Recipe (for dogs): Friday Playdate Pizza

In her 2013 cookbook, “Home Cooking For Your Dog: 75 Holistic Recipes For a Healthier Dog” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), behavioral nutritionist Christine Filardi, founder of BowMeowRaw, offers suggestions for homemade cooking for your furry companion. She presents “Sunday Morning” viewers her recipe for Friday Playdate Pizza.

She writes: “Every Friday evening during the summer, I have a tradition at my house. I invite my friends and family over for pizza and wine on the porch, to watch the sunset and enjoy the nice summer evening. Over the years, this has also become a great opportunity to get all our dogs together, too. Since I love making my own pizza, I came up with this easy dog-friendly recipe so the dogs could join in the Friday night fun, too.

“The pizza comes out best if you have a baking stone since this allows the crust to cook evenly, but if you don’t have one you can use a cookie sheet and your dog probably won’t complain.”

Friday Playdate Pizza
Makes 2 servings for a 50-pound dog

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked grits
1 pound ground beef
8 ounces canned unseasoned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
½ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Coat a pizza stone or baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Prepare the grits according to the package directions and set them aside to cool for about 20 minutes. You should have about 2 cups of cooked grits.

Using a spatula, evenly spread the cooked grits onto the greased pizza stone or baking sheet. Evenly spread the beef on top of the grits to make the second layer. Next, add the artichoke hearts and top with the cheese.

Bake the pizza for 10 to 12 minutes, until the meat is browned.  Remove from the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes.

Chop the pizza into bite-size pieces. 

To make one serving, refer to column 1 of the feeding chart below, and measure in cups according to your dog’s weight.  Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. 

From “Home Cooking For Your Dog: 75 Holistic Recipes For a Healthier Dog” by Christine M. Filardi, with Dr. Wayne Geltman, DVM, published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang. Reprinted with permission. 

For more info:

Check out the “Sunday Morning” 2024 “Food Issue” recipe index