From Scratch Pizza

Yum. Homemade Pepperoni and Olive Pizza.

 Homemade Red Sauce. YUM, seriously I have a trick to make this so delicious!

 Sauce on homemade dough.

 Top it how you like. There is a reason for the Christmas plastic placemat, but you could probably use an Easter one too... ;o)

 Waiting to cut into is so important, but it sure is hard to wait!

An old friend introduced me to Ranch dressing on my pizza and now there is no turning back. At least, homemade makes it good for you! (Please ignore the chips in my dishes, I usually angle my camera away from them, but this time I was too much in a hurry to eat!)

Okay, I've been on hiatus for awhile so at least I'm bringing you three yummy recipes all at once. I've done pizza on this blog before, but it's been awhile and this time I have some new methods. Now this is a traditional yeasty recipe, but if you are looking for grain free crusts, you should try a cauliflower crust or an almond crust pizza, they are actually really good!
-Amanda

Pizza Crust

1 cup of warm water
2.5 tsp of yeast (or one packet)
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup olive oil
3 (ish) cups of flour (I used white-wheat)
2 tbsp gluten
1.5 tsp salt
cornmeal

Water should be warm, but you should be able to comfortably put your finger in it. If it is too hot for you finger it will kill the yeast. Sprinkle yeast in the water and add the honey. Whisk with a fork and set aside for 5-10 minutes. Get out either your food processor or your kitchenaid mixer (I've used both for this recipe) if you use the processor, the regular metal blade will work. If you use your mixer use the dough hook. You could also do this by hand, you'll just need to knead for a lot longer.

Pour the flour, gluten, olive oil and salt in your mixer. And stir to get it mixed in. (You can leave out the gluten, your crust just won't be as stretchy.) When the yeast has bubbled up quite a bit, pour it in the flour and mix for a good 10 minutes. If you are doing it by hand knead for 15-20 minutes. Your dough should be shiny and pulled away from the sides of the mixer. If it isn't pulling away and is really sticky within the first minute or two of mixing, slowly sprinkle more flour in until it does. Take the dough out, roll it in a ball, coat thinly with more olive oil and let it rest in a warm spot for at least an hour.

Meanwhile....

Red Sauce
(By the way, this sauce is easy to make in bulk and then freeze)

1 can of crushed/diced OR pureed tomatoes (I get the big can... I think it's 32 oz?)
1/2 stick of butter (the secret ingredient)
1.5 tbsp of dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
3-5 cloves garlic (depending on how garlicy you want it and how big your cloves are)
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes (more if you want a spicy sauce)
salt and pepper to taste

Basically, put all the ingredients in a pot (I grate the garlic in) and stir until the butter melts and incorporates in the sauce. Then let it bubble away on low on your stove for 30 minutes up to an hour. Depending on if you are using this for a pizza or a spaghetti sauce, is what kind of tomatoes you want to start with. Or, if you only have diced tomatoes like I did, then I used my stick immersion blender to puree it up. This sauce is SO good, and don't you dare skimp out on the butter.

Using high quality butter from grass fed cows (kerrygold is a great brand) is actually GOOD for you. Read this article on the Untold Story of Butter. Also, eating enough high quality animal fats helps with preventing sunburns!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

There are fancy homemade recipes, but I like my simple one. It does start with homemade mayo, which does take some practice.

1 cup of homemade mayo
1/4 -1/2 cup sour cream (do this to how sour you like the taste)
1/2 tsp grated garlic clove
2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp celery seed
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together and enjoy!

I love the quote, "If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, first you must create the universe." So keeping this in mind, I could have taken this pizza even further by making my own mozzarella and a few of the other prepared ingredients, like the pepperoni, but I'm satisfied with this "from scratch" version!

Lobster Pizza

Growing up in New England there are several foods that indicate summer is upon us…One of those foods is the LOBSTAH! Oh Lobster, how I love thee..
Now if you are ever lucky enough to have left over lobster, there are many things make with the left over deliciousness, such as the Lobster Roll or Lobster Bisque, or even Lobster Chowdah. However a lobster pizza is a great option, especially if you want to stretch a little left over lobster pretty far.

