Pizzette with Fontina, Tomato, Basil, and Proscuitto

One of our Iron Chef alum is moving to Wisconsin...boo...so we had a going away party in her honor. The theme was cheese and wine. Yum. But, I decided to bring a little appetizer to the party. After all, cheese isn't the most filling food in the world. I perused a couple of my cookbooks before settling on this recipe from Bon Appetit. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to put the prosciutto on the pizza but they still came out pretty tasty. I also used Trader Joe's pre-made pizza dough which definitely saved me some time. I also used a biscuit cutter to make little round pizza bites. Overall, I thought this was quite a tasty little appetizer. I will definitely make the next time I need to bring an appetizer to a party! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 13.8 oz refridgerated pizza dough
3/4 c grated Fontina cheese (about 3 oz)
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 c thinly sliced fresh basil
1 1/2 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, coarsely torn into strips

Preheat your oven to 475. Lightly sprinkle rimmed baking sheet (or pizza stone) with flour. Next, roll out the dough on a floured surface and use a 2 1/2 inch cookie or biscuit cutter to cut the dough rounds. Arrange the rounds on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the Fontina cheese on the rounds. Divide equally. Next, place 2 tomato quarters on each round, pressing gently into dough. Sprinkle tomatoes with grated Parmesan cheese. Place in the oven and bake for about 12 minutes or until the cheese is a golden color. Remove from the oven and drizzle with olive oil and then top with the basil. Then, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Drape prosciutto strips over. Serve immediately.

Bubble Up Pizza

While I generally love to cook, there are sometimes those nights where I’m just not feeling it. I’m not sure if it’s just because of a long day of work, or if I’m just in a funk, but on those nights Steve is usually subjected to me whining (and wine-ing) and we end up either ordering pizza or eating whatever we can find in the fridge (generally hummus and pita chips for me). So, when I find a recipe that looks as easy as this one for Bubble Up Pizza (from Pass the Sushi), I’m definitely game to try it. Especially when it’s what I like to call a “Stir & Plop” recipe. Just stir together the ingredients and plop them into a dish. Super easy.

But, here’s the unfortunate news. It ain’t good.

I mean, pizza is pretty hard to mess up, but this recipe made a valiant effort and, in the end, triumphed. There was hardly any flavor. It was soggy. It didn’t even smell good, and it offended the eyes. Overall, there were no redeeming qualities, and I don’t recommend making it. But in the spirit of experimentation upon which this website was built, I am posting it so this never happens to anyone else.

Ingredients

2 containers refrigerated biscuit dough

1 jar/can pizza sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1 cup pepperoni (or other favorite toppings)

5 fresh basil leaves

Check out the directions on the dough and preheat accordingly. Take out a bowl, and cut your biscuit dough into small pieces. Divide each biscuit into four, which is about the right size. I used scissors to cut up the biscuits, which I think was easier than a knife. Pour in the sauce and add 3/4s of the cheese plus whatever topping you like. Kroger was inexplicably out of pepperoni, so we went with plain cheese. Stir this all up together, and then put in a baking pan or oven safe skillet. We used a cast iron skillet.

Mince the basil and sprinkle on top, along with the remainder of the cheese, then bake according to the directions on the dough. Because we used the cast iron, we ended up increasing the bake time quite a lot. Basically, just make sure the dough is cooked.

There you have it. Hopefully you can understand why I was attracted to the ease of this recipe. But as they say, if it’s not hard, it’s not worth doing. Or in this case, easy come, easy go—straight into the trash can. 

(no printable recipe because, seriously, you don't want to make this.)

Red Sauce, White Sauce: Two Homemade Pizzas

Pizza, man. I mean, what can you say about pizza? There’s a reason why there are millions of pizzeria’s out there. It’s just one of those beloved foods with such a variety of ways to make it that everyone has their favorite. We eat more than our fair share of frozen or delivery pizzas, but over the long weekend I decided to try my hand at homemade. I really wanted to try a white pizza, but Steve definitely prefers a red, so I made both. I got the dough recipe from Savoring the Thyme, the red sauce I adapted from a recipe on The Kitchn, and the white sauce was a garlic cream sauce I found on Simple Comfort Food. This might seem like a lot of work, but it was actually much simpler than you would think.

