Spelt Pizza with Ricotta and Spicy Greens

Last night I wanted to stay up to watch some of the Voice after my kiddies had gone to bed.  I have a serious problem staying awake once I sit down on the couch.  It's a rare occasion if I can keep myself awake longer than 15 minutes.  I don't even have to be lying down; in fact I'm never lying down.  I will catch my husband frequently looking in my direction to see if I have zonked out.  It's unfortunate, but no matter how hard I try or how much I want to stay awake, my eyelids are just too heavy to keep open and then I'm gone.  I'll often tell my husband when I start to feel sleepy that the sandman has just passed.  Once I'm asleep, it means that the sandman passed by again and knocked me out with one of his sandbags.  The reason I say all this is because last night to keep myself awake, I decided to make pizza dough.  I had big plans for a great lunch the next day.  I went to work and busied myself in the kitchen.  Between the pizza dough making and eating a bowl of Raisin Bran, I managed to catch a full episode of the Voice without falling asleep.

This pizza was everything I'd hoped it would be.  I was a bit nervous how the spelt pizza crust would turn out, but it worked perfectly and tasted perfect with the spicy greens and creamy ricotta.  After my first couple of bites, I had to share the deliciousness and so I took a couple of pieces to a neighbor and then called my husband to tell him how I was in lunch heaven.  
  
 

 

Spelt Pizza with Ricotta and Spicy Greens

 

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2/3 cup warm water

1 teaspoon honey

2 cups spelt flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

 

1 cup fresh ricotta

3 tablespoons olive oil

12 green onions, thinly slice (white and green parts)

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups baby kale, roughly chopped

4 cups Swiss chard, cut leaves crosswise into 1-inch strips (about one bunch)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Red pepper flakes

Lemon zest

Fresh grated parmesan cheese

 

In a small mixing bowl, combine yeast, warm water, and honey.  Let sit for 10 minutes or until foamy.

 

In a large mixing bowl, stir together spelt flour and salt.  Pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil and stir together until a dough forms (I added a bit more water and an extra tablespoon of olive oil to help the dough come together).  Cover and let the dough rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

 

Place the dough in a Ziploc bag and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

 

An hour before baking the pizza, remove dough from the refrigerator.  Place pizza stone in the oven.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

 

Cut dough into two equal pieces.  Roll one piece of dough into a rectangle.  Transfer the rolled out dough to the back side of baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.  Prick a few times with a fork, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt.

 

Slide the parchment paper with the pizza dough onto the baking stone in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Sauté the green onions for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until fragrant.  Add the kale and Swiss chard and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until just wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dump the greens in a colander and toss a few times to let juices drain.

 

Remove pizza from oven by sliding parchment paper with the pizza back onto the back side of a baking sheet.  Spread half of the ricotta on the pizza dough; place half the greens on top, sprinkle lightly with red pepper flakes and a light dusting of lemon zest and freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Slide pizza back into the oven for 3-4 minutes to warm through.  Repeat with second piece of dough.  Eat and enjoy!

 

 

Note:  To make this a bit easier, you could forget about the pizza stone and just place the rolled out dough onto a lightly oiled baking sheet and cook the dough on the baking sheet.  One baking sheet should be big enough for all of the dough.

 

Recipe slightly adapted from The Yellow Table



Grilled Vegetable Pizza

I love homemade pizza and this was the perfect summer is almost over pizza (I can feel fall in the air and it makes me happy).  There are so many fun and delicious ways to eat a pizza.  Here are some of our favorites (it was hard too choose).  Todd's-grilled vegetable or corn, bacon and leek. Mine-grilled vegetable or zucchini and ricotta.  Noah's-tomato basil or corn, bacon and leek.  Preston's-corn, bacon, and leek and Stella's-tomato basil.  How do you eat your pizza?

Grilled Vegetable Pizza

Favorite Pizza Dough

Tomato sauce
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and quartered
1 small zucchini, sliced 1/8-in-thick
1 small yellow squash, sliced 1/8-in-thick
1 small red onion, cut into wedges
Olive oil
Fresh mozzerella, torn into pieces
Kosher salt
Red pepper flakes

Place pizza stone on bottom rack of the oven (if you have one). Preheat oven to 500 (or the ovens highest temperature).

Heat grill to medium-high heat. Lightly coat all the vegetables with olive oil and season with kosher salt. Arrange vegetables on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill until crisp-tender and grill marks appear. (If you don't want your onions falling through the grill rack like mine did, put the onion wedges on a skewer before grilling). Remove vegetables from grill. Coarsely chop bell pepper.

