Caprese Pizza

I thought I was making margherita pizza, but it turns out traditional margherita pizza doesn't have fresh tomatoes on it. No matter! It's caprese pizza, then! No matter what you call it, it's delicious and beautiful.

Notes: Don't skimp on the tomatoes here. Go for the super fresh and flavorful ones. I would have used heirloom tomatoes, but the store was out. I wouldn't try to use small tomatoes like cherry or grape. You'd need a lot of them and you'll have trouble slicing them thin.

You want to make sure to get the excess liquid off the mozzarella and the tomatoes before you bake the pizza. Make sure to pat the mozzarella dry before you slice it and lay the tomato slices on paper towels.

The mozzarella will cook more evenly if you let it come closer to room temperature before you bake the pizza, so take it out of the fridge early.

The fresh basil goes on after the pizza is done. It gives the added freshness. Also, the basil may burn in the oven if you add it before you bake the pizza. If you plan to have leftovers, only sprinkle fresh basil on the pieces you're going to eat that night. Put the rest in the fridge and then sprinkle it on the leftover pieces after you heat them.

Ingredients:
1 ball homemade pizza dough
1 large or 2 small tomatoes
1 large or 2 medium balls fresh mozzarella
2 small bunches of basil leaves
Your favorite store bought pizza sauce
Dried basil
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Heat oven to 525. Position one rack at the top and one rack at the bottom. Take the mozzarella out of the fridge.

Thinly slice the tomato and lay each slice on a few paper towels to get rid of excess liquid. Lay a paper towel on top.

Pat the mozzarella dry with paper towels and thinly slice.

Roll the pizza crust out and put it on a foil-covered pan or pizza stone. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce over the dough. Lay the slices of mozzarella evenly on the dough. Top with the tomato slices. Season with salt, pepper, and dried basil.

Bake for 8 minutes on the bottom rack and 8 minutes on the top rack until the crust starts to turn golden brown and the cheese starts to brown and bubble.

While the pizza is cooking stack up the basil leaves and cut them into a chiffonade.

When the pizza is done, sprinkle the fresh basil on top. Serve and enjoy!

Zucchini Pesto Pizza

Well, spring is starting to show up here in Philly, so it's time for me to come out of hibernation!

Some friends of ours were in town last weekend, so I decided to do some cooking. Pizza makes for great casual entertaining food, so I made two: one traditional pepperoni (Scott's favorite) and a vegetarian option. It was delicious, if I do say so myself!

Notes: I neglected to take a photo of this one since we had guests!

The crust for the zucchini pizza was a mostly whole wheat crust because I happened to have some white/wheat flour to use up. I don't really prefer it for pizza crust because I think it comes out too dry, but the flavor paired nicely with the homemade pesto.

I used havarti instead of the traditional mozzarella for this pizza. Havarti melts beautifully and you don't get the excess liquid that you can occasionally get with fresh mozzarella.

If you have a mandolin, you can make quick work of the zucchini. I have one, but mine is such a pain to clean and store, I just used a knife.

You can slice the zucchini and make the pesto ahead of time if you're using this recipe to entertain.

Ingredients:
1 ball of homemade pizza dough
Some homemade pesto
1/2 a medium-sized zucchini
Approximately 5 oz of havarti cheese

Directions: Position the oven racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500. While you're waiting for the oven to heat, shred the cheese and thinly slice the zucchini.

Roll out your pizza dough to your desired size and shape (I used a regular round pizza pan).

Spread the pesto on the pizza (reserve some for garnish). Cover the pizza evenly with a layer of cheese. Lay the zucchini slices on top of the pizza.

Bake the pizza on the bottom rack for 8-9 minutes and then move the pizza to the top rack for 8-9 more minutes until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown just slightly. Top the pizza with the reserved pesto. Slice and enjoy!

Eggplant Pizza

Happy New Year, everyone!

People usually resolve to eat healthier in the new year, which means finding more ways to eat vegetables. Eggplant is an overlooked vegetable, so resolve to eat more of it this year.

Notes: Eggplant contains a lot of water, so you need to get some of that out before you put it on the pizza. I salted mine so it would drain and then patted it dry several times.

 If you wanted some extra flavor, you could grill the eggplant first. You'd need to slice it a little thicker.

I liked the way the eggplant turned out, but I think next time I might brush it with olive oil. I might also add some fresh basil on top when the pizza is done.

I made a whole wheat crust for some added nutrients.

Ingredients:
1 ball of homemade pizza dough
1 ball fresh mozzarella
1 cup of your favorite pizza sauce (we have Vesper Brothers up here, so that's what we used)
1/2 a small eggplant

Directions:

Heat the oven to 500. Position one rack at the top of the oven and one at the bottom.

