Pulled Pork Pizza

Last week I made a crock pot pulled pork with my husband's homemade BBQ sauce.  Of course, we dove in and I totally forgot to take pictures and then totally forgot to ask him what went into his fab BBQ sauce.  So, no blog post to document the awesome dinner (although I will say, BBQ pulled pork on fresh, soft egg challah rolls may not be kosher, but holy awesomeness for the mouth).  We did however have a TON of leftovers.  Then along came Jenn with her Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza.  Thank you Jenn!  This pizza is inspired by Jenn and the BBQ Chicken Pizza at California Pizza Kitchen.  It was delicious.

Link to my husband's BBQ sauce recipe from Eating Well here.

1 whole wheat pizza dough
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 cup shredded pulled pork
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, chopped
5 oz monterey jack, shredded

Heat oven to 500.  Prepare pizza stone or pan with cornmeal or olive oil.  Spread dough.  Cover with BBQ sauce, pulled pork, pepper, onion and cheese.  Cook to desired doneness.  That's it.  Easy!

Thankfully, the kids really loved this one.  My son didn't even pick off the pepper.  Progress!  Thanks again for the idea Jenn.

Deep Dish Pizza - RC Week 4

Awww, say it ain't so.  Last week of my self-imposed recipe challenge.  If we make it through this week with five recipes, it will be a success.  Gee, maybe I can stick with things?

This week will require some tweaking here and there as I am using Street Food Chicagoas my guide and let me tell ya, there's a whole lotta calories going on in Chicago.  Whew!  But wow, yummy stuff in this book.  Had trouble narrowing it down to just five, so we may have six this week as well.  My thanks goes out to Pam for hosting the giveaway where I won this fabulous cookbook!  I'm so happy to finally use it.

First this week, and you probably knew I'd have to do it, pizza.  Chicago style deep dish pizza.  Believe it or not, I have never had the pleasure.  Although I did eat at a Pizzeria Uno once or twice in my life.  :)

This recipe required a trip to Chef Central to pick up a deep dish pan which I've been wanting anyway (for super big cakes) so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience.  And if you are ever in New Jersey, I highly recommend a visit to Chef Central.  It's the most awesomest cooking store ever!

Ok, on to the pizza.  I took a dough short cut and made some slight modifications which will be noted below.

2 lbs whole wheat pizza dough
1 lb chicken sausage, casings removed
1 lb part skim mozzarella
1 cup sauce
1/3 cup pecorino romano, grated

Heat oven to 475.  Brush deep dish pan with olive oil to coat evenly.  Spread dough and crimp 1 1/2 to 2 inches up the sides.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes.  Prick the bottom of dough with a fork about every 1/2 inch and back on bottom rack for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and drizzle more olive oil over dough.  Cover with mozzarella cheese, then tomato pulp.  Sprinkle with romano cheese and top with quarter sized pieces of sausage meat.  Bake on lower rack for 45-50 minutes.  Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
* Modifications
Recipe calls for a white flour dough and has a corresponding recipe in the book.
Recipe called for 1/2 lb. pork sausage but I'm saving my pork fat allowance for another recipe this week and wanted more sausage on the pie.
Recipe calls for a tomato pulp but I used my usual homemade version.  I highly suggest doing the pulp though because my sauce gave off a bit too much liquid.  The book's sauce indicates draining the tomatoes and two different stages during prep.

A hot (and yummy) mess

I think this would be a great meal to make for your sweetie this Valentine's Day.  Nothing says love like sauce and cheese dripping down your chin.  Enjoy!

Sausage & Pepper Pizza - Recipe Challenge Week 2

You know that if one of my chosen mags has a pizza recipe, I've got to try it!  Recipe #2 from Rachel Ray was another huge hit.  Well, a huge hit for the adults.  Kids took issue with the red pepper and ended up eating some leftovers from another night.  But this "pizza" was so flavorful that my husband and I both enjoyed two huge slices.  Leftovers went to work with him for two additional days.  This whole recipe challenge thing is making packing lunch so easy - and delicious.

