Perfect Cheese Sticks

Mmmm...pizza.  I saw a statistic the other day that said Americans eat an average of 43 slices a year.  In this family, we are unashamedly blowing that number out of the water.  We make pizza almost every weekend.  It's fun, somewhat healthier than ordering in, and it can be a great way to use up the week's produce.  Veggie pizza, anyone?  We had these adorable baby eggplants that we roasted up before putting on our pizza last weekend.

I bought these solely on the fact that they were cute.  They were great blended with the other ingredients on our pizza.  I tried them in a pasta dish as well.  Verdict:  I don't like eggplant.  Lesson learned: don't buy produce just because it's little and cute.  Here's a peek at our roasted eggplant and chicken Italian sausage pizza:

Pizza has a friend, though, that it can't go anywhere without.  That friend is cheesesticks.  Who doesn't love a big [greasy] order of cheesesticks from their favorite pizzeria?  I justify making them by saying we need to eat both in order to stretch the pizza into two meals. 

Look how bubbly and golden brown!  To make great cheese sticks--or great pizza for that matter--you must start with a great crust.  Here's  a link to the recipe I use.  Once your crust is prepared, brush it with a tablespoon or so of butter that you have melted with some garlic.  Then top it with mounds of mozzarella, Parmesan, or whatever kind of cheese you like.  Bake it on a preheated pizza stone at 500 degrees for about 8 minutes.  And there you have it! 

P.S. The garlic butter goes great on the pizza, too.