Thursday, August 4, 2011

Pizza! ...again...

I've previously blogged about pizza, but me & avi made pizza last night so I figured I'd blog about it again. My previous post lists some "pizza essentials" so check it out if you haven't already!

Now, I know pizza dough is very easy to make, but I rarely ever do, because I usually don't really have time. Trader Joe's dough (99 cents a ball of dough- comes in whole wheat, white, or herb) is good & easy enough for my job! Last night Avi rolled out the dough on some flour, & put in on the pizza pan (check out the previous post for my go-to pizza pan, Wilton). Poke the edges with your fingertips to make a crust. Last night we did marinara sauce, kale, red onion, sundried tomatoes (on my side), & Natural & Kosher's Mexican shredded cheese blend - yum!

I forgot to actually take a picture of it, but I did practically the same thing at last post. That is the thing with pizza- there are no rules. You can put fruit on your pizza for that matter, you can make sweet pizza with cinnamon, sugar, chocolate, cocoa powder, or a drizzle of honey! I personally love the heartiness of a green (spinach or kale). A few weeks ago I skipped the tomato sauce, brushed pesto on the dough, & topped with my favorite toppings, as well as dots of ricotta cheese. The pictures that I do have are my pizzas I made Erev Shavuos for the first night meal. One was simply tri-colored peppers, mushroom, and basil chiffonade on garlic-herb crust, & the other was spinach, pepper & caramelized onion on whole wheat. I topped both of them with shredded mozzerella. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the finished baked product because I put them in as Yuntif began.

Pre-cheese...
 Post-cheese...

Pizza does not need that long to cook, I bake mine at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or so, because I like a softer crust, & cheese that is just golden brown.

Here are some ideas that you can try on YOUR pizza:

Base
-Marinara sauce
-Tomato Paste (a thicker, deeper tomato flavor)
-Pesto
-Sundried tomato basil sauce (brand: Schneider's)
-Ricotta cheese (as the base, topped with vegetables & then shredded mozzerella on top for a white pizza, or even just without the shredded cheese)
-Cinnamon sugar topped with caramelized apples (sliced apples sauteed in a pan with some brown sugar)


Toppings (these aren't exclusive, can be modified or even combined)
-Asian style (also vegan)= toasted sesame seeds generously sprinkled on the dough, topped with snow peas, pea shoots, shredded carrots, & dot with cubed tofu
-Greek style pizza= (sauce), black or green kalamata olives, fresh or dried oregano, cherry tomatoes, bake & then top with feta cheese during the last 2 minutes of baking just to slightly warm - YUM
-Hawaiian style= sauce, spinach (okay maybe not exactly specific to Hawaiian, but looks good!), pineapple (fresh or canned in pineapple juice), shredded cheese
-Israeli style= sprinkle zaatar on the dough, drizzle with olive or grapeseed oil, and top with Israeli olives, no cheese necessary but can definitely put on. This would be just delicious dipped in chummus- so then I guess it wouldn't actually be considered pizza ;-)
-Italian style= caprese: marinara sauce (or just sliced tomatoes), basil & FRESH thick-sliced mozzarella. (Updated caprese: pesto, sundried tomato, & shredded cheese)
-"Meat" style= look for soy sausage, soy pepperoni, or soy ground beef (can find both at Trader Joe's) to top your pizza with. You can even go all meat & use actual (cooked) ground beef, top with caramelized onions & spices

Practically anything in the produce section of the grocery store can be put on a pizza!!! As you can probably tell, kale or spinach & onion on mine is my absolute favorite. Be creative!!

:-)
E

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