So, here's the sausage & pepper pizza a la Rachel Ray (and prepped by my husband, it was his night afterall).

1 lb whole wheat pizza dough
1/4 cup EVOO
1 lb hot sausage, casings removed
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tbsp dry)
3/4 cup part skim ricotta
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Heat oven to 500.  Stretch pizza dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet (or pizza stone).

In large skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add sausage.  Cook, breaking it up, until no longer pink.  Remove from pan and pour off any grease.  In same skillet, add 2 tbsp olive oil and onion and peppers.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Season with salt, pepper and rosemary.

Scatter the sausage, onion and peppers across pizza dough.  Dollop with ricotta and sprinkle with parmesan.  Drizzle with remaining 1 tbsp olive oil.

Bake until crisp, about 20 minutes.

The result - remarkably tasty dinner!  Once again, pictures don't do this justice.  I will, at some point, work on my styling and photography.  This night though, I just wanted to take a bite.  A big bite!

Happy to have yet another pizza to add to my repertoire.

More Pizza

Shall I resolve for 2011 to not eat quite so much pizza??  Nah, no way!

Last night I did a slightly different version of the broccoli pizza which was dubbed Best. Pizza. Ever. by my husband.  I added some very, very thin red onion and sauteed that with the broccoli tons of fresh garlic, salt, pepper and pepper flake in a bit of olive oil before topping the pizza.  We opted to use some red sauce and a bit of pepperoni.  Not much as I wasn't sure we'd like the flavor combo.  But, we did!!  Next time it's pepperoni all over.  Cooked at 450 on a pizza stone.

The result - thin crispy crust with that slight nutty flavor from the whole wheat dough.  The broccoli onion mixture had a pretty decent amount of heat from the pepper flake and garlic which was super delicious.  I only managed to get a slice and a half before HE came home and devoured the rest.  Geesh!

Apologies for the crummy pics - I was in a hurry to eat.  Promise it was much more delicious than it appears here.

I haven't thought up any yet besides attempting to eat healthier, but do you have any resolutions for 2011 in the kitchen?

Best. Pizza. Ever.

Oh yes, oh yes, we've just had possibly the best pizza I have ever made.  Perhaps even the best pizza I've ever tasted!  And, it's got veggies on it.  I know, me and veggies and the best pizza ever.  Craziness!!  Who woulda thunk!!??

Anyway, I won't go into the whole pizza process as I've done that so many times and I don't really change is up much.  But I will list today's toppings and note the variations from my usual prep.

whole wheat dough
homemade sauce
low fat mozzarella, grated
1/2 head broccoli, steamed and chopped
1 medium onion, sliced and caramelized with olive oil, crushed garlic & butter
1 head garlic, roasted
Parmesan cheese, grated
red pepper flakes, to taste
salt & pepper, to taste

I did precook my dough for about 5 minutes before smearing it with the roasted garlic.  Mostly so it wouldn't tear.  Then I added the remaining toppings and cooked it at 500 until done.

The result was so far beyond my expectations.  The entire pizza was gone in minutes.  One warning though, let's just say that my husband kept the bed very warm that night.  :-P

Does anybody else have a pizza obsession?  I'm thinking of reincarnating the "pizza Fridays" from my childhood.

Pizza with an Indian Flair

I have a guilty pleasure.  Food Network television!  If the kids aren't otherwise occupying the tv, food network it is.  My husband and I got into Next Food Network Star again this season even though early on in the show I am so uncomfortable watching these poor contestants try to work in front of the camera.  I was Team Herb (hello, he's cute, personable, cute, buff and did I mention cute), but I knew Aarti would win as her theme was so interesting and very unique from other shows already on the network.

On the episode where the finalists had to film their pilot, I was so taken by Aarti's pizza recipe that I had to give it a go.  I don't care for prosciutto though, so mine uses shrimp.

The pizza tasted so incredibly good.  The spice is not a hot spicy, but a very subtle warm kind of heated flavor (if that makes any sense) which lingers a while after you've eaten, and I cannot begin to tell you how good the paneer tastes with the chutney sauce.  I highly recommend bringing these flavors together.  We will be using this again.

