Happy Pizza

Pizza is the food of celebration. The champagne of foods. Pizza party after a soccer game, order pizza for sleep overs, eating pizza in Italy (you should be celebrating the fact that you're in Italy).

Tonight called for pizza. My little stay-at-home roommate got herself a job! Only took about 5 minutes. She prepped the dough while I was bread-winning at work.

Then the fun part:

Pizza Dough

4 cups flour (white, wheat or mixture)
2 teaspoon salt
1 packet yeast
1/4 cup warm water + 1 1/4 cups of room temperature water
2 tablespoons of olive oil + extra to coat bowl

Mix flour and salt together in the bowl of a good processor. Mix yeast with 1/4 cup warm water and let proof. Combine yeast mixture, 1 1/4 cups of room temperature water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Pour yeast mixture into food processor over the flour, pulsing until it forms smooth elastic ball. Place dough in an oil coated bowl for 2 hours until it has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450. Divide dough in half and spread one half onto greased cooking sheet. Top with desired ingredients and bake for 12-15 minutes until crust is lightly brown on the edges and cheese is bubbling.

Veggie & Chicken Sausage Lavash Pizza

I have spoken many times about my Monday night dinner crew – now turned Monday night dinner/bachelor viewing crew. Alanna hosted tonight’s dinner, which typically means you supply the entre and everyone else chips in with a side/dessert/app. Alanna is notoriously our wine girl. She works in alcohol sales and gets us amazing bottles, but she doesn’t quite feel comfortable in the kitchen yet. I hope to change that. With a tiny bit of assistance, we whipped up a couple delicious pizzas.

Homemade pizza is my go-to for groups/new cooks/cheap eats. This version made on wheat lavash was just like thin crust pizza with little to no effort. I could have taken down a whole one of these things, but in theory two lavash serve 4 people.

Veggie & Chicken Sausage Lavash Pizza

2TJ’s wheat Lavash
marinara sauce
spinach
bell pepper
cherry tomatoes
mushrooms
garlic & herb chicken sausage, sliced
goat cheese
mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Spread sauce over bread and top with vegetables, chicken sausage and finally cheese. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until cheese is bubbling. Sprinkle with hot pepper flakes.

Black Bean Nacho-zza

Using up tortillas is always a struggle for me. Actually, using up bread in general. Since I am now in my last week in my sublet, I am working on using up all of my food. One of my favorite uses of tortillas is to make them into chip-like pizzas – or really flat nachos. In this case, I baked the tortilla by itself briefly to crisp it up, then topped it with black beans, feta, onion and jalapeno and baked it until toasty. I finished it off with diced tomato, avocado, cilantro and hot sauce.

Black Bean Nacho-zza

1 wheat tortilla
1/2 cup black beans
1 tablespoon onions, diced
1 tablespoon jalapeno, diced
2 tablespoons feta, crumbled
1/2 tomato, diced
1/2 avocado, diced
cilantro
hot sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Prick tortilla with fork and bake for 5 minutes until crisp. Remove and crank oven to broil. Top tortilla with beans, onions, jalapeno and feta and place back in the oven for 5 minutes or until toppings are warmed through. Top with remaining ingredients and season with hot sauce, salt and pepper if desired.

Homemade Greek Pizza

Last night, Quin and I stayed in, made a homemade pizza and watched the Super Bowl The Help. We both got over that New Year's Eve feeling of having to be somewhere, with people, eating and drinking, watching The Game. Since we couldn't care less about watching football and didn't feel like pigging out on unhealthy foods, we did our own thing. Though homemade pizza isn't quite as incredible as a wood fired Italian pizza, ours was healthy at least! We used the wheat dough recipe from Baking Illustrated- Cooks Illustrated. The ticket is getting the crust super-duper thin, and probably using a pizza stone - though we didn't have one. 

Homemade Greek Pizza

1 pizza crust (dough)
marinara sauce
buffalo mozzarella, sliced thin
torn basil leaves
artichoke hearts, quartered
spinach
feta cheese
kalamata olives, halved
red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Assemble pizza and bake for 10-12 minutes. 

Margherita Pizza

Holy smokes, this hot weather is getting old! The only way I’ve been able to survive is by spending most of my days splayed out on top of my bed, in front of my AC unit reading The Help. But a girls gotta eat. I love how quick and easy pizza is, especially when you buy the premade crust.

While the zza was baking, we cooled down with a Harpoon IPA in a frosty glass. 

Margherita Pizza

1 thin pizza crust
marinara sauce
fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thin and patted dry
cherry tomatoes, sliced and patted dry
fresh basil, julienned

Bake for 12-15 at 400, until the cheese is bubbly. Attempt to wait long enough so pizza doesn’t feel like molten lava when you bite into it. We served this up with some cold watermelon.

Sunday Surprise: Pizzeria Paradiso

This weekend felt very utilitarian. While I managed to do laundry, babysit, work out, garden and make it to the Farmers Market, I didn't do much playing. So Sunday afternoon, after a brief tennis match, Evan surprised me by offering to take me to Pizzeria Paradiso for dinner :) This place never disappoints. One round of draft beers, followed by the "Crostino Formaggio di Capra" - toasted homemade bread topped with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes and prosciutto di Parma.

