Hawaiian Pizza

Way back in 2003, I was a homesick student at University of Oxford, thousands of miles away from everyone I knew and loved. I was certainly homesick, but there wasn't much time to feel sentimental, as I was busy studying and soaking in the sights. Trips to the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc., completely shocked me out of my homesickness, but I continued to feel out of place, out of my element, and all around confused.

Being a college student abroad, I was also broke. ALL THE TIME. I had a cell phone with ten minutes on it every month, a flat phone that no one from the States would call because it was too damned expensive, and a pocket full of foreign coins that I couldn't quite identify by simply feeling them in my pocket. I figured out pretty early on that the 99 p pizza at the corner market was the cheapest and most abundant answer to my hunger pangs, and I'm not sure what led me to Hawaiian pizza instead of the plainer cheese or sausage, but I like to think that I decided to try something different; to take a chance when it all seemed to be slipping out of my fingers. I roomed and was friends with students who had some serious financial backing from their parents, and all I could think about was how to make my bank account last as long as possible. Hawaiian pizza included pineapple, a serving of fruit that killed two birds with one stone (yes, it was likely dehydrated and processed, but I didn't care at the time) and that ensured I was getting at least a little nutrition into my diet.

Hawaiian pizza has always brought back the memory of feeling exhilarated, exhausted, titillated, and tired, and I love the extreme food memory that comes back to me each time I eat it.

I remember the day those foreign coins in my pocket became identifiable by touch. I was buying Indian takeaway, and in my haste to pay without thinking, I felt the change in my pocket. 25 p, 5 p, and one pence, all in a row in my jeans pocket. I had finally felt at home.

Hawaiian Pizza

1 cup diced fresh pineapple
2/3 cup diced canadian bacon
1/2 cup pizza sauce (see below)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 pizza dough recipe (see below)

Directions
1. Roll out pizza dough and place on a pizza pan sprinkled with cornmeal. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes (prick dough all over with a fork to prevent dough bubbles).

2. Spread pizza sauce over dough and evenly distribute. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over sauce, and top with evenly distributed canadian bacon and pineapple. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, or until crust is browned and cheese is melted.

Basic Pizza Dough

1/2 tsp. yeast
1/4 cup warm water, plus more as needed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Handful of cornmeal

Directions
1. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Place flour and salt in food processor and pulse a couple of times. With processor running, add yeast and water mixture. Add more warm water, a tablespoon at a time, to dough until a ball forms in processor.

2. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead five times. Shape into a ball and place dough in a large bowl coated with olive oil or olive oil cooking spray. Let rise in a warm place for at least one hour.

3. Roll out dough with a rolling pin into a circular shape. Top with toppings and bake.


Classic Tomato Herb Pizza Sauce

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce (preferably Muir Glen Organic)
1 15 oz. can tomato paste (again, preferably Muir Glen)
1 tsp. turbinado sugar
4 tbsp. mixed fresh herbs, such as basil, marjoram, oregano
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Saute garlic and onions for 3-4 minutes, or until onions are soft and translucent. If using dried herbs, add to onion and garlic.

2. Pour in tomato sauce and tomato paste, stirring to combine. Once heated through, add sugar, turn heat down to low and cover. Simmer for 10-20 minutes.

3. Stir in fresh herbs, salt (you might not need salt if you are using non-organic sauce and paste--check the label), and black pepper to taste. Remove from heat, cool, and pour into serving sized ziplock bags. Label and freeze up to six months.

Broccoli, Spinach, Feta and Gruyere Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust

I love pizza, as guaranteed by two factors: 1) I'm from Chicago, and every person's DNA is altered by the Chicagoland area "pizza gene" (along with an automatic affinity for dancing the Superbowl Shuffle and the need to yell out "BER-WYN," or tearing up remembering the Bulls' glory days in the 1990's when one hears EMF's "Unbelievable"); 2) I make some damn good pizza crust.

I've posted my recipe for simple thin crust pizza once before, but I also love whole wheat crust. Now, before we go on, I must admit something. I'm going to say something that might shock you, especially those of who you might have preconceived notions as to what the Chicago "pizza gene" does, so I want you to sit down.

Ready?

...I don't like thick crust. Or deep dish. I'm a thin crust kind of gal, and no amount of exposure to the aforementioned pies will ever convert me. Paper thin crust with a bit of a bite to it is just my cup of tea. In fact, I didn't know anyone growing up who even liked deep dish pizza. It's kind of a tourist thing.

So there. Moving on.

When I make whole wheat pizza crust, I generally feel weird putting sausage or heavy ingredients all over something so seemingly healthy, so I opt for veggies and non-traditional cheeses. In addition to the dough recipe and the pizza toppings, I'm including a simple recipe for pesto made with walnuts (instead of the traditional pine nuts that cost a stinkin' fortune). I'm going to be honest: I love my garlic, so feel free to cut down to 3 cloves. Or two.


Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (makes one 14" thick crust pizza, or 2 thin crust)

1 1/2 tsp. yeast
1/4 cup warm water (about 105 degrees)
1 tsp. honey
3/4 c. cold water
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 3/4 c. unbleached all-p flour

Directions
1. In a bowl or cup, mix yeast, honey and warm water together, and let sit for 8-10 minutes. When ready the mixture should be foamy. In another cup or bowl, combine cold water, olive oil, and salt.
2. Combine both flours in food processor bowl, and pulse until thoroughly mixed. Once yeast mixture is ready, add water/oil/salt mixture and yeast mixture to the processor with motor running. Mixture should form a dough ball after processing for 20-25 seconds. When it's ready, turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Place dough ball in a large bowl coated with olive oil or cooking spray. Turn to coat with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft free place for about an hour.
3. Once dough has risen, punch dough down on floured surface and cut in half for two thin crust pizzas, or simply roll out for one thick crust pizza. Sprinkle pizza pan with cornmeal and transfer crust to pan once rolled out. With a fork, puncture crust all around to prevent bubbles.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush dough with 1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil and bake in oven until just beginning to brown. Remove from oven, top with desired pizza toppings, and bake.


