Shrimp, Braised Leek, and Garlic Pizza; Pizza Colada; Pineapple Martinis

 I love shrimp.  If they're done right - not cooked to a rubbery shrivel - but just barely pink all the way through and seasoned properly, they are a fantastic little food.  For a while, many people avoided shrimp because of their high cholesterol level, but more recently, it has been discovered that because of the low amount of saturated fat in them, they actually improve the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol (which is a good thing), and lowers triglycerides.  High levels of triglycerides have been linked to heart disease and stroke.  Some studies have shown that garlic and leeks also reduce cholesterol, so this pizza is more of a health food, really (and it cancels out the cream cheese in the dessert, right?).

SHRIMP, BRAISED LEEK, AND GARLIC PIZZA

Adapted from All the Best Pizzas by Joie Warner

Dough:

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

3¼ cups bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup olive oil

Toppings;

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 or 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, chopped (about 2 cups)

12 large garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

12 ounces medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cooked until just barely pink

4 ounces seeded and diced ripe tomato

½ teaspoon dried basil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Make the dough:  In a small bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar.  Set aside for at least five minutes.  In the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the flour and salt.  Add the yeast mixture and mix at medium speed until the dough comes together and clings to the dough hook.  Remove the dough and form it into a ball.  Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp, lint-free towel.  Set in a warm place for about an hour or until dough doubles in size.  Cut dough in half, reshape each half into a ball.  Reserve one half for another use (at this point, I place it in a freezer bag, label it, and put it in the freezer for a later date).

Prepare the toppings and assemble the pizza:  Preheat the oven to 450º F with a pizza stone inside, if using.  Roll or stretch the dough out to a fifteen inch circle on a cornmeal-dusted pizza peel or board.  Brush the edges of the dough with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.  Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the leeks and whole garlic and reduce the heat to low.  Cook for about twenty minutes or until the garlic is soft, but not brown.  Distribute the leeks and garlic evenly over the prepared dough.  Arrange the shrimp and tomatoes over the leek mixture.  Sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper.  Slide pizza onto the preheated stone, if using, or onto a greased pizza pan and into the oven.  Bake for 10 minutes or until the crust is golden.  Remove the pizza and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

     When I was chopping up the leeks, I thought that two cups was quite a bit, but after they were cooked for a while with the garlic, they shrunk down a little, and then I wondered if there were enough.  Even though I doubled the garlic from the original recipe, it didn't seem like enough either, and there could hardly be even distribution with just twelve cloves, so I broke some of the larger ones in half.  I wanted to make sure that each piece had a little bit of garlic in it.
     It may seem weird to put whole cloves of garlic on a pizza, but when it has been cooked for a long time, it becomes soft, the flavor is a milder, and there is a creamy nuttiness to it.  In fact, I think that roasted or simmered cloves have quite a different flavor than straight up garlic added to a sauce or a dish.

     I used precooked shrimp that we had gotten on sale at Cub (shocking, I know).  I usually don't buy precooked shrimp, because it is frequently overcooked, and I feel like you miss an opportunity to ramp up the flavors by cooking it with your own seasonings.  However, the raw, peeled, deveined shrimp is rarely on sale, and I do not enjoy the deveining process, so sometimes we end up with pre-cooked shrimp.  We have been pretty lucky lately with the ones we have gotten.  They have been just the regular generic at Cub, and they were cooked perfectly.  I was a little worried about cooking them again on the pizza, but given the fact that they were barely thawed when I put them on there, and their stint in the oven was only a few minutes, it turned out just fine.

     The shrimp were fabulous!  They weren't the slightest bit chewy - they were soft and tender and salty.  The leeks added a slight tang of oniony flavor, and when you bit into a piece with a chunk of garlic on it, the flavor just burst into your mouth - nutty, warm, and slightly zingy.  The tomatoes brightened up all of the flavors and added a little moistness to the slice.

     

     Jeff had brought home a new Ciroc flavor - pineapple!  How appropriate, since we were going to have pineapple pizza for dessert.  I like it when a theme emerges.

                        PINEAPPLE MARTINI

1½ ounces pineapple Ciroc (or other pineapple flavored vodka)
1½ ounces regular vodka 
Juice from ¼ of a medium lime (about 1 tablespoon of juice)  


Combine ingredients in an ice-filled shaker.  Shake and pour into a chilled cocktail glass.  Sip slowly.

I do not enjoy an extremely sweet drink (or even an ordinary sweet drink), and the Ciroc was sweet on its own.  I added equal parts of regular vodka, so we could still taste the pineapple flavor, but weren't overwhelmed by sweetness.