What was so exciting too about this pizza was working with new ingredients!!  I love picking up new stuff at the store to "play" with.  Here's what we have today:

I know, I know, homemade chutney is easy to make.  BUT, I've worked with mangoes before and have vowed never to do it again.  They are a total pain in the butt!  The paneer (which took trips to two supermarkets to find - I totally should've known to go straight to Whole Foods) freaked me out a bit as it does not melt so it resembled tofu.  But it browned nicely and had a wonderful flavor and texture.

Shrimp Pizza with Spicy Mango Chutney Sauce

whole wheat pizza dough
6 tbsp spicy mango chutney (I didn't make this myself)
2 cups tomato sauce (this I did make myself)
1 lb shrimp, cleaned and deveined and sauteed
1/2 block paneer, in pieces
1/4 tsp cumin
red pepper flakes, to taste
grated Parmesan cheese, optional
cornmeal for stone or baking sheet

Heat oven to 450.  Sprinkle cornmeal on your stone or baking sheet and spread the dough.  Let it rest and come to room temp.

To make your sauce, heat the chutney and tomato sauce over medium heat and stir to combine.  Top dough with your prepared chutney sauce and the sauteed shrimp.  As per a comment on my previous shrimp pizza post by Stephen C, I left them a tad undercooked so they will finish while the pizza cooks without getting rubbery.  Thanks Stephen!  Sprinkle on the paneer pieces and top with red pepper flake, cumin and parm (if desired).

Cook and eat!  Unfortunately my dough decided to stick to the stone today.  Badly.  In all my years of pizza making, this is a first.  I think I went too heavy on the sauce and it soaked through and stuck.  So please, heavily cornmeal your stones people and be careful with the sauce so you don't end up eating shrimp chutney pizza mash like we did.  Thankfully, it tasted good and I did manage to get two nearly perfect slices.

It's an adults only night so when I passed this wine at Whole Foods, I couldn't resist.  The name explains my life!  :)  Since I know nothing of explaining wine flavors, notes, etc., I'll just tell you I liked it.  And it was on sale.  Woohoo!

Also decided to try out a new chocolate.  The chocolate bar display at Whole Foods is so interesting.  So many neat flavors to try (similar to their immense wall o' nutrition bars).  This one is coconut curry in milk chocolate.  It was different.  Seriously, it tasted like the chicken tikka I had for lunch but yet there was a desserty quality to it.  Not sure I like it but I don't hate it.  I could still feel the curry on the back of my throat several minutes after I had a bite.

And there we have it.  I lovely, romantic dinner for two.  Only, the Mr. got stuck at work so I ate alone (and enjoyed every minute of it).

I'm anxious to see what the new Aarti Party has in store.  It is a great idea for a show - a little flavor of India in your everyday dishes and this recipe certainly didn't disappoint.  Guilty tv pleasures anyone?

Corn Tomato Pizza Revisited

I haven't been doing much original cooking and baking these days.  I just can't seem to find the time, motivation, etc.  So this weekend I decided to re-visit my Late Summer Pizza after picking up a few freshly picked ears of corn and some beautiful heirloom tomatoes at my local farmer's market.  I also added a bit more flavor this time around.  The results were delicious!

Corn and Heirloom Tomato Pizza with Crushed Garlic and Red Onion

1 round whole wheat pizza dough
1/3 lb reduced fat mozzarella, shredded
3 heirloom tomatoes of different colors, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, smashed
2 ears sweet corn, kernels removed
pinch cornmeal
red pepper flakes (optional)

Heat oven to 450 (or better yet, get yer grill ready)!  Sprinkle cornmeal on pizza stone before spreading dough.  Once dough is spread on stone, smear that yummy garlic paste all over it.

Top with 1/2 of your shredded cheese and layer on the tomato slices.  Add your corn kernels and top with remaining cheese.  Sprinkle red pepper flake over pizza and top with onion rings.

Throw in oven and cook to desired doneness.  I personally LOVE crispy edges and a thin crunchy crust.