DOUGH

1 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried herbs
3 cups all-purpose flour

I probably will try another dough recipe when I make pizza in the future. This dough was good, but it wasn’t particularly memorable. I think it could have used more salt. Steve thought it needed a hint of sweetness. If you do make this dough, start it about two hours before you need it. Put the lukewarm water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let that sit for five minutes or so until it gets frothy. Mine never got really frothy for some reason, but I went ahead anyway and it was fine. Add the olive oil, salt and herbs and stir. I used an Italian seasoning mix, but you could just do half basil and half oregano if you prefer.

Incorporate the flour slowly, stirring between additions to make sure it is completely soaked up. I started with a cup, then did half cups from there. Once you’ve added all the flour, knead the dough a few times until it’s smooth (don’t be afraid to flour your hands generously). Then put it in a greased bowl, cover it lightly with saran wrap, and let it rise for an hour or more until you’re ready to make your pizzas. I like to put mine in the microwave to rest. Once it’s risen, punch it down and divide it in two parts. Using flour to keep it from sticking everywhere, roll the dough into pizza shaped circles. Or toss it in the air if you’re daring and don’t mind a floury mess on your floor.

RED SAUCE

Garlic Cloves

Olive Oil

Hunt’s Tomato Sauce (about 20 oz)

1 Tbs Tomato Paste

½ cup water

½ Tsp Black Pepper

1 ½ Tsp Salt

½ Tsp Marjoram

1 Tsp Thyme

1 Tsp Basil

¼ Tsp Cayenne (optional)

Mince the garlic (as much or as little as you want) and lightly sauté it in olive oil in a saucepan. Then add the tomato paste and stir that up for a minute or so. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir, letting the flavors develop over medium heat. Don’t let it boil or you’ll have a big mess.

WHITE SAUCE

1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 tbsp olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1/4 cup of 2% milk

1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated

Generous pinch of salt

Generous pinch of black pepper

Very small pinch of red chili flakes

Melt the butter and olive oil in a skillet. We actually used the same skillet that we used to cook up sausage for the topping, which added some good flavor. Saute the garlic over medium heat for a quick minute then add the cream and milk. Stir and bring it to a light boil, then add the rest of the ingredients. It will thicken quickly (keep stirring!) so you need to stay on top of it and pull it off the heat when it does. Try to time this sauce up so you are ready to use it fairly quickly.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees using a pizza stone if you have one. Then prep your toppings. We used cooked ground sausage, thinly sliced onions, and mushrooms on both pizzas (mozzarella cheese on the red pizza only), but obviously you can use whatever toppings you fancy. Wow, that was British of me, wasn’t it?

Carefully put your dough on your hot pizza stone and spoon on your sauce. I suggest making the white pizza first if you are doing both. Then add your toppings and pop it in the oven for around 15-18 minutes. Take it out when it looks good. I mean, you know what pizza should look like, right? Slice it up. Let it cool. Eat it. One thing I can guarantee is that it will definitely taste better than any pizza you can get delivered. 


(Click here for printable recipe)

Margherita Pizza

There was a time when I was 12 years old, and I didn’t like pizza. That’s right, folks. A 12 year old kid didn’t like pizza. To be honest, I can’t really remember why I stopped liking pizza. I remember I stopped liking ketchup once because I had gotten hives, and it was right after I had eaten McDonald’s French fries with you guessed it; ketchup. I made up my mind then that I would stop eating ketchup for fear I might get hives again. But, quitting pizza? I don’t get it. I was a weird kid. I think it was a year or two later when I decided to eat it again, and of course I loved it. It’s been a love affair ever since. Of course, you might find it funny that even though I love pizza I only eat cheese pizza. I’m sure BBQ Pizza is great. I’m sure Meat Lovers is pretty special, too. But, for me it’s all about the sauce, the dough, and the cheese!!!! Recently, I stumbled across this recipe from savory seduction’s blog. Her pictures make the pizza look yummy. Plus, I love basil. So, I printed it out and made it this weekend. The key is having a pizza stone and a pizza peel. I had to go out to Target to buy a pizza peel for only $10. I have to say I loved the dough. It was perfection. My only complaint was I thought the basil was a bit over-cooked. But, overall this was a definite homerun. Enjoy!