PIZZA COLADA

Adapted from James McNair's Vegetarian Pizza

Dough:

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

¼ cup granulated sugar

3¼ cups bread flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup olive oil

Toppings:

1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup sweetened dried coconut shreds

2 teaspoons rum extract

4 tablespoons melted butter, divided

8 canned pineapple rings, very well drained

Make the dough:  Combine the water and yeast in a small bowl and set aside for a few minutes.  In the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the sugar, flour, and salt.  Add the yeast mixture and mix at medium speed until the dough comes together and starts to cling to the hook.  Remove the dough and shape into a ball.  Place the ball in a greased bowl, cover with a damp, lint-free towel, and set aside in a warm place for an hour or until dough has almost doubled in size.  Cut the dough in half and reshape each half into a ball.  Reserve one ball for another use.

Assemble the pizza:  Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using.  Roll or stretch the dough to a fifteen inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board.  In a food processor or blender, combine the cream cheese, coconut, and rum extract and puree until smooth.   Prick the dough all over with a fork.  Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons of melted butter.  Slide the dough onto the preheated stone or place on a greased pizza pan and put into the preheated oven.  Bake until the crust starts to brown- about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from oven with a pizza peel or transfer the pizza pan onto a hot pad.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the baked crust.  Arrange the pineapple rings over the cream cheese.  Brush the pineapple with the remaining butter.  Transfer back to the oven and bake about four five more minutes.  Serve immediately.

     The dessert pizza was delicious!  The creamy, coconutty cheese underneath the sweet, tangy pineapple was really like a hot pina colada that had chew.  The crust was soft and slightly sweet, while the pineapple cut through the richness with its hot juicy goodness.  I only wished that there were more pineapple.  I think I would give up the presentation to add more pineapple in the spaces the rings didn't cover.  Or, it could be made into 8 individual pieces and maybe then there would be more coverage.  Or, maybe if I could have found the edible flours and put those in the holes and spaces in-between, it maybe have looked better - but I think more pineapple would have been better.

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Fresh Figs, Blue Cheese, and Honey Pizza Dolce; Almond Blueberry Dessert Pizza

     I've always been intrigued by figs.  I have never had fresh ones before.  I have tried finding them several times, but have never been successful.  One produce manager at Lund's told me that they get them in once a year and sell out the same day.  Amazingly, when I wasn't looking for them, I found them at Costco, of all places.  Jeff talked me out of buying them at the time, because I didn't have an immediate use for them in mind.  Of course, it wasn't long after that shopping trip that this pizza came up on the schedule, and the figs were no longer at Costco.  My devoted husband did end up finding them at Lund's though (amazingly enough), and it was the last package they had!  I love the combination of earthy, creamy, rich blue cheese with tangy fruit, so I couldn't wait to try this recipe.

FRESH FIGS, BLUE CHEESE, AND HONEY PIZZA DOLCE

Adapted from James McNair's Vegetarian Pizza

Dough:

1 tablespoon + ¼ cup granulated sugar, divided

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon active, dry yeast

3¼ cups bread flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup olive oil

Toppings:

1 tablespoon walnut oil

6½ ounces Cambozola cheese

9 fresh figs, sliced

2 tablespoons high-quality honey
½ cup candied almonds

Make the dough:  Combine one tablespoon of sugar, the water, and the yeast in a small bowl.  Set aside for at least five minutes.  In the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the ¼ cup of sugar, the flour, and the salt.  Add the yeast mixture and the olive oil and mix at medium speed until the dough comes together and starts to cling to the dough hook.  Divide the dough in half.  Reserve half for another use.  Set the other half in a greased bowl, cover with a damp, lint-free towel, and set aside to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.

Assemble and bake:  Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using.  Roll or stretch the dough out to a 15 inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board.  Brush the dough all over with the walnut oil.  Place dollops of Cambozola over the prepared dough.  Arrange the figs over the cheese.  Drizzle with honey.  Bake on preheated stone for 10-15 minutes or until  the crust is crisp, and the cheese has melted.  Remove the pizza from the oven and top with the candied almonds.

     Jeff and I had fallen in love with Cambozola cheese while we were visiting my parents once in Palm Springs.  My dad had bought a wedge of it at Costco (see where I get it?), and we ate it on toast for breakfast every morning we were out there.  At that time, we were Sam's Club members, and we found it there a couple of times since, but we have not been able to find it at either club for quite some time.  I was killing time at Byerly's on my lunch break one day and discovered that they carry this cheese all the time.  I had immediately bought a wedge and decided that was going to be my blue cheese for this pizza.  It is creamy and rich and delicious!  It has the flavor of Gorgonzola, only richer, and the texture of a double cream brie.

