c. shredded cheese — choose your favorite variety
Combine the tomato sauce, meat, olives, onions, and Italian seasoning in the sleeve of your slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 6 hours.
Stir in the quartered biscuits and sprinkle the top of the mixture with the shredded cheese. Cook an additional 2 hours. Serve in bowls.
- Yields: 6-8 servings
- Preparation Time: 15 minutes, plus 8 hours slow-cooking