Lobster Pizza
Pizza Dough
1 Tablespoon of yeast
1 Cup of medium hot water (105-115 degrees F...hot to the touch, but not scalding)
1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 salt.
3Cups or more of flour

1 Tablespoon of yeast dissolved in 1 Cup of med-hot water, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. When it "proofs" (20 +- minutes), add 2C flour with a spoon then add, by kneading, 1C or more of flour.
Grease the bowl, turn dough in bowl, cover and let rise. Place in warmish room. Several hours later punch down the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin or with hands pressing into pan.

Let rise again then add the fixings.

Pizza Fixings
After the first amazing lobster dinner, or just with cooked lobsters, removed all meat from the shell, including the tail, claws, smaller claws and around the belly. Chop up the lobster into bite size chunks. Reserve tasty meat for later.
After the dough rises in the pan, spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce on dough and sprinkle on shredded cheese. For a nice rich blend of cheese, use mozzarella, cheddar and a little parmesan. Throw on some thinly sliced Vidalia onions. Cook pizza until 3/4 done, about 20 minutes at 425 F. Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle Lobster meat on pizza. Put the pizza in the oven for about 10 minutes more until the cheese is bubbly, crust is golden and lobster meat is hot.
Then gorge!
-Jules

What's For Dinner at My House: BBQ Chicken Pizza

For dinner tonight I used Almond Flour Crust Pizza and the BBQChicken Pizza I had made before and combined to make one dish. I did make my own  honey bar-b-q sauce this go around from some homemade fermented ketchup. Of course the probiotic aspects of the fermented ketchup get nixed when you heat it over 110 degrees, which I did while making the BBQ sauce, but still knowing it is a BBQ sauce without high fructose corn syrup, msg or other weird chemicals made me feel good about the dish.
-Amanda

Almond Flour Crust Pizza

I guess I've switched from soups to pizza today, since this is my second pizza recipe in a row. I found this Almond Flour Crust Pizza a few days ago and knew I wanted to try it. It passed the test! Everyone in the family ate it up. Be warned though, the pizzas may be small, but they are filling. I got the recipe from ComyBelly and it's a good one.

I made my own Almond Flour by first making "Crispy Almonds." You make crispy nuts by soaking your nut of choice in water and salt for 24 hours to break down the phytic acid, which isn't good for you. Then either on the lowest setting of your oven, or a dehydrator, dry the nuts out for 12 hours until crispy and tasty. They actually taste much better this way! To make almond flour, just process a few almonds at a time in a food processor and sift the "flour" away from the bigger pieces. Don't over process or you will make a nut butter.
-Amanda

Almond Flour Crust

(from ComfyBelly)

1 1/2 cups of almond flour
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (or another hard cheese, grate finely)
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of oregano
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of basil
favorite pizza toppings (cheese, sausage, mushrooms, bell pepper, ect.)

Mix almond flour, parmesan, salt, oregano, garlic powder and basil in a medium size bowl. In a small bowl beat two eggs with olive oil. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Using a 3 tbsp scoop, place six scoops of the dough on either a sil-pat or parchment paper that is on a large cookie sheet. Put a bit of olive oil on your finger tips and flatten dough out into a circle. It won't spread when you cook it so you only need to leave a small space between each crust. Bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake until cheese is bubbly.

Butternut Squash Pizza

I was reading my favorite cooking/nutrition blogs a few days ago, and came across this idea for a recipe. I wish I could give credit, because these are REALLY good. I did add caramelized onions and tomato sauce to the recipe, but the idea to use the squash this way wasn't mine. Anyway, this is a must try recipe, it is really terrific!
-Amanda

Butternut Squash Pizza

1 butternut squash with the longest neck possible
1 lb of bulk sweet Italian sausage (no nitrates added, no high-fructose corn syrup)
1 block of feta cheese
1 large onion
olive oil, salt and pepper
favorite tomato sauce

Pre-heat oven to 375. Peel butternut squash and cut into 1/2" disks, be careful to make them the same thickness so they cook evenly. Rub each disk with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake on a cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes until you can easily pierce with a fork. Meanwhile, brown sausage in a skillet. Slice onion into very thin slices and saute them in a little olive oil (or bacon grease) while the sausage is a different skillet. Cook the onions on medium  heat for 20-30 minutes.

Remove butternut squash from the oven and switch the oven to broil. Assemble the pizzas by placing a bit of sausage on each disk, top it with a bit of onion and then the feta cheese. Place under the broiler for 4-5 minutes until feta starts to brown. Serve on top of some tomato sauce. It'd be great with some fresh basil on top, but I'm not sure if butternut squash and basil are ever in the same season? Anyway, this was a huge hit for our family and I think I'll hide the leftovers!