     Although it is very creamy, it is just slightly too stiff for spreading, and I ended up just dolloping pieces onto the dough.  I was afraid if I tried to spread it, it would damage the dough.  I knew that it would melt quite easily, and spread, though, so I wasn't worried about total coverage.  I was more worried that I wouldn't be able to resist trying a little piece of it and robbing the pizza of a dollop of goodness.
     The figs were a bit of a mystery to me.  As I mentioned before, I have never had fresh figs before and was totally clueless on how to prepare them.  I did a little Internet research and found that I just needed to run them under cool water to clean them, remove the stems, slice, and eat (or put on a pizza, as it were).  I tried a piece while preparing them and was a little disappointed.  They were somewhat firm and not very flavorful.  I wonder if our fresh figs weren't exactly ripe?  I will have to do more research on that at a later date.  They sure were pretty, though - purple and green on the outside and a lovely geode-like pink center...

           The original recipe suggested making some sort of "Sweet Crunchy Nut" concoction that they did not provide the recipe for (it was in some other cookbook that the author had published).  I had just been to the Farmer's Market the weekend before and bought some spiced candied almonds.  I liked that idea better.  I didn't have to do anything additional, and I thought that they would go fantastically with the Cambozola. They were crunchy and sweet with a slight kick to them.
     When the pizza came out of the oven, I was a little disappointed to see that the the figs had lost some of their attractiveness.  Their pink centers had dulled a bit, and they weren't nearly as vibrant as they were before their journey into the oven.
     The flavor of the pizza was fantastic, however.  The creaminess of the blue cheese was fantastic against the tartness of the figs and the spice of the almonds.  The almonds added a little crunch to the rest of the soft ingredients.  This would be a fantastic appetizer pizza.  Despite the honey and the figs, it really wasn't sweet enough for a dessert, but I would eat it for any part of a meal!

ALMOND BLUEBERRY DESSERT PIZZA

Adapted from The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin

4 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup unsweetened almond butter

1/3 cup skim milk

1 cup blueberry jam

4 ounces fresh blueberries

4 ounces dark chocolate curls

Make the crust:  Preheat the oven to 300º F.  In the bowl of a large stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, and almond extract.  Beat at a high speed until foamy.  Add the sugar and continue whisking until glossy peaks form.  Line a 15 inch deep dish pan with parchment paper.  Spread the egg white mixture over the parchment paper.  Bake in preheated oven for an hour, then turn the oven off, but leave the pan in the closed oven for another hour.  Remove pan from oven, place it on a wire rack and allow it to cool completely.

Assemble:  Combine the almond butter and milk together in a medium sized bowl, and stir until smooth and "pourable".  Very carefully spread the almond mixture over the meringue crust.  Warm the blueberry jam in the microwave until slightly thinned.  Drizzle it over the almond butter, and lightly spread with the back of a spoon.  Sprinkle fresh blueberries on top and cover with the chocolate curls.  Cut into wedges and serve.

   
     I have very little experience with meringues, and I was thankful that I started the crust for the dessert pizza on Wednesday.  There was quite a bit of prep time.  It seemed like it took forever to get the whites to stiffen into peaks.  Just as I was about to give up on them they started to fluff up.  Once the soft peaks had formed, it needed to bake for an hour, then rest in the oven for an hour.  There would have been no way for me to get that done on Thursday in time for us to eat it before everyone went home.
     The meringue seemed to come out okay, but it was so fragile!  The recipe suggested taking it out of the pan and putting it on a platter before adding the remaining ingredients, but when I started to lift it out of the pan, it started cracking, and I was afraid it would shatter.  I decided it was staying in the pan.

     My parents had made a rare appearance, so I decided to put my mother to work grating the chocolate.  I think she enjoyed it... She was smiling, after all.

     While she did that, I worked on the rest of the toppings.  I mixed up the almond butter and the milk, and it didn't exactly become "pourable".  I suppose I could have added more milk, but I was afraid of losing the richness of the almond butter.  The trick, then, was to get the almond mixture onto the meringue without crushing it.

     I did what I could one dollop at a time and gently spread it over the fragile, fragile crust.  There was a little cracking, and I'm sure more of the meringue broke than I could see, but I kept on going.  It was going to be what it was going to be, and I wasn't stopping now.

     The blueberry preserves did become more liquid-like in the microwave for a few seconds, and I was mostly able to just pour it like a sauce over the almond butter.

   

The rest of the assembly was, well, as easy as pie!  I threw on the blueberries, scattered mom's grated chocolate, and viola!  We had a dessert.



     It was gorgeous in the pan, but as I had suspected, the crust all but shattered.  When we served it up, it was more like a glob of dessert than a piece or a slice...  The taste was great, though.  It was almost like a ramped up peanut butter cup.  The almond and the chocolate would have been great by itself, but the blueberry added in gave it pop and an extra jump of sweetness.

Quiche Crust Pizza; Tuna & Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

    A crustless quiche pizza was appealing to me.  Especially since our whole gluten-free experiences in July.  Reading through the instructions, it sounded to me like a giant omelet with all of the ingredients on top of the egg, instead of rolled up inside.

