Pizza? Hell yeah I'll make pizza. I love making pizza. I have a bread machine that makes the dough. Anyone who thinks it's a piece of equipment that just takes up space needs to taste the difference between premade dough and bread machine dough. Sure, I could make it all by hand, but I'll save that for the professionals.
My pizza of choice was pesto margarita. The layers are:
dough - pesto sauce (I made pesto months ago and froze it in ice cube trays for easy use) - diced tomatoes with jalapenos (drained well) - shredded mozzarella - fresh basil - minced garlic
To grill or not to grill. That was the question. If not for the rain, I would have (maybe) attempted to grill it. Maybe I would have made one personal pizza on the grill and the other in the oven. Weather conditions as they were, they both were baked in the oven, on a pizza stone. If you're going to make pizza, please invest in a pizza stone. The crust just crisps up so much nicer with one.
The pizza was delicious. I never made a pesto margarita pizza before. It came out better than I had expected. The crust was crispy enough to stand up to the bite test. (My pet peeve is when you order a pizza and you go to take a bite just to have all the toppings slide off the slice.) If people wonder why I'm not a fan of ordering pizza when I go out, this is why. So, bottom line, I'll definitely make this pizza again. I think I'm going to enjoy finding different toppings to use. I'd love to know what everyone likes to put on their pizzas. Doesn't everyone have a favorite?
Meredith's Pizza
OH Today was BUSY! I have no clue why I decided to build a smoker, smoke a turkey, make pasta sauce, grill some chicken AND make pizzas. I'm exhausted!
I made two different pizzas. I took the easy road and used two doughs I bought at Trader Joe's. On the first (whole wheat) dough I did: my homemade sauce (spicy!), pepperoni, roasted onions, roasted red peppers and mozzarella. I tossed fresh red peppers and a vidalia onion with some olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted at 375 for about an hour. I think the pepper was my favorite part of the entire meal.
The second crust (garlic and herb I think?) got a white treatment. I made a white sauce by sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil and then stirring in some light cream- finished with a little salt, pepper and fresh thyme. This went on first followed by a ricotta mixture (ricotta, thyme, garlic), caramelized onions, roasted garlic, prosciutto, and mozzarella.
To be honest I preferred the traditional red sauced pizza. The white pizza came out heavier than I'd have liked and the prosciutto ended up being moot- I think it was too delicate to hold up to the richness of the cream sauce and the ricotta. Bacon would have gone nicely here. The grilling of the pizzas is something I'd like to perfect in the future. My first attempt proved slightly undercooked in some spots- I feel the right temp on the grill and a better stretching of the dough is key.
(I couldn't decide on a pic)
Mmm I love Pizza they all look great but the only way I could eat your's Meredith is if ya left out the spicey.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Pizza is Ham, Pineapple, extra Cheese & easy sauce W/thick crust.
No spice Trukindog? MAN! That's my secret ingredient to almost everything I cook!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to start by saying that I was thrilled when Laura told me to stop by our mom's house b/c there was stromboli waiting for me and my husband, but my only question.....WHERE THE HELL WAS MY PESTO PIZZA???
ReplyDeleteicee, I have 2 words for ya darlin Geographic Tongue! If you've never heard of it you should Goggle it, I have endured various degrees of it my whole life, I feel the "spicy" 50 times more intensely than one with a normal tongue does.
ReplyDeleteBut don't cry for me Argentina, I've learned to live with it...like I had a choice. :-)
Danielle, the pesto pizza is in mah belly and it was delicious!
ReplyDelete