The garlic on the dough really brought this to life.  I'm going to roast the garlic first next time to bring out a sweeter flavor.  Mmmmm, have I mentioned how much I adore pizzas?  LOL

Garlic Shrimp Pizza with Roasted Pepper "Sauce"

I saw something similar to this in Rachel Ray's magazine and have always wanted to give it a try.  Never met a pizza I didn't like.  This one is a whole wheat crust pizza topped with garlic shrimp and a roasted pepper sauce (or pesto) in place of the usual marinara.  Delicious!

1 whole wheat dough
16oz jar roasted red peppers, rinsed and drained
10 basil leaves
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 lb shrimp, cleaned and tails removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb reduced fat mozzarella, shredded
salt
pepper

Heat oven to 400.  Spread dough over pizza stone or baking sheet.  Meanwhile, pulse peppers, basil and 2 tbsp olive oil in food processor until it forms a sauce.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add minced garlic.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Add shrimp and cook until done.

Top pizza dough with sauce, shrimp and shredded mozzarella.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Topping with chopped basil is optional.  Don't fret over extra sauce.  This can be thickend up with some walnuts for use as a spread, or you can keep it as is and use as a dip or topping for any other protein/pasta you like.

Cook to desired doneness.

Healthy Kid Tip: I made an extra pizza for the kids.  Just a standard marinara and cheese, but I added 2 tbsp of the pepper sauce in with the marinara.  They didn't have a clue!

Mushroom & Shallot Pizza

Yup, we LOVE our pizzas around here.  So quick and easy.  You can turn almost anything into a pizza topping in my opinion!  This is one of my husband's favorites.

whole wheat pizza dough
low fat mozzarella, shredded
1 large tomato, sliced
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 large shallot, minced
1/2 yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
sea salt
ground pepper
red pepper flakes
basil leaves, optional

Heat oven to 400.  Not sure why I didn't use my pizza stone here, but oh well.  I coated the bottom of the baking sheet with a little bit of olive oil.  Spread dough to outer edges of pan.  Top dough with sliced tomato and mozz.

Meanwhile, heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet.  Add shallot, onion & garlic and cook until translucent.  Add mushrooms.  Saute to desired doneness.

Spread mushroom mixture over pizza and top with salt, pepper & pepper flakes to taste.  Add some basil leaves if desired.  Cook until cheese is melted and bottom of crust starts to brown.  Serve with a nice green salad (or not)!

Yay Pizza!!  I'm always open to new topping suggestions.

Late Summer Pizza

Ok, well it isn't late summer here yet (although it certainly feels like it today - we are hovering very near 100), but as good as this pie was today, I can only imagine how good it will be with sweet August corn and ripe heirloom tomatoes.

This is what we did today to take a break from the usual Margarita pie, and I had some grilled corn left over from last night's BBQ.  Corn and tomato pizza!

whole wheat pizza dough
1 tbsp cornmeal
1 ripe tomato, thinly sliced
1 ear corn on the cob, grilled, kernels removed
low fat mozzarella, shredded
sea salt
ground black pepper
red pepper flakes
garlic, minced

Heat oven to 400.  Enlist one helper to spread the mozz and another to "clean up" any corn that flies to the floor while removing from cob (or to clean any stolen mozz off the face of helper #1).

To begin, I dusted my pizza stone with a few pinches of cornmeal.  I like that this adds a little extra crunch to the already nutty whole wheat pizza dough.  Spread dough over stone - I kept the middle somewhat thin (again, for a little crunch).

Sprinkle with some of the grated mozz and then add tomato slices and corn.  Top with remaining mozz.  Add salt, pepper, pepper flakes & garlic to taste.

Half way through the baking, I realized I had a basil plant outside so I grabbed a few leaves and tossed them on top.  Bake until crust is crisp and you get some browning on the edges.  Slice, eat, savor!!  This is a terrific pizza and refreshingly light on such a hot day.

I won't say how I know this, but I'm sure this tastes great with a glass of sangria.  Perhaps with some orange slices in the glass - not that I would know.  :)