QUICHE-CRUST PIZZA

Adapted from The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin

8 large eggs

4 egg whites

1 cup evaporated milk

1 green onion

¼ cup chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

4 ounces kielbasa sausage

½ teaspoon dried oregano

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350º F.  Blend the eggs, whites, evaporated milk, green onion, parsley, salt, and pepper together until the frothy.  Spray a deep dish pizza pan or large cake pan with cooking spray.  Pour the egg mixture into prepared pan.  Sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top of the egg mixture.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove quiche from the oven and top with the kielbasa, tomatoes, oregano, and mozzarella.  Return to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted, about 10 minutes.

     It was a little disconcerting that the egg mixture was so green.  I guess I should have expected it, but it was still a strange color to me.  The pictures don't really do it justice, but the mixture was definitely green.

   

The "batter" for the quiche was really runny.  I was worried that it wasn't going to set up.  But, I kept going with the directions in the recipe and poured it into the prepared pan.  It barely fit, and my pan is an inch and a half deep!

Once the eggs were in the pan, I sprinkled over the cheese.  I thought it might sink, but it stayed floating on top (at least before I put it in the oven).

The eggs became even more green after baking, and the cheese disappeared into the meat of the quiche.

While it was baking, I prepared the toppings.  I started with the tomatoes.  I learned a great trick for speeding up halving grape tomatoes.  I can't remember if it was from Martha Stuart or Rachel Ray, but some t.v. personality suggested putting the tomatoes in a Tupperware lid and place another lid over the top of them.  Put slight pressure on the top lid with one hand, and cut horizontally between the two lids, and you have perfect halves.

The recipe originally called for ham, but in an effort to de-clutter my refrigerator, I decided to use some leftover kielbasa that I already had.

I was a little worried about the tuna pizza, but I was trying to keep an open mind.  I have never been a fan of canned tuna.  It specifically called for tuna from a can, but I couldn't bring myself to buy that.  I bought the tuna that comes in a foil pack.  Somehow, that seems a little more "fresh" and less fishy to me than it's tin counterpart.

Although she didn't voice it, Pam had reservations, too.  I could tell by the look on her face when I asked her to assemble the pizza.  It was there for a moment, and then it was gone - replaced by the forced smile she gets when she doesn't agree with a process but is not going to rock the boat.

TUNA AND ROASTED RED PEPPER PIZZA

Adapted from All the Best Pizza by Joie Warner

Dough:

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

3¼ cups bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup olive oil

Toppings:

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 ounces canned or bagged Albacore Tuna

4 ounces roasted red sweet pepper, chopped

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 ounces kalamata olives

4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Make the crust:  Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a medium bowl.  Set aside for about five minutes to allow the yeast to form a thin layer of foam on the top of the water.  Meanwhile, combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Add the olive oil and yeast mixture and run at medium speed until the dough comes together and begins to cling to the hook.  Remove from the mixer and form into a ball.  Place the ball in a medium-sized, greased bowl.  Cover loosely with a towel or a piece of waxed paper and set aside to rise. It should double in size in about an hour.  Divide dough in half.  Reserve half for another use.

Assemble:  Preheat oven to 450º F with pizza stone inside if using.  Roll or stretch dough out to a 15-16 inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board.  Brush the dough all over with the tablespoon of olive oil.  Sprinkle the tuna evenly over the dough.  Scatter the peppers over the tuna.  Salt and pepper the pizza.  Arrange the kalamatas over the peppers.  Cover everything with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted, starting to brown, and somewhat bubbly.  Slice and serve.

I had prepped all of the ingredients Wednesday night, so it was easy to pass off all of the pieces to Pam and have her assemble.  I had actually roasted sweet peppers instead of using the jarred ones, because I had some, and they were thinking about become inedible.  In other words, they were no longer at the peak freshness.  Roasting was easy.  I just cut them in half, discard the seeds, and laid them on a baking sheet with the insides down.  I put them in a preheated oven set to broil on high for a couple of minutes, until the skins started to char somewhat.  I took them out of the oven and placed them in a plastic zipper bag and seal the bag.  After they were cool, I was able to remove them from the bag and slip most of the charred skins off of the peppers.  

   

I really watched the timing on this pizza.  I was concerned that if the tuna were to cook too long, it may become fishy, and I certainly didn't want that.  We pulled it out of the oven as soon as it started to brown around the edges.

We were pleasantly surprised by this pizza.  The tuna was not fishy at all.  It was tender and a slightly sweet.  The roasted peppers complimented the flavor of the tuna, and the olives were a nice contrast to its richness.  Even Pam thought it was delicious (of course, what is she going to say - I made it!).

Gluten Free Sausage Mushroom Pizza that Jennifer made

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