We split the Atomica pizza: tomato, salami, black olives, hot pepper flakes, mozzarella. Their crust is what makes their pizza so amazing. Something that can really only be achieved with a wood burning oven.

We finished off the night by watching my new favorite show: Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I had heard of it before, but this was the first time I'd seen it. Jamie's mission is to improve food in school cafeterias, fast food restaurants and educate the public of cities around America. This season he is tackling Los Angeles. It's clearly an uphill battle but he keeps fighting the good fight. Very inspirational, but not the show to watch before bed as my mind would not shut off. It's on Hulu, in case you're interested!

Greek Pizza

This weekend has hardly felt like a weekend. Between spending Saturday morning at a Credit Union, Saturday afternoon car hunting and Saturday night at a work event, I haven’t had much chillin’ time. I think it’s been worth it but I don’t want to jinx it…
To finish off the weekend, I made a Greek pizza to eat while watching the Capitals in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I don’t think I’ve quite mastered rolling out pizza dough to be thin enough. My pizzas end up a little on the bready side.
I’ll get there.

Greek Pizza

pizza dough
marinara sauce
mozzarella
feta cheese
artichoke hearts, quartered
roma tomato
kalamata olives, halved
dried oregano
dried basil

Roll the dough out on a floured surface then arrange on baking sheet. Top with marinara, mozzarella cheese, then remaining ingredients. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees.

** Saving money tip: instead of buying a jar of kalamata olives –which run about $6-8, go to the olive bar and only buy as many as you need for the recipe. Mine only cost $0.97.

Goat Cheese, Spinach, Spicy Italian Sausage Pizza & Cooked Kale

Sound familiar? I am not one to waste leftovers. So in an effort to make dinner with them, after starring blankly into space in the food section at Target, I grabbed Naan bread. The rest of my random loot was a binder, carrot face wash (sounded cool), and gum. Since I was left with over a pound of kale, I looked up a quick recipe to cook them down. Through this recipe I discovered what a magical marriage goat cheese and marinara sauce are. (Why did I doubt this?) So much so, that I had spaghetti with goat cheese on top the next night.

(Evan got the sausage one, I kept mine mostly veggie)
Cooked kale:
1 lb kale
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes
red wine vinegar

Heat the garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add chicken stock and kale. Mix around then cover with lid to steam for a few minutes. Remove lid and stop cooking when it reaches desired texture, then season with pepper flakes and vinegar.

Pizza:
1 piece of naan bread
marinara sauce
goat cheese
spicy Italian sausage
spinach
basil
parmesan

*Cook sausage before you put it on the pizza. Bake pizza at 400 for about 10 minutes.

Goat Cheese, Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

It has been a fun, whirlwind of a weekend. I made a quick 24-hour trip down to Raleigh, NC with Evan for his grandmother’s 80th birthday party. Lots of fun, lots of people and lots of food…I so wish I had documented it all, but I’m not the best at that during social gatherings.

We did get to sneak in a quick visit to CH!

After the drive back today, I wanted something lighter and quick. I opted for an oldie goldie. Though this is not the first time I’ve posted this recipe, I think it deserves a second round. It is my absolute favorite pizza recipe to make (and eat). I wrote out the recipe in this post, though this one is missing the mushrooms. Safeway was out (??)

NEWS: I GOT A NEW JOB ! While I was away from the blogosphere this week, I’d been interviewing and anxiously waiting to find out their decision. I’ll be working in the development office for a private school in Alexandria, and I start Feb. 28th!
Now I have the task to pick out what to make for Valentines dinner tomorrow night. Since I didn’t go the gift-giving route, this meal needs to pack a punch. And then there’s dessert to plan (hopefully, if I get around to it) !  So little time.

Greek Pizza Boats

It’s fitting that on this extremely cold day I spent part of the afternoon cutting out paper snowflakes. My first attempt was pretty amateur, and didn’t make the cut.

So I enlisted Martha’s help with her step-by-step instructions to create uniform, winter-wonderful holiday party décor. These will be strung up around the office for the holiday party happy hour. Budget-friendly and nostalgic.

Speaking of budget-friendly, I decided on another variation of my Whole Foods salad bar pizza. The possibilities are endless when it comes to pizza, and that’s why it’s probably my favorite thing to make. This version was Greek inspired.

I grabbed olives, marinated mushrooms, hearts of palm, red pepper, asparagus and cherry tomatoes from the salad bar. I sliced up the veggies, along with some red onion and threw them in a pan for a minute or two. I used the leftover French bread from last night (scooping out most of the bread to fit the filling). On top of the vegetables I spooned marinara sauce, goat cheese and mozzarella cheese.

Baked these for 10 minutes at 375 and topped with parsley.

The count down has begun…4 more days until I fly home to Portland!

