southwestern pizza

I love pizza.  Jeff disagrees with me.  He says that since my pizza is cheese-less (lactose intolerant & personal choice) its technically a flatbread.  Whatever.  I love flatbread.  :)

This version was just for me, so no cheese.  It tastes great this way, but I have included cheese in the accompanying recipe.

I love how versatile pizza is.  I generally make an uber veggie one for myself, and pepperoni or BBQ chicken for Jeff.  It is a great source of happiness for me that the boys also prefer my veggie filled pizza.  For the win!

I wanted to try some new pizza flavors, and southwestern seemed like a good place to start.  If all goes well, look for another new flavor coming soon.

This pizza is so good!  Tons of fresh veggies, lots of flavor, and refried beans?  Yes please!

Sorry, not much more to say, I just couldn't stop taking photos...

southwestern pizza
makes 1 large pizza

ingredients:

• 2/3 can of refried beans (I used vegetarian beans, waaay less sodium)
• 4 garlic cloves, diced
• 1/3 large green bell pepper, sliced thin
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup corn
• handful of tomatoes (your choice which veriety, I used sun gold), sliced
• 1/2 small can sliced black olives
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• fresh cilantro for garnishing (optional)
• your favorite pizza dough (I love the Pioneer Woman's recipe)

directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  In a small oven safe pan roast the garlic, bell pepper, onion, and corn in the olive oil for 30 minutes.  Take out and set aside.
2. Set oven to 500 degrees F.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and lay down rolled out pizza dough.  Spread evenly with refried beans.  Top with the roasted veggies, tomato slices, olives, and seasonings.  Bake for 11-12 minutes.  
3. Remove form oven, cool for several minutes.  Top with optional cilantro and serve.

note: This pizza is almost better the next day.  I usually love cold pizza, but not one with beans on it.  To reheat bake on a baking sheet at 375 degrees F for 6 minutes.  Delicious!

butternut squash and onion flatbread

This is what I would call a version of pizza, but Jeff won't let me.  He says it doesn't count as pizza unless it is smothered in cheese, which this is not.  So I'm just going to call it flatbread.  Just go with it.

I know this looks really simple but it tastes amazing.

Start by sauteing the butternut squash and the onions in separate pans with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt for each.

The onions should end up soft and smell very fragrant.

The squash should end up fork tender and golden.

By sauteing the squash and onions in separate pans, you can take them off the heat as soon as they are done, and it doesn't matter if they are finished at different times.

Roll out your pizza dough, I use The Pioneer Woman's recipe (listed below).  Then make sure to stab it all over with a fork so it doesn't rise too much.

Spread out the squash and onions evenly on your crust.

Sprinkle with parmesan, thyme, and a bit of cayenne.

Bake in a 500 degree F oven for 13-15 minutes, until the crust is golden.

The squash looks a little dark in the photos, but not so much in real life.  It turned out perfectly, soft, but with great texture.  The flatbread in general was so good!  Sweet and savory.

This made a perfect side dish to go with my lentil soup.

One Basic Pizza Crust

Prep Time:

 1 Hour

 

Cook Time:

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 12

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon (scant) Active Dry Yeast
• 3/4 cups Warm Water
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Preparation Instructions

Sprinkle yeast over 3/4 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.

Note: it’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance.

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butternut squash and onion flatbread

by Liesl August-6-2014

sweet and savory almost-pizza

Ingredients

• 1 dough recipe
• 1/2 medium butternut squash, cubed
• 1 small yellow onion, cut
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tbsp parmesan
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp cornmeal
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 pinches salt

Instructions

1. Prep pizza dough according to directions. Meanwhile, in separate pans saute butternut squash and sliced onion in 1 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt each. Stir often to prevent burning on medium-low heat. When the squash is fork tender and lightly golden, and the onion is soft and fragrant remove from heat.2. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Spread out prepared rolled out dough on baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray and lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Use a fork to stab the dough with tiny holes all over to prevent too much rising. Evenly spread out squash and onion. Top with parmesan, thyme, and cayenne. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the crust has lightly browned. Remove and let sit for 5 minutes before eating.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour 10 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 1 hour 25 mins Yield: 1 large pizza

breakfast pizza

I love making breakfast, but I can only make waffles so many times before I get really bored.  I've tried every flavor combination I can think of, but I still needed to try something new.  Breakfast pizza sounded like a good choice.  It has everything you'd want to eat for breakfast all in one item, and you can eat it easily with one hand.  Great when trying to hold a baby and feed a crazy toddler.  Don't be thrown off because this pizza doesn't have sauce, the eggs are liquidy enough when first added that you don't need sauce.

