It’s safe to say that pizza is one of the most popular meal options at Elizabethtown College. It’s available for most of the day every day at the Marketplace and Jay’s Nest, and there are plenty of restaurants around town that offer pizza. But, you’d be out of luck if you ever found yourself craving it outside of each of those locations’ normal operating hours. So, here’s a quick and simple recipe for making pizza right in your dorm for any upcoming nights you might be up late studying for finals.

First, gather your ingredients. You’ll need tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and any other toppings you enjoy, like pepperoni, bacon or peppers. You’ll also need a base for your pizza. This can be a bagel, which is almost always available to grab from the Marketplace, pita bread or even rice cakes.

Once you have everything you need, use a spoon to scoop tomato sauce onto your pizza base and spread it out. Add as much or as little as you like, but make sure you leave at least half an inch around the edge of the base to serve as the crust and keep the sauce from dripping off the side. Sprinkle on cheese and additional toppings to your liking.

Then, place the pizza onto a microwave-safe plate and microwave it on high for about 30 to 45 seconds. Once the cheese is beginning to melt and the sauce is starting to bubble, it’s ready. Let it cool for a few minutes, then enjoy!

This recipe was very fun to make. I tried it using a bagel and again with some rice cakes. The bagel version came out pretty good, though I missed the crispiness of a real pizza crust or even traditional pizza bagels made in an oven. The rice cake had a nice crunch, but was lacking a little in flavor. I tried adding some extra cheese and a few additional slices of pepperoni to make up for it, but I still felt that they were missing something. 

Since I’m a bit of a picky eater, I decided to only use pepperoni as a topping, so I can’t say for certain how well a topping like peppers or olives would cook in the microwave. You may have to steam them in the microwave for a bit first before adding them to the pizza.

Regardless, this recipe is definitely worth a try if you’re looking for a quick bite to eat that will help to fuel you through your hard work.