Drunk Mushroom and Sausage Pizza

I was inspired by stuffed mushrooms for this one, Stuffing each mushroom on a pizza seemed a little crazy and I was afraid they would roll off so instead I got those little guys drunk in order to keep them in line and topped em with sausage. Also my thin crust experiment actually worked this time! The only difference between the recipes is bread flour rather than all-purpose.

Crust:
2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet)
1 1/4 Cup warm water
4 1/4 Cup flour + more for rolling out crust
2 tsp. salt
1/4 Cup olive oil
Drizzle of honey (about 2-3 Tbs)

Mix warm water and yeast together, let sit for 5 minutes or so (don’t use hot water, it will kill the yeast). Mix flour and salt, drizzle with honey. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well. Make sure all flour and water is absorbed. Form into a ball. Grease the bottom of a large bowl with olive oil, coat dough ball in oil. Let sit while you prepare the sauce and toppings. Dust a cutting board with flour and roll dough out to the size of your cast iron pan, if it's too big just rip off the edges, if too small just add a patch piece and press into place. Dough should be smooth and elastic if it sticks to the cutting board add more flour. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Red Wine Sauce:
Olive Oil, just enough to coat the pan
1/4 Cup Minced Onions
1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
1/2 Cup Red Wine
1/2 Cup Beef Stock
A few sprigs of fresh Rosemary, chopped or pulled apart with your fingers
2 Tbsp. Butter

Coat a sauce pan with olive oil and sautee the onion until translucent. Add wine, beef stock and garlic. Simmer until sauce is reduced by half. Add rosemary and butter, continue simmering until sauce is thick.  

Toppings:
1 1/2 Cups Mushrooms (I bought a package of assorted: Shiitake, Crimini, Yellow Oyster)
1 1/2 Cups Sausage, Browned 
1 1/2 Cup Italian Cheeses (Parmesan,
Romano, Mozzarella, Asiago)


Assembly: 
Start your sauce first, as it takes awhile, then your crust. Brown Sausage in a skillet, remove. In the same pan drizzle some red wine and saute your mushrooms, just for a few minutes, we don't want them falling apart or getting too squishy. When sauce is thick spread over your crust with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Layer mushrooms and sausage. Top with cheese. Bake in 425 degree oven until crust is golden brown.

Bacon, Date, Pecan and Blue Cheese Pizza

I've had bacon wrapped dates at a few fancy restaurants so I thought why not toss those puppies on a pizza? So here is goes, the dates are not wrapped of course but I got to make pretty designs out of them which I then covered up with Bacon, Pecans and Blue Cheese. There wasn't a lot of prep work for this pizza. The "hardest" part was slicing the dates and waiting for the bacon to cook.

I made a snack or some may call it a "personal" size pizza this time because this is more of an appetizer than a meal. If you want to make a littler pizza just half or quarter the crust ingredients, or save some for later.

Crust:

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet)

1 1/4 Cup warm water
4 1/4 Cup flour + more for rolling out crust
2 tsp. salt
1/4 Cup olive oil
Drizzle of honey (about 2-3 Tbs)

Mix warm water and yeast together, let sit for 5 minutes or so (don’t use hot water, it will kill the yeast). Mix flour and salt, drizzle with honey. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well. Make sure all flour and water is absorbed. Form into a ball. Grease the bottom of a large bowl with olive oil, coat dough ball in oil. Let sit while you prepare the sauce and toppings. Dust a cutting board with flour and roll dough out to the size of your cast iron pan, if it's too big just rip off the edges, if too small just add a patch piece and press into place. Dough should be smooth and elastic if it sticks to the cutting board add more flour. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Toppings:
(Measurements are approximate for my "snack" size pizza, if you wish to make a regular size you can always use more)
1 Cup Dates, Halved

4 Strips of bacon (cooked, crumbled)

1/4 Cup cream cheese (warmed)

1/4 Cup blue cheese

1/4 Cup pecans

Assembly:

Roll out your crust to fit your pan. Once in the pan plop warm cream cheese into center and spread over crust with the back of a spoon. Arrange Dates in any design you choose I started in the middle with a sunburst pattern and worked my way out. Top with crumbled Bacon and Pecans. Top with Blue Cheese crumbles. Cook in 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown on the edges, cheese should also start to brown a bit although Blue Cheese is not the greatest at melting.