Thinly slice the eggplant. Salt both sides of each slice and lay them on a cooling rack or in a colander. Let them sit for 45 minutes to an hour. Liquid will start to leech out. Pay them as dry as you can and set aside. Tear the mozzarella into small pieces.

Roll out the dough and lay it on a pizza stone or round baking sheet. Spread sauce evenly around the dough.  Scatter half the mozzarella around the pizza. Add the eggplant and then top with the rest of the cheese.

Bake for about 20 minutes, 10 minutes on the bottom rack and 10 on the top rack. Slice and enjoy!

Shaved Asparagus Pizza with Roasted Garlic Oil

Our plans were a bit thrown off last week when our landlords decided they would update our furnace, duct work, and water heater with only 15 hours notice. The dogs can't be in the house when workmen are here, so we had to go out of town very quickly. Home is just about the only place you can go on such short notice, so that's where we went.

While we were at home, I made a pizza crust for my dad. It looked so good, I decided I needed to make pizza when we got home.

Notes: I tried a different method for making pizza crust this time that I learned from Smitten Kitchen: pizza crust in the fridge. It worked great, with a big caveat: make sure you let it sit out on the counter for at least an hour before you deflate it and bake it. Mine didn't come to room temperature before I baked it and it did not get as crispy as I like it. Otherwise, it's a nice method. You can make the crust in the morning before you go to work, put it in the fridge, and it's ready when you get home.

Shaving asparagus is a bit difficult. It works a little easier if you lay the asparagus on the cutting board and run your peeler over it. It'll break and some pieces will be thicker than others, but no worries.

I tweaked this recipe from Smitten Kitchen only slightly.

Ingredients
1/2 bunch of asparagus spears
1 large or 2 small balls of fresh mozzarella
Roasted garlic oil (recipe follows)
1 homemade pizza crust (recipe here)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Directions:

If you're using the fridge pizza dough method, in the morning, make the pizza crust as normal. After you put the dough in the oiled bowl, instead of placing it on the counter, put it in the fridge for about 8 hours. When you're ready to bake, let the bowl sit out on the counter for an hour before you deflate it and roll it out.

When you're ready to bake, heat the over to 475. Arrange the racks in the oven with one at the top and one at the bottom.

While you're waiting for the dough to rest, shave the asparagus by laying the spears on a cutting board and "peeling" them like you would a carrot or potato. Put the shaved pieces in a bowl, season them with salt and pepper, drizzle them with olive oil and toss. Set aside.

Dice the mozzarella into small cubes. Roll out the pizza dough and brush it with roasted garlic oil. Spread the cheese out and then spread the asparagus on top. Bake for 8-10 minutes on top rack and them transfer to the bottom rack and bake 8-10 more minutes until crispy and bubbly. Slice up and enjoy!

Roasted garlic oil:
1 head garlic
1/4 cup olive oil plus more for drizzling
salt
pepper

Heat oven to 400. Slice the top off the head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap the head in foil and bake directly on the oven rack for 1 hour.

Pour 1/4 cup of oil in a small skillet and heat on medium. Squeeze the roasted garlic out the skin and into the skillet. Stir, breaking up the large chunks of garlic. Heat the oil for about 10 minutes. Use as desired.

Homemade Pizza, Take Two

Hoo boy. Am I ever behind on posting recipes!

Remember when I made homemade pizza for the first time? Boy was it good. What could be better than a recipe for homemade pizza crust? Well, an updated version of said pizza crust would be good (camera battery ran out, so none of my terrible photos for you).

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour (unbleached preferred)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons raw sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 heaping tablespoons herbs de provence
1 cup lukewarm water
1 packet dry active yeast.
1 cup of your favorite pizza sauce
1 ball fresh mozzarella
8 slices of sandwich style pepperoni

Directions:

Start with the dough. Add flour, salt, sugar, olive oil, herbs de provence, water, and yeast to a bowl. Mix it together with your hands, stirring at first and then switching to kneading. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and knead into ball. Wipe your bowl out with a paper towel and oil your bowl. Roll your dough ball around so that it's coated, then cover it with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let it rise for 2 hours.

When the 2 hours is up, heat your oven to 450. Dump your dough out onto a floured surface and press the air out. Shape it back into a ball and let it sit under the bowl for 20 minutes. Then roll it out (start from the middle pushing outward, do a quarter turn, roll out from the middle again, repeat) to a 12-inch circle.

Lay it out on your pizza pan (dust a little cornmeal on there if you want). Spread the sauce out over the dough, add your pepperoni. Thinly slice your mozzarella ball and lay the slices on top.

