Ben's Mac & Cheese Pizza

Hello on the 23rd day of the Vegan Month of Food, and the second day of my Parks and Recreation theme week (and another perfect match for Mac-and-Cheese Monday).

Ben's Mac & Cheese Pizza

In "Jerry's Retirement" (season 5, episode 20), Leslie and Ben were supposed to have a day off together, but right as they were leaving, Jerry got up to say his good-byes. No one had remembered that Jerry was retiring that day, so no celebration had been planned. Instead of having a day off, Leslie becomes determined to help Jerry achieve the goals he'd had when he first started working for the government (and only briefly gets distracted by her excitement for Ben's dinner plans, video clip here and dialogue below).

Leslie: I just can't let Jerry leave here with nothing and go home to an empty life.

Ben: Well, I'll help with anything, just promise we'll do it quickly. I'm making us a mac & cheese pizza for dinner...

Leslie: Mac & cheese pizza?! (gets up from desk)

Ben: Yeah... (looks nervous)

Leslie: You're making that?! (heads around desk to Ben)

Ben: Yeah... (smiles)

Leslie: Huhhh! (starts making out with Ben)

I figured that it must be some pretty good pizza to get that kind of a reaction, so I wanted to try making it myself.

For the mac & cheese:

I used the mac & cheese recipe I posted about last Monday: Hot Dog with Mac & Cheese.

For the crust:

I simply took out the leftover second dough from the fridge and let it sit for 30 minutes before spreading it out on the greased baking tray and baking it for 9 minutes at 425°F. (For instructions on making the dough using the Bob's Red Mill mix, see this post from Friday: Pizza.)

After removing the crust from the oven, add the mac & cheese atop the crust spoonful by spoonful, spreading it out. Add some shredded Daiya mozzarella, pepper, and garlic salt on top. Put pizza in oven for 9 minutes. Remove, allow to cool slightly, slice, and serve (I had some baby carrots and potato chips on the side.)

The mac & cheese pizza was a bit messier to slice and eat than regular pizza. It was good, though I don't know if it's something I'll make again. (I think I prefer more traditional pizzas.) But all in all, it was yummy and fun.

Bonus quotes from the episode:

Jerry: (reading from plaque) Jerry Gergich Memorial Conference Room. R.I.P. (confused look)

Ben: Oh, the guy at the plaque store thought you had died. It was a rush job, so we didn't have time to change it.

Leslie: It doesn't matter; we can just pretend it means “retire in peace.”

In other news, today is Celebrate Bisexuality Day (also known as Bi Pride Day and Bi Visibility Day)! 

image from: http://taskforceblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/bi_pride_graphic.jpg

Mystery briefly got into the spirit by modeling this fun scarf.

Peace. :)