Avocado Poblano Pizza (vegetarian)

The man friend wanted to try a thin crust, so I found a recipe and followed it including the 24 hour wait time. It was the poofiest pizza I've ever made! So I posted my original crust recipe instead. Also, it is winter in MN so none of the ingredients were in season, or don't grow here at all so a few alterations were necessary. Rather than grilling fresh sweet corn I bought from an old farmer selling it out of the back of his truck I had to resort to canned (the stuff at the store looked questionable). I can't wait til summer so I can grow these things myself and grill them the way they ought to be.

Crust:

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet)

1 1/4 Cup warm water
4 1/4 Cup flour + more for rolling out crust
2 tsp. salt
1/4 Cup olive oil
Drizzle of honey (about 2-3 Tbs)

Mix warm water and yeast together, let sit for 5 minutes or so (don’t use hot water, it will kill the yeast). Mix flour and salt, drizzle with honey. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well. Make sure all flour and water is absorbed. Form into a ball. Grease the bottom of a large bowl with olive oil, coat dough ball in oil. Let sit while you prepare the sauce and toppings. Dust a cutting board with flour and roll dough out to the size of your cast iron pan, if it's too big just rip off the edges, if too small just add a patch piece and press into place. Dough should be smooth and elastic if it sticks to the cutting board add more flour. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Toppings:

1 Hass Avocado, peeled, sliced, pit removed

Cilantro Paste (in a tube, near the fresh herbs) (or just Cilantro and olive oil)
1 Can Corn (or 1 ear, kernels removed)
1 Poblano Pepper, sliced, roasted or sauteed 
1 Cups cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 Cup pepperjack cheese
½ Cup feta cheese

Bacon, Shrimp or Chicken (optional)

Assembly:

After tossing your crust in your pan squeeze the cilantro paste onto the crust and spread into a thin layer with the back of a spoon. Layer the corn, sliced poblano peppers and tomatoes. Top with cheese. Bake at 425 until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown around the edges. While your pizza is cooking slice up your avocado and add a squeeze of lime. Remove pizza from oven and top with avocado and feta.

Jalapeno Popper Pizza

My last final was yesterday, now I have 8 months off from school. I'm so excited to have time for my hobbies again! I've been meaning to blog about this pizza for awhile now but just haven't had the time. My former co-worker inspired this one. She makes "Jillapenos" so I thought maybe I'd try them on a pizza.

Crust:

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet)

1 1/4 Cup warm water
4 1/4 Cup flour + more for rolling out crust
2 tsp. salt
1/4 Cup olive oil
Drizzle of honey (about 2-3 Tbs)

Mix warm water and yeast together, let sit for 5 minutes or so (don’t use hot water, it will kill the yeast). Mix flour and salt, drizzle with honey. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well. Make sure all flour and water is absorbed. Form into a ball. Grease the bottom of a large bowl with olive oil, coat dough ball in oil. Let sit while you prepare the sauce and toppings. Dust a cutting board with flour and roll dough out to the size of your cast iron pan, if it's too big just rip off the edges, if too small just add a patch piece and press into place. Dough should be smooth and elastic if it sticks to the cutting board add more flour.

Toppings:

1/2 Pkg. Cream Cheese
3-4 Jalapenos (sliced)
1/4 lb. Pork Sausage
1/2 lb. Bacon, crumbled

1 Handful Craisins

2-3 Handfuls shredded cheese (I used cheddar/jack)

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 425. Cook bacon and brown sausage, reserve the grease from bacon or sausage to saute your jalapeno slices. Slice Jalapenos and remove seeds (or keep them in if you like more spice). Saute jalapenos just until they start to get a little brown. 