Shape pizza dough into desired shape and place on a flour and cornmeal dusted cookie sheet that has been flipped upside down. Very quickly slide the pizza from the cookie sheet to the pizza stone (if you don't have a pizza stone, place cookie sheet (with pizza on it) on the bottom rack of the oven). Bake pizza dough for 4 minutes. Remove partially baked crust from oven. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the crust followed zucchini, squash, peppers and onions. Top pizza with torn pieces of fresh mozzarella and a good sprinkle of kosher salt and red pepper flakes. Carefully return pizza to pizza stone. Bake until pizza crust is golden and the cheese is melted goodness. Remove from oven and serve with additional red pepper flakes and kosher salt.

Peach Basil Pizza with Balsamic Reduction

I love, love, love, peach season and this pizza makes me love it even more (I've made it twice in one week)!

Peach Basil Pizza with Balsamic Reduction

My Very Favorite Pizza Dough (or whatever pizza dough is your favorite)

Fresh peaches, thinly sliced

Fresh mozzarella, sliced

Fresh basil, sliced into thin ribbons

Tomato Sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
Lemon zest from half of a lemon (I use a little less than half)

Balsamic Reduction

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

 1 tablespoon brown sugar or honey

 Coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper

For the Tomato Sauce:  Place the olive oil, salt, and garlic in a pan. Dial the heat up and sauté for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes and slowly bring to a simmer as well. Remove from heat, stir in the lemon zest and taste for seasoning. Set aside.

For the Balsamic Reduction:  Bring the vinegar and brown sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Turn the heat to low and reduce until syrupy.  Season with salt and pepper.  The vinegar will thicken as it cools.

Assemble pizza:  Place pizza stone on bottom rack of the oven (if you have one).  Preheat oven to 500 (or the ovens highest temperature).

Shape pizza dough into desired shape and place on a flour and cornmeal dusted cookie sheet that has been flipped upside down.  Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the pizza dough followed by sliced mozzarella.

If you don't have a pizza stone, place cookie sheet (with pizza on it) on the bottom rack of the oven and bake until crust is golden brown.  If you have a pizza stone, very quickly slide the pizza from the cookie sheet to the pizza stone (this is always a little bit scary for me).  Bake pizza until crust is golden brown.  After you remove the pizza from the oven, top with sliced peaches, basil, and a good drizzle of the balsamic reduction.  Season with coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Serve immediately  

 

My Very Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe

My sister Stephanie introduced me to this recipe for pizza dough and I will love her forever for it.  This is by far the best pizza dough recipe that I have ever tried for a traditional pizza.  This pizza dough really is the best ever!

Pizza Dough

4 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour, chilled

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1/4 cup olive oil

1 3/4 cups water, ice cold

Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

Combine all the ingredients.  Mix by hand or with a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Knead for 5-7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough.  The dough should clear the sides of the bowl, but stick to the bottom of the bowl.  If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour until it clears the sides.  If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.  The finished dough with be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky. 

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and mist it with cooking spray.  Divide the dough into four to six equal parts.  Using a little flour if the dough is very sticky, gently shape each piece into a ball and place on the baking sheet.  Mist the dough with oil or cooking spray and then cover with plastic wrap.  Place in the fridge for at least one day or up to three days.

Remove the dough 2 hours before you plan on baking.  Before letting the dough rest at room temperature, dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil.  Place the dough ball on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour.  Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick.  Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap.  Now let rest for two hours.

At least 45 minutes before baking the pizza, place a baking stone on a rack in the lower third of the oven.  Heat the oven as hot as possible (500-550 degrees in most ovens).  If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

With your hand or a rolling pin, shape one of the portioned dough pieces to the desired size and thickness.  Place on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or the back of a baking sheet.  Top with desired toppings (less is more) and slide the pizza onto the baking stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door.  Bake until crust is lightly golden and cheese is melted and bubbly.

*After my dough has rested at room temperature, it is too soft to shape with my hands.  To shape my pizza dough, I carefully (or as careful as I can be) move a piece of dough to the back of a flour/cornmeal dusted baking sheet and stretch and shape the dough with my fingers while it is on the baking sheet.  I do use a baking stone and I very quickly slide my pizza from my make shift pizza peel (an upside down baking sheet) to the pizza stone. 