Pesto (sans pine nuts)

2 c. fresh basil leaves, packed
4 cloves garlic
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
5-6 tbsp. water
1/2 c. parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/4 c. walnuts
Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions
1. In a food processor, combine basil, walnuts and garlic; pulse until mostly chopped (note: you might have to scrape the sides of the bowl down before moving on to the next step). With the motor running add olive oil, water, and parmesan until thoroughly combined. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

Note: If using all of the pesto for pizza, you may have to water down the pesto a bit more since pesto can sometimes dry out when applied to crust. Better yet, throw in a couple of tablespoons of ricotta, and give that a whirl.


Broccoli, Spinach, Feta and Gruyere Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust Note: this recipe is for two thin crust pizzas

1 recipe whole wheat pizza crust (see above)
2 small heads broccoli
2 c. baby spinach, packed
1/2 cup pesto (see above)
6 oz. Gruyere, shredded and divided
1/2 cup feta cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut broccoli into bite sized florets and steam for 3-4 minutes. In the last minute, throw in baby spinach and remove from heat.
2. Spread pesto evenly between two pizza crusts with a spoon. Sprinkle broccoli on top of pesto, and place pieces of spinach evenly around pizzas. Sprinkle gruyere and feta evenly amongst toppings.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, cool and enjoy.

Basic Pizza Dough and Two Pizza Sauces

At left: Pizza Margherita


First of all, I'm back from a very warranted vacation to Portland, and since I've finished with school, I've been cooking and baking up a storm. Life is just simply better when I have time to play in my kitchen, so in addition to the obligatory vacation eats post (coming soon), I'll be posting recipes and pictures from my forays into simple, tasty French bread and homemade ketchup.

That being said, my very favorite thing to do recently is to make pizza dough. I know most people find store-bought crusts most convenient, but there's nothing like making your own. Fresh and full of love, homemade crust is easy to make and isn't inconvenient if you're like me and plan out all your meals ahead of time. Just one hour guarantees enough rising time for your dough to morph into a fantastic thin crust (my favorite kind).

Pizza sauce is another one of those ingredients most people prefer to buy already made, but I like to make large batches myself and freeze in individual containers. It's economical and simple enough to make, and there is no greater time to start stocking up on freezer sauces than when the farmers markets are full of excellent produce.

My first love is tomato-based pizza sauce, although I've been known to blend in a bit of my second love, roasted red pepper pizza sauce. Brimming with fresh herbs from the farmers market, nothing beats a flavorful sauce on a homemade crust. It may sound daunting to do all of this in one day, so I would encourage doing it in steps (roast a head of garlic one day, blend with roasted red peppers the next day, etc.)


Basic Pizza Dough

1/2 tsp. yeast
1/4 cup warm water, plus more as needed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Handful of cornmeal

1. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Place flour and salt in food processor and pulse a couple of times. With processor running, add yeast and water mixture. Add more warm water, a tablespoon at a time, to dough until a ball forms in processor.

2. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead five times. Shape into a ball and place dough in a large bowl coated with olive oil or olive oil cooking spray. Let rise in a warm place for at least one hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once risen, turn dough out onto floured surface and roll out to an 8-inch crust. Place crust on a pizza pan sprinkled with cornmeal and brush with olive oil. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.

4. Top crust with 2-3 tablespoons of tomato or red pepper pizza sauce, and add other toppings.* Bake in oven until cheese is melted and crust is lightly browned.

* I prefer Pizza Margherita with fresh mozzarella (rather than the dry, shredded kind) and a sprinkling of chiffonade cut basil once the pizza is removed from the oven. Chicken sausage is also a great addition, particularly if you are using roasted red pepper sauce.

Classic Tomato Herb Pizza Sauce

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce (preferably Muir Glen Organic)
1 15 oz. can tomato paste (again, preferably Muir Glen)
1 tsp. turbinado sugar
4 tbsp. mixed fresh herbs, such as basil, marjoram, oregano
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Saute garlic and onions for 3-4 minutes, or until onions are soft and translucent. If using dried herbs, add to onion and garlic.

2. Pour in tomato sauce and tomato paste, stirring to combine. Once heated through, add sugar, turn heat down to low and cover. Simmer for 10-20 minutes.

3. Stir in fresh herbs, salt (you might not need salt if you are using non-organic sauce and paste--check the label), and black pepper to taste. Remove from heat, cool, and pour into serving sized ziplock bags. Label and freeze up to six months.



Roasted Red Pepper Pizza Sauce From Emeril's recipe on Planet Green

Ingredients:
6 red bell peppers
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 head Roasted Garlic, recipe follows
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the sides of the bell peppers off and discard the stems and seeds. Cover a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray. Spread the bell pepper sections onto the baking sheet and brush both sides with extra virgin olive oil. Season both sides with 1 teaspoon of salt. Transfer to the oven and cook until tender and well caramelized, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Puree the bell peppers with the Roasted Garlic, chicken stock and extra virgin olive oil, in batches if necessary. Stir in the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, oregano, basil and vinegar. Use as a sauce for pizzas or pasta.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce with Chicken Sausage and Basil