Warm cream cheese a little in the microwave (20 seconds or so) just enough so that it spreads without tearing your crust. Spread over your crust with the back of a spoon. layer jalapeno slices, craisins, sausage and bacon crumbles evenly over cream cheese. Top with shredded cheese. Bake in preheated oven until cheese is melted and crust is brown on the edges.

Pesto with Shrimp, Andouille Sausage and Artichokes

I was going to do a Jambalaya/Creole/Cajun sort of pizza but I was outvoted by the man-friend who preferred pesto. I will try a spicier Cajun version at some point.
 

Crust:

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet)

1 1/4 Cup warm water
4 1/4 Cup flour + more for rolling out crust
2 tsp. salt
1/4 Cup olive oil
Drizzle of honey (about 2-3 Tbs)

Mix warm water and yeast together, let sit for 5 minutes or so (don’t use hot water, it will kill the yeast). Mix flour and salt, drizzle with honey. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well. Make sure all flour and water is absorbed. Form into a ball. Grease the bottom of a large bowl with olive oil, coat dough ball in oil. Let sit while you prepare the sauce and toppings. Dust a cutting board with flour and roll dough out to the size of your cast iron pan, if it's too big just rip off the edges, if too small just add a patch piece and press into place. Dough should be smooth and elastic if it sticks to the cutting board add more flour.

Toppings:
1/2 Cup Pesto
1 Andouille Sausage (sliced)
2 Cups Shrimp (cooked/grilled)
1/2 Artichoke Hearts (sliced)
1 Cup Shredded Italian 3 cheese blend
1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella

Assembly:
Marinate shrimp in lemon juice, garlic, oil, salt and pepper (add Old Bay or other seasonings if you wish). Slice Andouille Sausage and grill with shrimp. Not too long, we don't want the shrimp getting rubbery.

After rolling dough into your pan, spread pesto sauce over crust with the back of a spoon. Evenly spread Sausage slices and shrimp over pizza and top with Artichoke hearts, sprinkle with 3 cheese blend. Top with Mozzarella. 

Bake at 425 until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Shrimp Alfredo on the Grill

Summer has been busy busy and then I started school and the great struggle with math. Finally got around to making another pizza when I went to the cabin for our first annual girls weekend with my mom and aunt.

First things first, get your grill happy. I like to keep my coals on one side so I can move things around from direct heat to indirect, the crusts tend to burn on the bottom if they are directly over the coals for too long. 

Crust:

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet)

1 1/4 Cup warm water
4 1/4 Cup flour + more for rolling out crust
2 tsp. salt
1/4 Cup olive oil
Drizzle of honey (about 2-3 Tbs)

Mix warm water and yeast together, let sit for 5 minutes or so (don’t use hot water, it will kill the yeast). Mix flour and salt, drizzle with honey. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well. Make sure all flour and water is absorbed. Form into a ball. Grease the bottom of a large bowl with olive oil, coat dough ball in oil. Let sit while you prepare the sauce and toppings. Dust a cutting board with flour and roll dough out to the size of your cast iron pan, if it's too big just rip off the edges, if too small just add a patch piece and press into place. Dough should be smooth and elastic if it sticks to the cutting board add more flour.

Toppings:

Alfredo Sauce (from a jar or make your own)

Extra minced garlic if you like, added to sauce

Marinated and grilled shrimp (tails removed)

Sliced tomatoes (I had a few strange varieties in my garden but any kind will do)

Mozzarella (fresh or shredded)

Fresh Basil

Assembly:

Marinate your shrimp in wine, garlic and onions (I used onion wine from the Clover Meadow Winery near my cabin in Shell Lake Wisconsin but any cooking (or drinking) wine will do). www.clovermeadowwinery.com/

Stab shrimps with skewers (or smore sticks) and grill a few minutes on each side til pink (if using pre-cooked just til they get heated, happy and grill marked). Don't grill them too long or they will get rubbery.