Easy as Pie

Last night’s dinner took 13 seconds to make and only 10 minutes to bake, and it was healthier and cheaper than ordering in a pizza. Unless I want a really fancy pizza, I usually opt for making one at home. Whole Foods has whole wheat Lavash (essentially just flatbread) I used for the crust to make individual sized pizzas. I also picked up grated mozzarella, marinara sauce and then raided the salad bar for toppings. For this pizza, I grabbed sliced bell peppers, sliced red onion, artichoke hearts and grated parmesan cheese. I baked these at 400 for 10 minutes and they were gooey-cheesy-wonderful.

Dinner Party

Our dinner party of five was fun and delicious and I would love to be able to show you every moment of it...except my camera mysteriously died RIGHT before I started cooking. Tragedy. It may have been the 4/$1 batteries I bought at Target, or the fact my camera is super cheap...maybe I should start spending more money on things.

~Menu~

Cranberry Relish over Cream Cheese 

with Wheat Thins

Cream Cheese & Hot Pepper Jelly 

Fried Won Tons

Goat Cheese, Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

Blueberry & Raspberry Custard Pie

It's a good thing this group liked cheese! Having both appetizers with cream cheese was not planned but they were so different it didn't matter.
I had the pizzas assembled ahead of time so I spent about 3 seconds in the kitchen while everyone was at our house.


Goat cheese, Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Pizza
Ingredients: (measurements are up to you!)
4 flatbreads (or 2 thin crust pizza doughs) 
Spinach leaves
Mushrooms
Red onion
3 cloves garlic, minced and mixed into 4 tbsp. olive oil
Roasted Red Peppers, sliced
Goat cheese, crumbled
Basil, chopped

*Spread 1/2 olive oil & garlic mixture on the pizza crusts, then layer spinach leaves on top to cover. Spread mushrooms, onions, peppers, goat cheese and 1/2 the basil on top of the spinach. Drizzle with remaining olive oil. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle remaining basil.

One of the girls, Lauren, brought a delicious pie that she had submitted in a pie competition at work the day before, but had lost. Those judges were crazy because this pie was amazing. I should know, I had two pieces last night and one when I got home from work today :)
Can't wait for the next dp!

White Bean, Tuna and Roasted Red Pepper Flatbread

Yesterday was a just-get-through-it type of day. It all revolved around waking up to a dead Blackberry...not just the battery, like the phone was dunzo. Dinner reflected my day, as it was a simple plate of pasta with marinara. 

Today was a better day. My old, little blackberry was brought back from the dead as a replacement and things fell back into place. In the five seconds I had free at work, I brainstormed to come up with a completely original dinner. For some reason, pizza and tuna came to me. I googled and found ideas to bring it to life. 

Most of the stuff I had around the house, so I just had to grab a couple things at Whole Paycheck Foods after work. The result was seriously good.

Ingredients:
1 can white tuna
1 flatbread
1 cup white beans
1/4 tsp. dried basil (or fresh)
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
2 squeezes of lemon
S&P
Splash of red wine vinegar
Capers
Red pepper flakes
Roasted red peppers, cut into strips
Grated Parmesan


Mash white beans, mix in basil, oregano, one squeeze lemon juice and salt and pepper. In a separate bowl mix tuna, 1 squeeze of lemon, red wine vinegar and capers. Spread white bean mixture on top of flatbread, followed by tuna mixture, sliced roasted red pepper, red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese. 

Figgy Pizza, Reworked

I wasn't planning to post on tonights dinner, as I had made the same thing two days ago. However, there were significant improvements made to the original recipe. 

I got home a little late from a happy hour for a friend's birthday and wasted no time in whipping up this zza. My figs were still a little under ripe so I caramelized some red onions in butter and balsamic vinegar to make up for the missing sweetness. My farmers market arugula had met its expiration date yesterday, so I sprinkled a little dried basil in its place. The final product was much easier to eat than the first figgy pizza, and just better all around. The onions were a must. 


Now its television-via-my-computer watching time, and my Amazon order came today: Julie & Julia! :D

Figgy Pizza

This afternoon was not as pleasant and productive as the rest of my weekend has been. I like to think this was the fault of the CVS employee who could not have helped me less, as I tried to get photos developed. On the bright side, Evan returned in one piece from Charlottesville and even paid for tonights groceries :) I had been searching for a recipe to use up my Adventurous Figs and came across a pizza recipe on Bon Appetit.com last night. Voila! 

Pizza with Figs, Prosciutto, Goat Cheese*, Balsamic & Arugula

*Bon Appetit made theirs with gorgonzola, but I had goat cheese from the Farmers Market and wanted to try it!


Ingredients:


1 pizza crust
1 cup goat cheese, crumbled
6 pieces prosciutto 
3-4 rip figs, sliced
1 bunch of arugula (enough to top the pizza)
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Salt, pepper & a sprinkle of olive oil


Method:


Spread the cheese over the crust of the pizza and bake at 400 for 8-10 min. Mix sliced figs in a bowl with balsamic vinegar.Take out and immediately drape prosciutto across cheese to cover entire pizza. Top with figs and put back in the oven for 2-3 more minutes. Mix arugula with balsamic vinegar from figs and add salt, pepper and a few drops of olive oil. Top the pizza with the arugula and serve.