Greek Pita Pizza

I'm always looking for ways to use up my extra vegetables, cheese, and other ingredients that I don't quite use up when cooking a meal. I came across this recipe for greek pizzas, and the best thing about them is that they are healthy and delicious. I was able to use up my extra vegetables, feta, and hummus to make a sensible lunch. The original recipe uses a round of pita bread for the crust, but I already had flatbread wraps available in my pantry. Use whatever you fancy; either way will be delicious.


Greek Pita Pizza

Ingredients:
1 whole-wheat or high-fiber pita or tortilla/flatbread
1/4 cup red pepper hummus
1/4 cup fat-free or reduced-fat feta cheese
1/4 cup sliced zucchini
2 slices red onion, chopped
1/4 cup sliced red pepper
slices of tomato (or a few cherry tomatoes, sliced)
Pinch of salt and pepper
Few olives, sliced
Optional toppings: Chicken breast (cut into slices), spinach, sliced green onions

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425-F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray, (or cover with non-stick foil or parchment paper) and lay pita in center.

Spread hummus over the pita leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge to make the "crust." Top pizza with toppings. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place pizza in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and slightly browned.

Source: Dashing Dish

BBQ Chicken Calzones

I love homemade pizza crust, but if I want to be honest with myself, I just don't have the time to make it very often. My new secret to a wonderful homemade pizza crust is to drive down the road to the local pizza shop and purchase the dough. I usually buy a couple of crusts and stick one in the freezer since they freeze really well.

This recipe is from the recipe swap that I participate in, and I was so pumped when I got this one. Chicken was the theme this week, and this recipe came from The Jey of Cooking. The original recipe is for a pizza, but I decided to make calzones. Who doesn't like their own little hand pie? These calzones were so good. My man helped me make these, and he kept raving about how good they were. He's already hinting around that he wants us to have these again, and I'm all in! I used the Easy Peasy BBQ Sauce for this recipe, and the flavors were perfect with the chicken and bacon.


BBQ Chicken Calzones

Ingredients:
1 recipe of pizza dough
2 chicken breasts from a rotisserie chicken, chopped or shredded
1/2  small red onion, chopped
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup Ranch dressing
Shredded cheddar cheese, to taste
1/2 package bacon, cooked and diced (I used turkey bacon)
1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped
Olive oil cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat oven and pizza stone to 500-degrees.

In a bowl, mix together the bbq sauce and ranch dressing. Add the chicken and stir to combine.

Divide the pizza dough into 4 even pieces. Stretch each piece into a circle and place on a lightly floured surface to prevent sticking.

Spread 1/4 of the chicken mixture onto one half of each circle, leaving a 1-inch edge. Sprinkle with bacon, onion, cheese, and oregano. Fold into a half moon shape and crimp the edges with your fingers or with a fork. Spray the top of each calzone with cooking spray for even browning.

Place calzones onto the preheated pizza stone and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.

Serve warm with extra bbq-ranch sauce for dipping.

***Calzones freeze really well. Let them cool after baking and then wrap each one in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped calzones into a freezer bag and freeze.

Source: recipe from The Jey of Cooking

Phyllo Pizza with Feta, Basil, and Tomatoes

This pizza really stood out to me because of the dough. I've only worked with phyllo dough once in my life, and I absolutely love the crunch it gives when it is cooked. One thing to remember when you're working with phyllo dough is to keep it covered at all times with a damp paper towel. It's so fragile, and it will dry out and break if it's not covered.
The only change I would make to this recipe is to decrease the amount of feta cheese or leave it out all together. I felt like it made the pizza too salty, and the taste overpowered the other cheeses. Don't get me wrong -- I love feta, but not so much in this dish.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/2 cup finely crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
10 (18x14-inch) sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
Olive Oil or Butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups thinly sliced plum tomato
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl.
Cut phyllo sheets in half crosswise. Working with 1 phyllo sheet half at a time (cover remaining dough to keep from drying), place phyllo sheet on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat phyllo sheet with cooking spray. Repeat with 2 more layers of phyllo. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cheese mixture. Repeat layers 5 times, ending with 2 phyllo sheets. Coat top phyllo sheet with cooking spray; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cheese mixture. Pat tomato slices with a paper towel. Arrange tomato slices on top of cheese, leaving a 1 inch border. Sprinkle with onions and the remaining 6 tablespoons cheese mixture. Bake at 375-degrees for 20 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with basil leaves.
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 slices)

Nutritional Info (per serving: calories 195; fat 6.7g; protein 9.3g; carbs 24.6g; fiber 1.9g; cholesterol 11.4mg; iron 1.7mg; sodium 526mg; calcium 158mg

Pita Pizza

This is my favorite week night meal to fix because it's so easy, and clean-up is a breeze.... not to mention that it's good, too. I decided to make this tonight because I had some veggies in the fridge that were about to go to waste. This was a good way to get rid of them and give us nutrition at the same time. You can put whatever you like on your pizza... this is just what we had in our fridge.