Slightly shortened from 101 Cookbooks

Birthday Dinner

This past weekend was my birthday weekend.  On Friday, I went to lunch with my mom, sisters (wishing Stephanie was here and not in Hawaii, I've been missing her like crazy), my sister-in-law and Grandma.  We went to one of my favorite places, Pizzeria 712; I know it was shocking to everyone that I picked that place.  Then on Saturday I got to spend most of the day with Todd.  We started the afternoon off with a movie, then headed to Tony Caputo's for some vinegar, hand pulled mozzarella, prosciutto, and chocolate.  To finish the night off we enjoyed a very delicious meal at Pago.  The entire time Todd and I were eating, I had this tight, excited feeling that I get when I eat really good food; I couldn't stop smiling.  On my actual birthday, for breakfast, my little family and I ate Burg's French toast (with a Traci Magleby spin) topped with peaches and whipped cream.  For dinner we ate a really great salad, pizzas and a very rich chocolate cake with homemade vanilla ice cream.  It was a really great weekend filled with two things that I really love, family and food!

Arugula Salad with Pistachios and Chocolate

Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard

3 tablespoons Banyuls vinegar (you can substitute sherry vinegar)

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to taste

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar, and salt and whisk to blend.  Add the olive oil and whisk vigorously to emulsify.  Taste, and adjust as needed.

Salad

About 8 ounces arugula

2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios, for serving

2 tablespoons finely chopped bittersweet chocolate, for serving

Place the arugula in a large bowl and add a spoonful or two of dressing.  It's best to err on the side of underdressing at first.  Using two forks or, preferably, your hands, carefully toss the arugula, taking care to handle it as lightly as you can, since it bruises easily.  Taste, and add dressing as needed.

Divide the dressed arugula among 4 plates.  Serve with small bowls of chopped pistachios and chocolate on the side, allowing each eater to sprinkle his or her salad with a bit of each.

Recipe from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

Roasted Asparagus, Egg & Prosciutto Pizza

Pizza dough
Olive oil

Roasted Asparagus (drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast for 10 minutes at 400)

2-3 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn into nickel size pieces

2-3 eggs, cracked and waiting in a bowl

2 ounces San Danielle or other high quality prosciutto

High quality sea salt or fleur de sel and fresh cracked pepper

Freshly grated Parmigiano

Preheat your oven for 45 minutes with pizza stone inside, to 500-550 degrees.

With you dough create 12" round.  Place on flour dusted pizza peel (I use the back of a sheet pan).  Brush with olive oil and dust with sea salt.  Break up fresh mozzarella on top of pizza, add roasted asparagus.  Slide onto pizza stone and bake for 3 minute.  Open oven and as quickly as possible pour the eggs onto two or three different places around the pizza.  Bake for another 7 minutes or until golden and eggs are cooked to your liking.  We shoot for a semi-soft yolk.  Remove from oven and grate Parmigiano over top.  Drape 4-5 slices of prosciutto on top of pizza.

*When I poured the eggs on to the pizza, I had a hard time getting both of my eggs to stay on the pizza.  One of those darn eggs wanted to slide off onto my pizza stone.  In an attempt to keep the egg on the pizza, I created a dam with a piece of asparagus and it seemed to do the trick.

Recipe from Not Without Salt

Pizza with Bacon, Caramelized Onions & Ricotta

Pizza dough

Ricotta cheese

1/4 pound thickly sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

Place pizza stone on bottom rack of the oven (if you have one).  Preheat oven to 500 (or the ovens highest temperature).

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Add onion to skillet and cook until onions are golden and caramelized.  Set aside.

Shape pizza dough into desired shape and place on a floured and cornmeal dusted cookie sheet that has been flipped upside down.  Layer the toppings as follows, caramelized onions, bacon, and spoonful’s of ricotta to dot the pizza.

If you don't have a pizza stone, place cookie sheet (with pizza on it) on the bottom rack of the oven and bake until crust is golden.  If you have a pizza stone, very quickly slide the pizza from the cookie sheet to the pizza stone (this is always a little bit scary for me).  Bake until crust is golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

My sister Stephanie called me (or I called her) this past weekend and told me about a very delicious pizza that she had made and so of course I had to try it.  This Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is it!  I loved making this pizza.  The dough was so lovely to work with, it made me very happy (a good dough will do that too me).  I know I've said this before, but I love having a sister who loves food like I do and who sends great recipes my way!

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

Dough

3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast

1 1/4 cups water, room temperature

3 tablespoons butter, melted, plus 4 tablespoons softened

1 teaspoon plus 4 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup grated onion

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Ground black pepper

Toppings

1 pound whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)

FOR THE DOUGH:  Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until incorporated.  Add water and melted butter and mix on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally.  Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is glossy and smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 to 5 minutes.  (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on.  When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula.  Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl, turning once to oil top; cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45 to 60 minutes.