Pizza Soup

The flavor of pizza without the carbs. This soup was surprisingly really good! And after I took my first bite, I did exclaim, "This DOES taste like pizza!" That was followed by... "hum... although since I can't remember the last time I ate a pizza I could be off, but who cares, it tastes great!" It's basically a parmesan cream tomato soup with pizza toppings stirred in. It was a hit with the husband and both toddlers.
-Amanda

Pizza Soup

• 2 tbsp butter or left over bacon drippings
• 1 onion, diced small
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 tsp dried italian seasonings
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• sea salt to taste
• 1/2 - 1 lb hamburger meat
• 2, 28 oz cans of tomatoes
• 2 (more) cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp (more) of dried italian seasoning
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 green bell peper
• whole milk mozzarella cheese
• kalmata olives, sliced
• pepperchini sliced

In a large pot, melt butter or bacon drippings. Sauted a diced onion and 3 cloves of garlid chopped fine. Add one sliced bell pepper. When onions are soft, add ground hamburger meat. As meat is cooking add salt, 2 tsp italian seasonings, 1 tsp oregano and fennel seeds. When meat is cooked through, remove it to a bowl and set aside.

Put two cans of tomatoes in the pot. Add roughly chopped garlic, more of the italian seasonings and butter. Bring to a boil. With an immersion blender, puree the tomatoes until they are very smooth. Add heavy cream and blend it in. Pour meat mixture back into the pot and stir in with the tomatoes. Dice the green bell pepper and add it to the soup. Let simmer for at least 20 minutes. Serve with grated mozzarella cheese, kalmata olives and pepperchini on top.

Omelet Braid

I made this by using a Pampered Chef recipe from the "All the Best" cookbook as my launching point. I changed the croissant dough for homemade pizza dough and I just made a simple egg/bacon/cheese stuffing. I brought it to a kid friendly brunch this morning and it was a hit for the grown-ups and kids alike.
-Amanda

Omelet Braid

Basic Pizza Dough (or crescent dough package)
8 eggs
1/4 cup Greek Yogurt or cream cheese
8 strips of bacon
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 tbsp flour

Cook your bacon using your favorite method. (I laid it out on my Pampered Chef Stoneware Bar Pan and baked at 400 for 20 minutes, then chopped it.) While bacon is cooking, in a big bowl crack 7 eggs and the yolk of the 8th egg. Reserve the 1 egg white for later. Add yogurt to the eggs. Whisk to mix together. Add salt and pepper and 1 tbsp of flour. Last mix in chopped bacon. Roll pizza dough into a large rectangle. Every 1.5 inches cut a slice in the dough to almost the middle.

Lay egg mixture down the center of the dough. Then bring each section together over the egg mixture, twisting the sides together and laying it down over the eggs. Work your way down the length of the dough. Pinch off any dough that is too thick and discard. Brush the dough with the egg white. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Veggitastic Pizza

I have been craving my mother’s pizza lately.  There are pizza places here but they are not hitting the spot.  Of course, as they are not my mother, I guess that is acceptable.    I called my mother and got her recipe for dough.  I used tomato sauce I had made for eggplant parmigiana a couple of weeks ago and froze.  I swear, it is the dough that makes the difference.

Mum’s Super Awesome Pizza Dough

1 Tbls yeast
1 Cup med-hot water (105-115 degrees F...hot to the touch, but  not scalding). 
1 tsp of sugar and 1/2 salt.
3 cups of Flour

Dissolve 1 Tablespoon yeast in 1Cup med-hot water (105-115 degrees F...hot to the touch, but not scalding).   Add 1 tsp of sugar and 1/2 salt.
Let is rest for about 20 minutes while it "proofs."  After it has "proofed" or the yeast has activated add 2C flour with a spoon.  Then, by kneading,  add 1Cup of flour.
Knead the bread into a rounded ball, grease bowl, turn dough in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for several hours
Punch down and roll out with a rolling pin or with your hands press into the pan.  Let rise again then add the "fixins." 

Makes about two pizzas.

"Fixins"
I used red peppers, green peppers, onions, mushrooms ad broccoli.   (I lightly steamed the broccoli before I put it on the pizza.)  

-Jules