Ingredients:
2 (7-inch) pita flatbreads
1/3 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 green bell pepper, sliced
few slices of red onions
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.
Place pita on an un-greased cookie sheet. Top with pizza sauce, Mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, bell pepper, onions, and Parmesan cheese. Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

The Daring Bakers Challenge

Pizza

Yes, it's that time again... time for a challenge from the Daring Bakers. I was so excited when I found out that the challenge was going to be pizza. That was something that would make a good meal and not just an "extra" thing sitting around the house tempting me to take a bite.
This recipe for the crust (Pizza Napoletana) is from Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice." The crust is the best I've ever had, and cooking it on a pizza stone made it taste like it came right out of a brick oven. The crust is a thin crust with the edges puffy and chewy. The recipe makes enough for 6 pizzas, and you can freeze the dough for later use.... even better. The main challenge was to toss the dough. I didn't get a picture, but I did attempt... ehhm... unsuccessfully. The dough is so stretchy, and when I tossed it, I kinda ripped it... twice. So I just moved my fists around with the dough on top and stretched it that way.
(Recipe for the dough is at the bottom ... underneath the topping recipes)

Blackened Chicken Pizza

The first pizza topping I made is from Paua Deen magazine. It's made with a white sauce and lots of toppings. I really enjoyed it and thought it was VERY filling. The bacon gave it an extra smoky taste, but I think the pizza would be just as good without it. The chicken was AWESOME. I'm keeping that recipe to make chicken slices to go on a bed of lettuce for future salads.

Paula Deen's Blackened Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
3 tsp blackening seasoning, divided
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
4 TBSP butter, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white wine
3/4 cup whole milk
2 TBSP minced fresh basil
Pizza crust recipe (below)
1 and 1/2 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Sprinkle 2 tsp blackening seasoning evenly over chicken breast.
In a large skillet, melt 2 TBSP butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, or until chicken is done. Remove from heat, and cool. Cut chicken into thin strips; set aside.
In a large skillet, melt remaining 2 TBSP butter over medium heat. Add garlic and shallot, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in flour; cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in wine and milk. Cook, whisking constantly. for 4-5 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in basil and remaining 1 tsp blackening seasoning. Remove from heat.
Spread cream mixture evenly over prepared unbaked crust. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Top evenly with spinach, chicken strips, bacon, remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Bake according to pizza dough directions (below).


Classic Pizza Margarita
The second pizza I made is my favorite kind.... pizza margarita. I've never made my own tomato pizza sauce before, so this was a first for me. I gotta tell you, I'm never going back to the jar stuff. This was absolutely amazing with small chunks of tomatoes and onions, and the oregano gave it the perfect pizza sauce taste. The recipe for the sauce is adapted from foodnetwork.com and makes enough for 2 pizzas.

Ingredients:
(sauce)
1 can (28-ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, in juice
1 small white or sweet onion, finely diced and minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
3 to 4 fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch salt
Pinch fresh ground black pepper
Pinch sugar, optional
2 tablespoons olive oil, to saute
(toppings)
Mozzarella cheese cut into medallions
Basil leaves, whole
1-2 tomatoes, sliced

Directions:
Empty the contents of the tomato can in a mixing bowl and coarsely crush the tomatoes with a fork or your hands, leaving them just a little chunky. In a heavy bottom 2-quart saucepot, add the olive oil, over a medium high flame and heat a little. Add the onions and saute until slightly translucent. Add the garlic and saute about a minute until golden. Quickly add the crushed tomatoes to the mix. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and add the fresh basil and oregano. You can add a touch of sugar if desired or if tomatoes are tart. Simmer on a low flame, stirring often for at least 15 minutes. If not using right away, cool down and store in airtight container in the refrigerator, up to 1 week.
Place sauce on prepared pizza dough. Top with Mozzarella cheese medallions, basil leaves, and tomatoes. Bake according to dough directions (below).


And now for the dough recipe......
Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups
Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled
1 and 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1/4 Cup Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 and 3/4 Cups Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

Directions:

DAY ONE

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil (a few tablespoons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C). NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and re-flour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully, then try again.You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

***************NOTE ON SAUCE: Your sauce (any) should not be too thick as it will thicken in the hot oven. Less is more but make the less truly more by using quality ingredients.

Pizza

Recipe adapted from foodnetork.com

I do like the cheesy pepperoni pizzas, but sometimes it's nice to have something that's "fresh." Aubrey and I had fun cooking this tonight. He really likes working with anything that involves dough.... and he's good at it, too! We used fresh mozzarella medallions, fresh basil leaves, and freshly sliced tomatoes.

Ingredients:
Dough:
1 package active dry yeast (1/4 oz)
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 and 1/2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 and 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more if necessary
Toppings:
You can put any topping you want on the pizza, but we used the following.....
4-6 ounces pizza sauce
12 small basil leaves or 6 large leaves cut in half lengthwise
1 package of fresh mozzarella medallions (found in the gourmet cheese section)
3 Campari tomatoes (or any small tomato), thinly sliced

Directions:
In a large bowl combine yeast with water, olive oil, salt and stir well to proof. After 5 minutes, add half of the flour and mix well to thoroughly incorporate. Add all remaining flour except 1/2 cup and mix well with your hands.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead dough for at least 5 and up to 7 minutes, adding enough additional flour, as necessary, to form a smooth and elastic dough. Dough should not be sticky.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled 2 or 3 quart bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp towel or saran wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size,(1 to 1.5 hours).

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F and if you have a pizza stone place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Divide dough into 2 portions and form into balls. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and cover with a damp towel. Let rest for 15 minutes, then transfer to a lightly floured surface, shape as desired and roll out to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Transfer dough to a pizza peel and top with toppings of choice.

Transfer to the preheated pizza stone and bake until crispy and golden brown, usually 12 to 18 minutes (depending on the toppings). Remove from the oven with a metal peel or spatula and serve immediately.