I used The Pioneer Woman's pizza dough recipe, because it's amazing, and added the cheese.

Pour the whisked eggs over the cheese , making sure the crust edge is high enough to contain it.

Spread the chopped bacon and potatoes evenly on top

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and beautifully fluffy and delicious.

As usual, I used The Pioneer Woman's pizza dough, because it is the best.  I made it the night before and stuck it in the fridge overnight in a saran wrap covered bowl.

ingredients:
2 C cheddar cheese, grated
4 eggs
4 strips of bacon
3/4 C O'Brian potatoes (I used defrosted Ore-Ida)

directions:
1.  Make the pizza dough the night before and place it in the fridge in a saran wrap covered bowl.  Follow the directions on the Pioneer Woman's site for that.  In the morning pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees F.  Take the dough out and stretch it out between two cookie sheets sprayed with PAM.  The dough is pretty elastic, so I use a rolling pin to help stretch it, then poke the dough for a fork.  Make sure you have raised edges on your crust so when you add the eggs, they won't pour out over the sides.
2.  Sprinkle the cheddar onto the dough, then whisk the eggs and pour them evenly over the cheese.  Add the bacon and potatoes evenly on top and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is golden and the eggs look cooked through.
3.  Remove the pizza and let it cool on the counter for 5 minutes before you cut it.

BBQ chicken pizza

I never buy pizza anymore.  Why bother when the pizza I make at home is way cheaper, tastes better, and is super easy.  Unless I desperately need pizza in under an hour, I make it.

The secret is good crust.  Pizza needs a solid foundation.  If the dough sucks, the pizza can only be OK, not awesome.  You can make whatever thickness you want, but I personally like my crust to be thick enough to support my massive amount of toppings, while still being crispy and chewy.

My favorite pizza dough recipe isn't actually mine.  It belongs to The Pioneer Woman.  BTW, she and her recipes are amazing.  I have 2 of her cookbooks.
Check her out at the pioneer woman.

Also, as you might have noticed, I'm a bit of a novice at taking pictures of food.  I'll figure it out eventually.  I hope.  :)

 Bake chicken breasts and dice to put on pizza

All the ingredients you'll need: dough ball, BBQ sauce, mozzarella, gouda, chicken

When the crust has browned and the cheese has melted your pizza is done.  Let it sit on the counter for a few minutes so the cheese can firm up a bit.  This will make cutting into the pizza much easier.  Don't worry, pizza retains its heat quite well.  It will still be hot.


pizza dough
ingredients:
1 1/2 C warm water
1 tsp dry yeast
4 C AP flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil

directions:
1. combine water and yeast to combine.  Let sit about 10 minutes, until bubbly.
2. in a stand mixer combine flour and salt.  Slowly add in olive oil, then yeast mixture.  Mix on low until the dough forms a ball.
3. Cover mixing bowl and let the dough sit 1-2 hours, or until doubled.  If you want to make the dough ahead of time it can really sit out all day.
4. preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  Divide the dough in half and using your hands or a rolling pin roll the dough out onto a baking sheet covered in non-stick spray.  Each pizza will be about the size of a commercial large unless you want really thick crust.
5. add toppings and bake for 12 minutes.  Enjoy.  Makes for great leftovers eaten cold, if any leftovers exist. They might not.  Wouldn't surprise me.


BBQ chicken pizza

ingredients:
chicken breasts (I use 2 small breasts for each pizza)
2 C mozzarella
1 C gouda
1 C BBQ sauce, divided

directions:
1. defrost chicken breasts if necessary.  Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes with 1/4 cup BBQ sauce brushed over them.
2.  Let chicken cool and dice.  Mix the pieces with an additional 1/4 cup BBQ sauce.
3.  after rolling out dough stab all with a fork to keep the dough from rising and puffing up too much.  Spread the last 1/2 cup BBQ sauce over dough.  Cover in both cheeses.  Spread chicken on top.  Bake at 500 degrees for 12-15 minutes until the edges of the crust are very lightly golden.
4. if you can, wait a minute or so for the cheese to firm up before cutting.  Then enjoy!

My pizzas normally aren't pretty because I'm never able to roll them out perfectly round, but really, who cares?  Besides, the finished product tastes so yummy that the pizza disappears in about a minute anyway.