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Posts Tagged ‘pizza’

Pizza with Peaches, Basil, and Goat Cheese

Posted in Easy Weeknight Meals, Main Dish, Pizza, tagged , , on August 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

This pizza came about when I had a peach that needed to be eaten on a night when homemade pizza was the dinner plan. I didn’t have a specific recipe in mind and got to thinking that the peach might just work on the pizza. One of my favorite pizza recipes is this one with pear and gorgonzola, so I knew how delicious a fruit pizza could be. I added some goat cheese because I pretty much can’t resist anything with goat cheese. A sprinkling of fresh basil after the pizza is baked brightens up the flavors.

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Pizza with Peaches, Basil, and Goat Cheese

Printable Recipe

Makes 1 pizza

Ingredients:

  • 1 ball white or whole wheat pizza dough
  • Olive oil, for brushing the crust
  • 5 oz. (about 1 1/2 cups) grated mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 peach, pitted and thinly sliced
  • 1 oz. goat cheese
  • Small handful fresh basil, cut into ribbons

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven with a pizza stone inside to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
  2. Roll out the pizza dough to a 12-14 inch round and place on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet (for easy transfer to the baking stone). Lightly brush the crust with olive oil.
  3. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the dough and then the walnuts. Arrange the peach slices on the pizza and crumble the goat cheese on top.
  4. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Transfer the pizza on the parchment paper to the baking stone in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, until the cheese and crust begin to brown. Remove the pizza from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before sprinkling with fresh basil and serving.

Source: Kristine’s Kitchen

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Spinoccoli Pizza

Posted in Main Dish, Pizza, tagged on May 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

I can’t believe I waited so long to try this pizza. With how often we eat homemade pizza in our house (pretty much weekly), I definitely should have tried this recipe sooner. I’ve wanted to ever since I first saw it posted on Annie’s blog, which was over a year ago. Well, now that I’ve tried it, I can say with certainty that I will be making it again soon, and often.

It’s amazing how such a simple combination- a little bit of white sauce, some tiny pieces of broccoli (which roast up beautifully as the pizza cooks), a bit of spinach and some cheese- can produce such a delicious pizza. But you don’t have to take my word for it, try it for yourself. Just try not to wait as long as I did before you really do!

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Spinoccoli Pizza

Printable Recipe

Makes 1 pizza

Ingredients:

For the white sauce:

  • 1 tbsp. butter
  • 1 tbsp. flour
  • 3/4 cup milk (I used 2%), cream, or half-and-half
  • 1 clove garlic, smashed
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 6 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For the pizza:

  • Pizza dough
  • Olive oil, for brushing
  • 1/2 cup packed baby spinach leaves, torn
  • 1 cup very small broccoli florets
  • 2 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
  • Grated Parmesan

Directions:

  1. To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until bubbling and light golden, about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk or cream and garlic, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from the heat and whisk in the grated Parmesan until completely melted and smooth. Discard the garlic clove. (Note: This will make a bit more sauce than you need for the pizza.)
  2. To make the pizza, preheat the oven with a pizza stone inside at 500 degrees F for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round. Place dough on a sheet of parchment paper, placed on a baking sheet (for easy transfer to the pizza stone). Lightly brush the outside edges of the crust with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of the white sauce over the dough, leaving a border clear around the edge for the crust. Sprinkle the torn spinach leaves over the white sauce. Evenly distribute the broccoli florets over the dough. Sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Finish with additional grated Parmesan, if desired.
  3. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Transfer the pizza on the parchment to the preheated pizza stone and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the crust is lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Source: Annie’s Eats.

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Pizza with Portobellos, Spinach, and Goat Cheese

Posted in Easy Weeknight Meals, Main Dish, Pizza, tagged , on February 28, 2012 | 1 Comment »

I’m always looking for new pizza recipes, as homemade pizza is such an easy and versatile meal, especially if you already have balls of pizza dough ready in your freezer. I love mushrooms on my pizza, but had never tried a recipe with portobello mushrooms. Lately I’ve also been loving the flavor that goat cheese brings to a dish, so when I saw this pizza with portobellos, spinach, and goat cheese, I immediately put it on our weekly menu.

This pizza was delicious. It had tons of flavor from the portobellos, along with some garlic and goat cheese. The spinach is placed underneath the cheese, which I’d never done before but it worked so well. It didn’t dry out the way that it can when it’s placed on top of the pizza, and you can put a lot of spinach on and hardly know it’s there. Hidden nutrition is never a bad thing, right?

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Pizza with Portobellos, Spinach, and Goat Cheese

Printable Recipe

Makes one 14-inch pizza

Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp. olive oil
  • 1 (4 to 5-inch-wide) portobello mushroom, stems and gills removed and brushed clean, sliced 1/4-inch thick
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 ball of whole wheat pizza dough
  • 1 cup pizza sauce*
  • 1 cup fresh spinach, torn into pieces
  • 1 1/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 5 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese (about 1 ounce)
  • 2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

*You can use store-bought pizza sauce or your own homemade recipe. I made an easy no-cook sauce for this pizza by combining 1 cup tomato sauce, a pinch of red pepper flakes, a little bit of dried basil and oregano, a pinch of salt, and a minced clove of garlic. It was delicious!

