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.