Cheese pizza - you can't go wrong with it. Unless, of course, you skip the cheese. It's simple, it's comforting, and it's delicious. Most of the time, it's the cheese that makes me love a pizza any way, so why not concentrate on it once in a while? This recipe threw in a multi-grain crust to give you the illusion that you're eating healthy.
Adapted from The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1-1/4 cup bread flour
1/4 cup spelt flour
1/8 cup graham flour
1/8 cup brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup prepared tomato-based pasta sauce
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, diced up
1 ounce shredded Provolone cheese
1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese
1 ounce grated Asiago cheese
1 ounce grated Romano cheese
Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for at least five minutes. In the bowl of a mixer, fitted with a dough hook, combine the flours and salt. Add the yeast and the olive oil and stir to combine. Increase speed to medium and continue stirring until dough clings to dough hook and becomes smooth and elastic (you may have to scrape the sides of the bowl a couple of times during this process to get all the flour incorporated). Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel or drape loosely with a piece of plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm dry place for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven, with a pizza stone inside, if using, to 500º F. On a cornmeal or flour dusted pizza peel or board, roll or stretch the dough out to 16 inch circle. Prick all over with a fork. Spread the pasta sauce over the crust, leaving a small bare border around the edge of the dough. Combine the cheeses together in a medium-sized bowl. Scatter cheeses over the sauce. Transfer the pizza to the preheated stone or transfer it to a greased pizza pan and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until crust is starting to brown, and the cheese is melted and browning. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
The dough for this pizza was a bit more attractive than the previous "multi-grain" crusts I have made recently. I think it was the elimination of the buckwheat flour. To me, buckwheat turns everything a little gray or purply-brown. This crust recipe was a vast improvement in aesthetics. It didn't, however, crisp up, as I had hoped. It cooked up fine - it wasn't doughy or anything - it just wasn't crispy, as I would expect a thin-crust to be.
None of this mattered however, when I tasted that big blast of cheese. The mozzarella added a nice creamy texture, and the other players added tang and intrigue. It was gooey and flavorful with just a hint of the tomato sauce that lay beneath.
Adapted from James McNair's Vegetarian Pizza
1 cup warm water
1½ teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
3¼ cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil (for the crust)
Cooking spray
½ pound yellow summer squash
½ pound zucchini
1 tablespoon salt (for the squash)
2 tablespoons of olive oil (to brush over the crust)
10 ounces crumbled soft goat cheese
4 tablespoons fresh summer savor (divided)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
Combine the water yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for at least five minutes. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour and salt. Add the ¼ cup olive oil and the yeast mixture. Stir until combined. Increase speed to medium and continue to stir until the dough clings to the hook and looks smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel or drape loosely with a piece of plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm, dry place for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Slice the squash into ¼ inch rounds. Generously salt both sides of the rounds. Place the squash in a colander and allow it to drain for at least a half hour. Dry the rounds with paper towels, wiping off any excess salt. Spray a baking sheet with the cooking spray. Arrange the squash in a single layer on the greased baking sheet. Spray the rounds with cooking spray. Flip the rounds over and spray the other sides. Bake in preheated oven for about twenty minutes or until squash begins to soften.
Increase the oven temperature to 500º F. Place the pizza stone inside, if using. On a cornmeal or flour dusted pizza peel or board, roll or stretch the dough to a sixteen inch circle. Brush the dough all over with the two tablespoons of olive oil. Distribute the cheese over the dough, leaving a small edge bare all the way around the dough. Arrange the squash slices on top of the cheese. Sprinkle half of the savory over the squash. Transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone or to a greased pizza pan and place in the preheated oven. Bake for about ten minutes or until crust is starting to become golden and the cheese is starting to brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining savory and the lemon zest over the top.
It seemed wrong to have a summer squash pizza in May - especially since it was snowing less than a week ago. However, it was 100 degrees on Tuesday. That's Minnesota for you. Also, it hurt a little to buy zucchini and summer squash when come June I usually have so much of it I have to give it away. However, we never did get around to planting seeds in our green house, and we haven't even purchased any squash plants yet, so it may never happen. And, as late as this season is starting this year, we may have to wait until July or August before we get any squash.
I wanted to try something different. The recipe was non-specific about the type of squash - yellow squash, zucchini, patty pan, or a combination thereof. I was going to try the patty pan, but of course my local Cub did not have that available when I was there. I haven't ever had it before, and I was curious on how to prepare it and how it would taste in comparison to the zucchini and yellow squash.
I had made the crusts for both of these pizzas on Wednesday and froze them overnight. I took them out Thursday morning to thaw and rise on the counter. Apparently, one dough had a little more yeast or warmth or something and rose right out of the bag. Instead of popping the bag, it just breached it a little, making just a little belly button of dough out a teeny hole.
Her extra 6 ounces did the trick. It looked much better.
This whole combination was delightful. While it was true, I probably could have cut the crust recipe in half (it was monsterousy poofy), but I liked the crust. It was soft in the middle with the right amount of crispiness to the outside of it. The goat cheese sunk into it as it rose, infusing the crust with its tangy goodness. The squash was surprisingly delicious for not having been seasoned much - although it was a little soggy (overcooked?). The savory added a little bit of a floral note to the pizza and the lemon zest accentuated the tangy goat cheese.
And the drink? Well, the drink was good, but I forgot one ingredient, so maybe it wasn't a french kiss. Maybe it was more like a kiss with lips slightly parted. Or maybe it was a polish kiss? It was supposed to have grenadine in it, which sounds like it would be good in there, and I imagine that it would make the drink a lovely salmon color. Ours was a bright yellow - pretty, but not as pretty as it could have been. The flavor was good. It was orange with a slight bite on the finish from the anisette. I am not sure which ingredient gave it the silky texture, but I liked it. I think we all enjoyed it, because a couple of batches were made, and I didn't drink them all.
FRENCH KISS
1 measure vodka
3/4 measure anisette liqueur
2 measures freshly squeezed orange juice
1/8 measure grenadine (apparently, this is optional)
Pour all ingredients into an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with star anise.
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