Directions:

  1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, place a baking stone on the rack and heat the oven to 500 degrees F. Let the baking stone heat for 30 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp. of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the portobellos, cover, and cook until wilted and wet, about 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until the mushrooms are dry and browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper to taste and transfer to a bowl.
  3. Turn the ball of dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and roll into a 14-inch round. Transfer the dough to a rimless baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  4. Lightly brush the outer 1/2-inch edge of the pizza dough with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Spread 1 cup of pizza sauce over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the edge. Sprinkle pizza with the spinach, mozzarella, goat cheese, Parmesan, and portobello mixture.
  5. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees. Slide the parchment paper and pizza onto the hot baking stone. Bake pizza until the edges are brown and the cheese is golden in spots, 8 to 13 minutes.
  6. Remove pizza from the oven, slice, and serve.

Source:  slightly adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

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Pizza Bites

Posted in Appetizers, Snacks, tagged , , , on January 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Pizza Bites

These pizza bites are the perfect appetizer to serve at a casual get-together. I’ve made them for both New Year’s Eve and Super Bowl parties, and recommend making a double batch if you’re feeding a crowd because they disappear quickly! I filled my pizza bites with slices of pepperoni and mozzarella cheese, but you can get creative and use your favorite pizza toppings. The pizza bites are great served with some homemade pizza sauce for dipping, too.  Throwing or attending a Super Bowl party?  Then please make some of these pizza bites to enjoy and share.  You’ll be glad you did.  :)

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Pizza Bites

Printable Recipe

Makes 20-24 pizza bites

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 batch pizza dough (enough for 1 pizza)
  • 4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed (about 20-24 pieces)
  • Sliced pepperoni

For topping:

  • Olive oil
  • Italian seasoning
  • Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or cake pan.
  2. Divide the dough into 20-24 roughly equal sized pieces. Take on of the dough pieces, top with a slice or two of pepperoni and a cube of cheese. Pull the edges of the dough around the fillings and pinch closed. Place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.
  3. Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Serve warm, with dipping sauce as desired.

Recipe from Annie’s Eats, inspired by Chaos in the Kitchen

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Pizza Sauce

Posted in Pizza, Sauces, tagged , on January 24, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Pizza Sauce

While I’ve been making homemade pizzas for years, pizza sauce is something that I’ve never thought too much about. I used to buy pizza sauce at the store, but didn’t like paying $4 for something that I only used a small amount of, and that wasn’t that good to begin with. Recently I’ve just been using a can of plain tomato sauce as pizza sauce, topped with a sprinkling of Italian seasoning if I was feeling fancy. But now that I’ve tried this homemade pizza sauce, I’m sure that I’ll be taking a few extra minutes to make my pizzas that much better.

The sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated, saving you time when you’re ready to assemble your pizza. This recipe makes more sauce than you need for one pizza, and while I haven’t tried it yet, I’m sure that it would freeze well. Just freeze pizza-sized portions individually and defrost as needed. Homemade pizza sauce also works well as a dipping sauce, and next I’ll be sharing an appetizer that’s perfect with this sauce.

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Pizza Sauce

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. dried basil
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (or 2 tsp. if you want more heat)
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow to cook for at least 15 minutes. Once finished cooking, remove from the heat. If you prefer a smoother sauce, use a potato masher or immersion blender to break up the chunks of tomato. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats.

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Greek Pizza

Posted in Easy Weeknight Meals, Main Dish, Pizza, tagged , , , , , , on July 11, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Greek Pizza

Homemade pizza makes it onto our menu pretty much every week. I recently made this Greek Pizza for the first time and it immediately became one of our very favorite versions of homemade pizza. We’ve made pizza three times in the past month, and all three times it was this Greek Pizza. And right now, looking at the photo of this pizza, I’m wishing it was on the menu for tonight instead of the pasta dish that I have planned.

Sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, red onion, spinach, and feta, on top of cheese, tomato sauce, and homemade pizza dough? Delicious.

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Greek Pizza

Printable Recipe

Makes one large pizza

Ingredients:

  • 1 ball of pizza dough
  • A few spoonfuls of tomato sauce
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Handful of black olives, sliced
  • Handful of fresh spinach, torn into small pieces
  • Half of a small red onion, finely sliced
  • A few sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
  • Crumbled feta

Directions:

  1. Preheat a pizza stone in a 500 degree oven for at least 30 minutes. Place a piece of parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll out your pizza dough, and place it on the parchment.
  2. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the pizza dough and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Top with olives, spinach, red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta.
  3. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Transfer the pizza to the oven by sliding the pizza and parchment onto the baking stone. Bake until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 7-9 minutes.

