6 posts tagged “pizza”
Husband was required to take lunch into the office today. I've been told there's some sort of summer lunch rotation schedule. I live for these type of activities! As much as I enjoy it, it is a bit stressful. In a group of 12 or so people, there's bound to be a picky eater or two. Luckily, I'm not used to dealing with a finicky eater on a daily basis (it was one of my must-not-have's in a husband).
We decided on vegetable pizza as one of the menu items. Who doesn't love this pizza? It's basically a cheese ball on a croissant with a few veggies thrown in to make it appear healthy. I guess if you're not a vegetable person this could be a problem. Just shake them off. Or seriously, learn to like them! Vegetables are good for you. (Stepping off soap box).
In addition to making the huge pizza for the office, I made a personal size one for myself. It is a bit large for one person. I'd like to think it's not all going to be eaten today, but when you're home by yourself these types of things can happen...
Vegetable Pizza
(This recipe came from my Mom. Not sure where she found it).
(makes one 10x15 jelly roll pan, plus a little extra)
2 cans crescent roll dough
2 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese
1/3 c. mayo (or miracle whip if you like that tang)
1/3 c. sour cream
1 t. dill weed
2 T minced green onion
1 t. garlic salt
1 c. shredded chedder cheese
assorted vegetables chopped finely (I think I had about 4 cups)
Spread out crescent dough in the bottom of a jelly roll pan. Press seams together, so that the entire bottom of the pan is covered and there are no cracks. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. Cool.
Mix together cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, dill, onion, and garlic salt. Spread out evenly on baked/cooled dough.
Top with cheese and vegetables. Press lightly to set into the cream cheese.
Serve.
Caught a mouse. We assume he had been living with us for about a week and a half. We know because we saw it run across the kitchen floor. Eek! After a couple of different types of traps and a few days later, he was caught. Husband had left for work super early that morning, and didn't check the traps. I woke to find little mouse legs peeking out of the trap, much like the Wicked Witch of the East under Dorothy's house without the striped socks. I had two cups of coffee before I was able to do anything about it. It wasn't so bad. I was a big girl. I disposed of his body, and couldn't help but think of the cute little rat from last year's hit movie, Ratatouille. I wonder if our little intruder had been helping me out in the kitchen, just like Remy helped Linguini. Somehow my situation didn't seem as endearing.
Have you lost your appetite yet? This Ratatouille Tart from Food Network's Ellie Krieger was delish! Of course, I made a few minor adjustments. Had a whole wheat/oatmeal pizza crust in the freezer that I had previously made, so I used that instead of making a new crust. I also mixed up the veggies a bit. I used, eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes, garlic, red onion, and marinated artichoke hearts. It was light and tasty.
Pizza Grocery List
Red onions
Artichoke hearts
Goat cheesePepperoni Pancetta
This was really a great pizza. Besides the pancetta and three different cheeses (goat, parmesan, and mozzerella), the carmelized red onions made this pie spectacular.
When husband said it would take 1 whole hour to carmelize the onions, I thought he was crazy. He followed the Joy of Cooking recipe. An hour later, they were the best carmelized onions I've tasted. I ate my words and this pizza!
So it seems every Sunday night after a weekend of indulgence, we make a pact. Monday we're starting a diet. We have such good intentions, but it never works. I was determined, however, this week to make it stick.
So when it came time for lunch on Monday, I thought, it's just wasteful not to eat my Italian leftovers. I'll eat the pasta, with tomato cream sauce, and then the diet will start. I'll make a healthy dinner and won't tell husband I fell off the wagon for lunch.
I decided to make a summer pizza using portabella mushroom caps as the crust. It turned out pretty tasty. Although from the photo, I'm sure you would agree that it doesn't look much like pizza.
Here's what I did:
Summer Pizza
Season and Saute:
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 small yellow bell pepper, thinly chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
Poach and shredd:
4 chicken breast tenders
Mix above ingredients with:
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 T crumbed feta cheese
Grill:
3-4 portabella mushroom caps until slightly tender and set aside.
Brush mushrooms with white truffle oil. Place a mound of veggie mixture on each mushroom cap. Place 1 T. shredded cheese (I used monterey jack) on top of each pizza. Broil or grill until cheese is melted.
Serves 2-3.
We ate our healthful dinner. Not able to keep a secret, I decided to confess my fatty lunch. Husband smiled and confessed his fatty lunch as well. :) There's always tomorrow.
Pizza night.
This came from Gourmet Magazine's Everyday cookbook. This was delicious! Husband agreed. If you need a change from your regular pepperoni, check this recipe out.
For you folks at home, it's available online at epicurious. White Bean, Tomato, and Goat Cheese Pizza I made just a couple of changes to the recipe:
1. Made my own crust and cooked it for 5-10 minutes before putting the toppings on it.
2. Carmelized the onions first.
3. Replaced rosemary with basil. We don't like rosemary.
4. My greens weren't baby.
I had to chuckle when I saw their photo. My pizza looks nothing like it. A little more rustic. :)
In the effort to make it more healthy, I usually use a pizza crust recipe that uses whole wheat and oat flour. I have recently come to find out that husband doesn't like my regular pizza crust too well.
I've been eyeing for quite some time White-Truffled Grissini from Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras: Recipes for Divine Indulgence. I don't usually have all of the "divine" ingredients for the recipes from this book, but I had just come into some white truffle oil. I decided to use this dough. Instead of making grissini, I would make pizza.
White-Truffled Grissini (Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras: Recipes for Divine Indulgence)
3/4 c. warm water
1 t. active dry yeast
3 T white truffle oil, plus more for brushing
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. kosher salt
Cornmeal for dusting
Pour water into the bowl of a heavy duty mixer and sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.
With the machine fitted with the paddle attachment and running on low speed, beat 1 T of oil, 1/3 of the flour, and the salt into the yeast mixture. Add another T of oil and then another third of flour, then the remaining 1 T oil and remaining flour to make a soft dough.
Switch to the dough hook and knead dough for 10 minutes on low speed. (I added another 1/3 c. of flour). Brush medium bowl with truffle oil, add the dough, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until tripled in size, 2 - 3 hours. (I did not have this long. Only 1 1/2 hours for me).
(This is where I shaped into pizza crust and proceeded as normal).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and press the dough into a rectangle about 4 by 14 inches. Using a pizza wheel or a knife, cut a cross to divide the dough into 4 pieces. Cut each section of dough into 5 long pieces. Stretch and roll each strip of dough on your work surface with open flat hands into a round stick about 14 inches long. If the dough is sticky, lightly flour your hands, not the work surface.
Place the grissini on two cornmeal-dusted baking sheets and brush them with truffle oil. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, rotating pans back to front once during baking, or until light brown. Let cool on rack.
The verdict? Both of us liked the crust. Husband could taste a definite truffle influence, I couldn't tell much difference. (I might have been a bit desensitized by the very strong odor of the oil while making the crust).