Prepare crust and press into the bottom of a cast iron pan

Spread sauce over crust with the back of a spoon

Slice up shrimp into smaller, more bite sized pieces and lay chunks over sauce,

Lay sliced tomatoes evenly and top with mozzarella, I used slices of fresh but shredded will work too.

Grill pizza directly over coals for a few minutes until cheese starts to melt. Move off of direct heat and continue grilling until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown. Top with basil and grill a few more minutes.

BLT with Chicken, Artichokes and Avocado

I know I should always use the freshest ingredients possible but lately I’ve gotten into finding creative ways to use canned food.

First: I’m a college student on a strict budget (that I don’t necessarily follow, there isn’t much I’m above, but Ramen is one of them).

Second: Canned food keeps longer and doesn’t require refrigeration so you can stock up. I hate buying fresh produce and tossing it because I didn’t use it in time.

Third: I’ve always wanted to be as independent as possible and people have always made fun of me for being over prepared and always having a backup plan. Until they need something like food, water or sunscreen when camping. When I see something I like or want I never want to buy it, I want to know how to make it myself. I’ve started gardening and canning, my goal is to have my own farm where I can grow and raise everything I need and I won’t have to worry about preserving meat but for now I’ve started collecting canned food and trying to figure out tasty ways to use it. 

Fourth: I read somewhere (and will try to find the proof) that certain canned foods have more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than in their fresh state. Canned tomatoes for example have more Lycopene (cancer fighter) than fresh. Here is one article about Lycopene and tomatoes in particular: http://pcrm.org/health/cancer-resources/diet-cancer/nutrition/how-lycopene-helps-protect-against-cancer

 I’ve never been a fan of canned meat, it smells coming out of the can but I’m trying to be adventurous and I found if cooked and incorporated into a soup or casserole correctly it’s not too shabby. It can be downright delicious!

I was going to make a BLT salad with chicken and avocados for lunch today but then I thought why not put it all on a pizza and write another blog?

Crust:

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet)

1 1/4 Cup warm water
4 1/4 Cup flour + more for rolling out crust
2 tsp. salt
1/4 Cup olive oil
Drizzle of honey (about 2-3 Tbs)

Mix warm water and yeast together, let sit for 5 minutes or so (don’t use hot water, it will kill the yeast). Mix flour and salt, drizzle with honey. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well. Make sure all flour and water is absorbed. Form into a ball. Grease the bottom of a large bowl with olive oil, coat dough ball in oil. Let sit while you prepare the sauce and toppings. Dust a cutting board with flour and roll dough out to the size of your cast iron pan, if it's too big just rip off the edges, if too small just add a patch piece and press into place. Dough should be smooth and elastic if it sticks to the cutting board add more flour.

Toppings:

The down side is you have to use the whole can or use the leftovers up soon. I didn't put quantities in here because you can decided how much you want to use or save.

Canned Stuff:

Diced Tomatoes

Artichokes

Chicken Breast

Honey Mustard Dressing

Fresh:

1/2 lb. Bacon: cooked, drained, crumbled

“Lettuce” or any greens, I like spring mix or spring mix with herbs

1 Avocado: Diced

1 Cup Mozzarella: Shredded

Assembly:Only part of this pizza is cooked, avocados and greens get funny in the oven so we will put those on last.

Bake or fry bacon, remove to drain and cool. Open a can of chicken and toss it around in the bacon grease. Make sure to break up the big pieces. Add chicken to the bacon to drain and cool. While waiting open and drain diced tomatoes and artichokes, chop up or break apart artichokes. When the bacon and chicken are cool break both up with your fingers.

Grease a cast iron pan with butter, oil or bacon grease. Lay rolled out dough in pan and spread honey mustard over the bottom with the back of a spoon. Spread the Bacon, Chicken, Tomatoes and Artichokes evenly to cover the dough. Top with mozzarella. Bake at 425 until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. When your pizza is happy toss on diced avocados and greens.