Pizza Dough Ingredients:
2 cups flour ( I needed more for dusting and to help the dough be less sticky)
1 package Active Dry Yeast
1 cup warm water (105-110 degrees)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Addition flavorings such as garlic powder/salt, dried basil, dried oregano (optional)

Pizza Toppings:
Fresh Mozzarella
Fresh Basil
Sea Salt
Fresh Black Pepper
Anything else you’d like to add

To make the pizza dough, first grab your mixing bowl and add the yeast, the warm water, and the sugar. Stir. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes until proofed. It should appear puffy and the yeast should be dissolved.
Take your mixing bowl and put it on your mixer, with your dough-hook in place, mix the flour, the yeast mixture, the salt, and EVOO, along with any extra flavorings ( I added about an 1/8th of tsp garlic salt) to the bowl. And mix at medium-high speed for 10 minutes. I added more flour as it mixed just so it wasn’t super sticky. The dough should eventually fling cleanly away from the bowl, and you’ll know it’s ready then. Take a large bowl and coat it with cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm oven (around 85 degrees) for an hour or so until the dough has risen. I waited about 2 hours and it rose nicely.

While the dough is rising you can gather your ingredients together. Also, if you want to make a homemade marinara sauce now is a good time. I make my own by taking a small can of tomato sauce (flavored or not) and I add a bit of salt, minced garlic, dried oregano, dried basil, a little sugar, and dried cilantro. I just eye-ball it. Warm it over low heat.

Once the dough has risen, remove from oven. Turn the oven to the highest setting around 500 degrees. Place your pizza stone in the oven.
About 10 minutes later, get your pizza peel nicely floured. Roll out your pizza dough into a circle shape. You really need to make sure the pizza peel is nicely floured at this point otherwise the dough will stick to it when you transfer it to the stone. Add your tomato sauce, add the mozzarella, add your basil.
Once the pizza stone is nice and hot (I waited about 20 minutes) transfer the dough to the pizza stone and place in oven. Cook for about 5-10 minutes. You may want to rotate it half way thru so it cooks evenly. Cook until nicely golden-brown and the cheese is melted. Enjoy!


(Click here for printable recipe)

Pizza Puffs

Pizza is practically a religion in our family. We probably eat it at least once a week. Ok, maybe two times. Or more. Don’t judge. Anyway, when I saw that this appetizer managed to get all the delicious flavor of pizza into a two-bite package, I knew it would be a winner. It’s such an easy recipe, and it’s infinitely customizable—just like a pizza. I started with the basic pepperoni, but you could sub in any kind of meat, cheese, or veggie you want to make your perfect pizza puff! I found this recipe on Susi’s Kochen Und Backen Adventures, via Tastespotting. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

4 ounces pepperoni cut into small cubes

Your favorite pizza or marinara sauce for dipping

Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees and spraying a 24 mini-muffin pan (or two 12s, like I did). Whisk together the flour and baking powder, then whisk in the milk, egg, salt and Italian seasoning. If you want to add any other kind of seasoning, now would be the time. Then add the cheese and pepperoni and stir (don’t whisk… I made this mistake and the whisk plus pepperoni and cheese doesn’t really work.) Now portion them out into the cups. I decided to sprinkle just a little more mozzarella on the top of the cups (you could use any cheese) to give it even more of a brown crust. Cook them for about 22 minutes and serve with microwaved marinara or pizza sauce. It’s just the thing to satisfy your occasional (or not so occasional) pizza craving!

(Click here for printable recipe)

Peach and Prosciutto Pizza

I have recently acquired a lot of free time, so much free time that I decided I would dabble a little in the kitchen. I visited the beautiful Carter's Mountain over the weekend which means I picked TOO many peaches. I thought if I picked my own ingredients it would make the whole cooking thing a little more interesting.