FOR THE SAUCE:  While dough rises, heat butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until melted.  Add onion, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to a simmer.  Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 25 to 30 minutes.  Off heat, stir in basil and oil, and then season with salt and pepper.

TO LAMINATE THE DOUGH:  Adjust oven rack to lower position and heat oven to 425 degrees.  Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto dry work surface and roll into 15- by 12-inch rectangle.  Using offset spatula, spread softened butter over surface of dough, leaving 1/2-inch border along edges.  Starting at the short end, roll dough into tight cylinder.  With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 18- by 4-inch rectangle.  Cut rectangle in half crosswise.  Working with 1 half, fold into thirds like business letter; pinch seams together to form ball.  Repeat with remaining half.  Return balls to oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40-50 minutes.

Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each.  Transfer 1 dough ball to dry work surface and roll out into 13-inch disk about 1/4 inch thick.  Transfer dough to pan by rolling dough loosely around rolling pin and unrolling into pan.  Lightly press dough into pan, working into corners and 1 inch up sides.  If dough resists stretching, let it relax 5 minutes before trying again.  Repeat with remaining dough ball.

For each pizza, sprinkle 2 cups mozzarella evenly over surface of dough.  Spread 1 1/4 cups tomato sauce over cheese and sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan over sauce.  Bake until crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.  Remove pizza from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

*I need to buy 9-inch round pans that have higher sides.  My rolled out dough went above the rim of my pan, so I folded it down a bit to make the dough more level with the rim of the pan.

This recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen

Zucchini and Ricotta pizza

Zucchini and Ricotta Pizza

Pizza Dough

Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

2 small zucchinis, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

Ricotta cheese

Spread zucchini out over several layers of paper towels.  Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let drain for 30 minutes; gently blot the tops of the zucchini dry with paper towels before using.  In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and the garlic together; set aside.

Place pizza stone on bottom rack of the oven (if you have one).  Preheat oven 500 (or the ovens highest temperature).

Shape pizza dough into desired shape and place on a floured and cornmeal dusted cookie sheet that has been flipped upside down.  Layer the toppings as follows, shredded Monterey jack cheese, sliced zucchinis, spoonful’s of ricotta cheese, and a drizzle of the garlic oil over the entire pizza.

If you don't have a pizza stone, place cookie sheet (with pizza on it) on the bottom rack of the oven and bake until crust is golden.  If you have a pizza stone, very quickly slide the pizza from the cookie sheet to the pizza stone (this is always a little bit scary for me).  Bake until crust is golden brown.

Roasted Corn Pizza with Leek Soubise, Bacon, and Ricotta

I started looking for a recipe like this when I had a pizza form Pizzeria 712 a few summers ago.  The pizza was a roasted summer corn pizza with leek soubise, bacon, and fresh ricotta and it was love at first bite.  The combination of crisp bacon, leeks cooked in cream, roasted summer corn, and fresh ricotta makes for a completely delicious pizza.  I dreamed about this pizza and set out to make my own roasted summer corn pizza at home.

Roasted Corn Pizza with Leek Soubise, Bacon and Ricotta

Pizza dough

Thick cut bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp

Fresh corn, shucked, grilled or roasted and removed from the cob

Ricotta cheese

Leek Soubise

Leek Soubise

2 tablespoons butter

2 medium sized leeks, split sown the middle, washed, cut into 1/4-inch thick half moons

(discard most of the green parts of the leeks)

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

Salt

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan.  Add the leeks and cook slowly until they have wilted down a bit, 10-15 minutes.  Add the milk and cream and cook, uncovered on low heat until the milk has evaporated and the mixture is thick and creamy.  This should take about 45 minutes to an hour.  Add salt to taste.  The original recipe says to blend the leeks once cooled, but I wanted texture, so I didn't puree the leeks.

Assemble pizza:

Place pizza stone on bottom rack of the oven (if you have one).  Preheat oven to 500 (or the ovens highest temperature).

Shape pizza dough into desired shape (I go for round, but it doesn't always look that way) and place on a floured and cornmeal dusted cookie sheet that has been flipped upside down.  Spread a layer of the leek soubise on the pizza dough, next the corn, followed by spoonful’s of ricotta and last, but of course not least, the bacon.

If you don't have a pizza stone, place cookie sheet (with pizza on it) on the bottom rack of the oven and bake until crust is golden brown.  If you have a pizza stone, very quickly slide the pizza from the cookie sheet to the pizza stone (this is always a little bit scary for me).  Bake pizza until crust is golden brown.  Now eat and enjoy corn pizza deliciousness!