Arrange your oven racks in bottom third and top third of the oven. Start on the bottom and bake for 10 minutes. Move it to the top and bake for 10 more minutes. Slice and enjoy!

Homemade Pizza

Happy 4th everyone! It's been awhile since I've put up a recipe. We've been traveling for the past two weeks. We're home now, so it's back to the kitchen for me!

Smitten Kitchen has inspired me to do many things. One of the biggest is making my own dough. I admit; I am kind of baking-phobic. So much measuring! So many possibilities for things to go wrong! But, there's no time like the present to conquer one's cooking fears. In light of that, I decided to try my hand at homemade pizza.

And it wasn't scary at all.

One of the best things about Smitten Kitchen is that she stresses the idea that home cooks have been making dough for centuries without the use of fancy equipment. The fancy equipment, of course, makes the work a little faster. But, if you have a tiny kitchen (like me) and most of your nice cooking equipment is in storage (like me), you don't have to give up on making things from scratch. With that in mind, let the adventure begin!

The only tools I used were a bowl and my clean hands. I don't even have a rolling pin (it's in a box too), so I had to sort of push the dough into a circle-ish shape. It doesn't get much easier than that!

Notes: This pizza was fabulous. It turned out great and I got to enjoy the extra satisfaction of being proud of myself for making it from scratch. The only things I would do differently next time would be (a) add a little more liquid because the dough seemed on the dry side and (b) roll it out with an actual rolling pin. My pressing method worked fine, but the crust was a little uneven in places.

I made my own sauce as well because, if you're going to go, might as well go all the way. I like to sneak vegetables in my sauce whenever I can. The carrots give this sauce a layer of sweetness that would normally require adding sugar. Healthy and delicious? Be still my beating heart!

If you're pressed for time, this probably isn't the recipe for you. It does take anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours for the dough to be ready to put in the oven. But for a weekend night? What could be more fun than homemade pizza?

Ingredients: This dough recipe is adapted only slightly from this one. I doubled it to make a doughy rather than thin crust.

For the dough:
3 cups total flour (1 1/2 white, 1 1/2 wheat)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 packet dry active yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons olive oil

For the pizza sauce:
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups grated carrot
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon each of dried parsley, basil, and oregano
1 1/2 tablespoons of onion powder
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt
Pepper
Pinch red pepper flake

Directions:

Let's do the sauce first. You could make it ahead if you wanted to and just pull it out of the fridge when you're ready. This sauce makes enough for two pizzas, so you can save the other half in the freezer for the next round.

Grate the carrots first. Add olive oil or butter to the pan and turn the heat to medium. Saute the carrots until they are really tender. You want them to kind of disappear in the sauce a little.

Add your garlic and dried herbs. Then add the tomatoes. You might need to add just a little water if the sauce is too thick. Add the fresh herbs last. You can chop them up like I did, or you can just drop the sprigs in and fish out the stems when you're ready to put it on the pizza. Simmer for at least 20 minutes, but longer is even better if you have the time (and patience) to wait.

Now for the fun part!

Gather the dough ingredients and dump all of them in the bowl (no finesse required). Stir everything together as best you can with your hands. The dough will start to form a loose conglomeration of dough bits.

Not pretty

Dump that ugly mess onto a floured surface. Knead it for a minute or two until it starts to look like dough.  One of the tips I learned from Smitten Kitchen is to put the bowl on top of the dough if you're finding kneading difficult. Just let it sit in time out for a few minutes.

My dough needed a few minutes to think about what it had not done.

Come back, knead some more until it looks like a nice ball.

Much better

Oil your bowl (the very same one you used for mixing; just wipe it out with a paper towel) and put the dough ball back inside. Roll it around in there so it's nicely coated. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for an hour or two until the dough ball is double its original size. If you have a warm spot in your kitchen, put it there and it will get done faster for you. Since I live in Louisiana, every spot in my kitchen is warm.

Once the dough has doubled, dump the dough back out on the floured surface. Press the air out with your fingers and fold it into a ball again. Let it sit under the plastic wrap for 20 more minutes. Now is the time to preheat your oven. You want high heat. I used 475.

Now it's time to roll it out! I have no rolling pin, so I used a "press and turn" technique.

What? It's kind of a circle. 

Put the dough on a baking sheet. I happen to have a round one, but you can use any shape you have. If you have a pizza stone, use that. Put on your toppings.

We're a pepperoni household, so that's what we used. I also had some cotija cheese from when I made black bean tacos, so I put that on the pizza. It was great.

Getting ready for the big bake.

Put the pizza in at 475 for about 15 minutes. I started mine with the oven rack towards the top and then moved it down about halfway through. It came out perfect.

You cannot imagine how good this smells.

Who wants a slice?