Better Homes and Gardens' August issue had an article titled "50 Ways to Eat a Peach". I started the cooking lesson by making peach mojitos since everyone knows cooking is a little easier with a tasty drink. The mojitos were a disappointment, they were just way too bland. Next I tried my luck making peach salsa and it was way too hot (maybe I shouldn't have used two jalapenos...hey, I'm learning). After feeling like Goldilocks looking for the perfect porridge, I began my final attempt with peaches and worked on a pizza.


The ingredients:
Store bought pizza crust
Peaches
Mozzarella
Prosciutto
Garlic
Oil
Balsamic Vinegar


BHG had this idea in their magazine, but I couldn't find the cheese they listed or fresh arugula, so I went with my own ingredients and still followed their general idea. You can read all about eating peaches at this link: www.bhg.com


Follow cooking directions on pizza crust for baking temperatures. Roll out the pizza crust and cover with olive oil. I also spread some garlic on the crust because pizza isn't pizza without garlic. Place thin slices of peaches on the crust. I used only one peach. Cover with cheese. Lay thin pieces of prosciutto on top of cheese and then cover with more cheese. Bake in oven until cheese is crispy.


Finally- something delicious! I thought the pizza was the perfect balance of sweet and salty without one flavor being overwhelmed by the other. The best part is that this dish is such a simple, easy, and quick recipe to finish. I am a beginner and I was able to complete all of the steps without a problem.
If you are trying to teach a 12 year old how to cook or playing in the kitchen with your four year old this is perfect. If you are an adult cooking, this would be a great appetizer for a summer cookout.


(Click here for printable recipe)

Mystic Pizza

One of my favorite movies of Julia Robert’s is Mystic Pizza. The movie revolves around a family of sisters who own a pizza shop and go thru heartache, happiness, and sadness. The pizza in the movie is one of the stars as well. Thus, this particular recipe is called: Mystic Pizza. This recipe actually came out of the Cooking Light edition back in 1998. I remember trying it for the first time in our home in Brandermill. My mom made it for us and I just loved it. I brought this recipe back to life about 3 years ago, and have continued to make it since. It’s a very easy recipe and it really doesn’t take long to make. Trust me don’t be scared of creating your own dough. It’s really easy and if you use the Fast Rise yeast as opposed to the Active Rise yeast it will go even quicker. And, I’ve never added cornmeal to this recipe. What also makes this recipe fun is that you can choose any ingredient you want to top the pizza with, and you can experiment with the tomato sauce. I have stopped putting fennel, red pepper flakes, and I’ve never added fresh cilantro in the sauce. I use dried basil, oregano, and cilantro. I add a bit of sugar and salt to the tomato sauce as well as a clove of garlic and it’s really good. Though, their recipe is great, too.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 package quick-rise yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 cup warm water (105° to 115°)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons cornmeal
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• 3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Normally, I use rapid yeast, which makes this process so much easier. Basically, you put one pouch of yeast into a bowl, lightly spoon 1/4 cups flour and level it with a knife, pour in the sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, lightly pour in the olive oil, and then pour in the warm water. Stir quickly until it forms a soft dough.
Sometimes I add just a little bit of flour so it isn't too wet. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. It says to knead until smooth and elastic which is about 10 minutes. I usually only do it for about 5 minutes and it turns out just fine. Again, I have to add some flour just to make sure it doesn't stick too much to my hands when kneading the dough. Next, place the dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray; turn to coat the top. I cover it with some plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm oven (85°) for about 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Take out the dough, and punch your fist into it. Then roll it out onto a floured surface. Then place onto your pizza pan. Crimp the edges if you like and let the dough stand for 10 minutes covererd. I usually skip that part, too.
Preheat oven to 450°.

Punch dough down; roll dough into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place dough on a baking sheet or 12-inch pizza pan coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges of dough to form a rim. Let dough stand, covered, 10 minutes.

In a small sauce pan, I add a clove of garlic, a small can of tomato sauce, some salt, some oregano, cilantro, basil, and pepper, and I cook for about 10 minutes until the sauce is very warm. I skip the fennel seeds and I use dried herbs. Spread sauce over pizza crust; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden. Remove pizza to cutting board; cut into wedges.

(Click here for printable recipe)