Recipe adapted from A Couple Cooks

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Pear, Gorgonzola, and Walnut Pizza

Posted in Easy Weeknight Meals, Main Dish, Pizza, tagged , , , on July 16, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Pear, Gorgonzola, and Walnut Pizza

If you have never had pizza topped with pear, Gorgonzola cheese, and walnuts, you have been missing out. I don’t know what it is about this flavor combination, but it is fabulous on pizza. We’ve made this for dinner guests at least four times, and each time it’s been met with rave reviews. Have I convinced you yet that you need to make this pizza? :)

When I plan our weekly meals, I include a homemade pizza night about every other week. It is so easy to make your own pizza dough, and I like having control over the ingredients. Pear, Gorgonzola, and Walnut Pizza is a regular in our homemade pizza rotation.

Pear, Gorgonzola, and Walnut Pizza

Makes 1 pizza

Note: I do not measure my pizza toppings when making a pizza, so all measurements are approximations. You can modify the topping amounts to suit your tastes.

Ingredients:

  • 1 rolled out pizza crust, on parchment paper (see recipe here)
  • 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
  • About 3/4 of a Bosc pear, sliced thin (or any kind of pear you prefer)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped chives

Directions:

  1. Place a pizza stone on rack in lower third of oven. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
  2. Top pizza dough with mozzarella cheese, pear slices, walnuts, and Gorgonzola.
  3. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Slide the pizza onto the heated pizza stone (you can keep the pizza on the parchment paper). Bake pizza about 8-12 minutes, until the crust edges brown and the cheese is golden brown in spots. Remove pizza from oven and sprinkle with chives.

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Pizza with Pesto and Tomatoes

Posted in Main Dish, Pizza, Sauces, tagged , , , , on June 9, 2010 | 5 Comments »

Pizza with Pesto and Tomatoes

We have made this pizza three times now and it is quickly becoming one of our favorites. The recipe was inspired by a pizza that we enjoyed at a local pizza restaurant. I love the pesto as the pizza “sauce;” it is the perfect match for pizza crust. Tomatoes and pine nuts (and of course cheese) finish off the pizza. Enjoy!

Pizza with Pesto and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

  • 1 rolled out pizza crust, on parchment paper (see recipe here)
  • About 1/2 cup pesto sauce (recipe below)
  • Mozzarella or monterey jack cheese
  • 1 tomato, sliced
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts

Directions:

  1. Place a pizza stone on rack in lower third of oven. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
  2. Spread pesto sauce onto rolled out pizza dough. Top with desired amount of cheese, tomato, and pine nuts.
  3. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Slide the pizza onto the heated pizza stone (you can keep the pizza on the parchment paper). Bake pizza about 8-12 minutes, until the crust edges brown and the cheese is golden brown in spots.

Pesto Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts
  • 2/3 cup (2 oz.) grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3 cups loosely packed fresh basil
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

With food processor running, drop garlic through the feed tube to chop. Add pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and basil; pulse until finely chopped. Add olive oil in a steady stream while the processor is running and blend until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 1 1/3 cups (We used less than half of this on the pizza. We tossed the rest of the pesto with whole wheat penne pasta the next night. Yum!)

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Pizza Dough

Posted in Pizza, tagged , , on June 7, 2010 | 6 Comments »

Pizza Dough

*Updated 7/11/11 to reflect a few changes that I think improve the recipe and resulting pizza crust!

Brad and I have been making homemade pizzas for many years now, and we have tried many different pizza dough recipes.  This recipe is our clear favorite.  It calls for bread flour rather than all-purpose. The bread flour gives the pizza crust that chewiness and crispness that we all want.

The recipe makes two balls of dough for two large pizzas. Since we only need one pizza for the two of us, I usually freeze one ball of dough. To freeze, just lightly coat the dough ball in flour and place it in a zip top bag in the freezer right after kneading it (before letting it rise). The day before you want to use the frozen dough, place it in the refrigerator. Take it out of the refrigerator 2-4 hours before you need to assemble your pizza (the cold dough will take longer to rise).

This pizza is a simple vegetable pizza with tomato sauce, monterey jack, cheddar, and Parmesan cheeses, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and red onion as the toppings.

Pizza Dough

Printable Recipe

Makes 2 balls of dough (enough for 2 large pizzas)

Ingredients

  • ½ cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
  • 1 envelope (2 ¼ teaspoons) instant (rapid-rise) yeast
  • 1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cups (22 ounces) bread flour, plus more for dusting work surfaces & hands (all-purpose flour may be used, but the resulting crust will be less crisp)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt

Directions

  1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup.  Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes.  Add the room-temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
  2. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix briefly to combine.  With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the wet ingredients and continue mixing until a cohesive mass forms.  Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook.  Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
  3. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a large oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
  4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and punch down to deflate it.  Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form each piece into a smooth, round ball.  (If desired, one ball of dough may be frozen at this point.)  Cover the dough with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let rest for about 10 minutes before shaping.
  5. To bake, preheat a pizza stone in a 500 degree F oven for at least 30 minutes.  Place a piece of parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll out your pizza dough, and place it on the parchment.  Top your pizza as desired.
  6. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees.  Slide the dough onto the heated pizza stone, using the baking sheet to help with the transfer (I just put the parchment paper and pizza directly onto the pizza stone). Bake until the crust edges brown and the cheese is golden brown in spots, 8-12 minutes.
  7. Cut the pizza into wedges and serve immediately.

Recipe from Baking Illustrated


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