Purslane Pizza {on Paper Plates}

It's just how some weeks go...short on time, short on energy, short on clean dished and short on groceries.  Still, no complaints with this standby crust, simple sauce and weeds from the garden.

I will be back next week with some fabulous recipes and a giveaway.  That's right, GIVEAWAY!  My first ever, so be sure to stay tuned, it is a good one.

Pizza Sauce

When you have a completely lovely pizza crust, the toppings can be so simple. Just a nice sauce and a good cheese. This is my favorite recipe for a quick tasty pizza sauce. I like the sauce to be a little chunky, but you can use what ever you like. I have said it before, Muir Glen makes an awesome canned tomatoes. I am disappointed that they haven’t done away with the bpa, really counting on being able to can my own tomatoes this year.

Frontier Pizza seasoning makes the sauce, you gotta have it. Sub Italian seasoning if you’d like, but you will have a mediocre sauce. Places that carry anything in Fronteir brand should be able to order it. Check out Whole Foods. If you are local, The Good Apple carries it in their bulk section.

Let’s talk cheese…skim milk is terrible for you. It falls in the group of hydrogenated oils, soy and high fructose corn syrup. The cheap mozzarella cheeses are made with “part skim” which many take as a health claim. There are many problems that the processing of milk causes and like any other food, the further it gets away from its original state, the worse it is…that is where skim milk is in the realm of all things dairy. At least go for the whole milk mozzarella and it is great to do a blend. Trader Joe’s has a great selection of full fat, raw, even pastured cheeses. My next big project is to learn how to make mozzarella cheese. Any help??

16 ounces crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons Frontier Pizza Seasoning
2 tablespoons sucanat
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Stir to combine.

This post is shared with tempt my tummy tuesday, tasty tuesday, gnowfglins tuesday twister and real food wednesday's

Sourdough Spelt Pizza

My new go-to recipe for pizza dough, the flavor and texture are both amazing. I don’t know why I can’t get my bread to turn out like this, but this dough turns into a soft, stretchy, bubbly piece of art that yields the prefect crispy, chewy crust. Seriously, I used to not be a crust eater, now I am…unless it is burnt.

One thing that helps a lot is having a freshly fed starter to work with. This means, the night before, feed your starter and it will be ready to use in the morning. I use 1/2 cup starter and feed it 1 cup spelt flour, and 1 cup water. See how incredibly bubbly it is!

If you don’t have sourdough starter you can still do this recipe with just adding a pinch of yeast (less than ¼ teaspoon) when you mix the dough, then still let it rise all day. It will develop good flavor and improve digestibility, however, sourdough is even better on both accounts.

1 cup water
2 cups freshly fed sour dough starter
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 cups spelt flour
2 cup white flour

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl, reserving 1 cup white flour. Knead 5 minutes, while kneading, add more white flour to achieve a smooth dough that sticks to itself more than to the bowl. Transfer to an oiled bowl and cover. Let dough rise for 6-8 hours on counter. Heat oven with pizza stone for 30 minutes at the highest heat (mine is 550 convection if you have it). Divide dough in fourths, roll out on a floured surface, transfer to parchment paper. Top and bake on a preheated pizza stone for 6 minutes or until crust is crisp. Let cool 5 minutes for cheese to set before cutting.

This post is part of Whole Foods for the Holiday's, Real Food Wednesday's and Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Spinach, Fig and Prosciutto Pizza

A pizza for the winter season. I have loved getting feed back on my pizza creations, as unusual as they are. This one was inspired by the local restaurant Le Grande Orange. It is so perfect for this time of year; the lemons are just starting to ripen and the spinach will soon be flourishing (that is if I can keep the rabbits off of it). I have never tried it with fresh figs, but would imagine that would be good too. Prosciutto is a dry cured ham, it is super flavorful, a little goes a long way. I have found the best place to get it is Trader Joe’s.

Pizza is just the thing to mix up those thanksgiving-dinner leftovers. Spread the dough with cranberry sauce or gravy, add turkey, maybe a little dressing or potatoes and top with cheese! Mmmm. It’s really good, trust me. So there you go, a two for one on this thanksgiving eve day.

Per Medium Pizza:
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup fresh spinach
4 dried figs, sliced
1 slice prosciutto, thinly sliced and cooked
1/2 fresh lemon

Preheat oven and pizza stone to highest setting (mine is 550) Roll out the dough and place on parchment paper. Sprinkle ¼ of the cheese evenly on dough. Lay spinach leaves as flat as possible on cheese. Layer figs on spinach, sprinkle with cooked prociutto and remaining cheese. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until crust is brown. While still hot, grate lemon zest on top of cheese and sprinkle lemon juice over entire pizza.

This post is part of  Whole Foods for the Holidays, Real Food Wednesdays.

Cinnamon Pizza

Another blast from my past of high school employment at The Pizza Ranch. There they called this dessert “Cactus Bread,” remember the western theme. Of coarse I had no recipe to work off of at this chain restaurant. The instructions included mixing this bag with water to make the dough, open this bucket for the preserved margarine stuff and that bucket for the strudel, then cut open a bag of frosting. I may have made the cinnamon sugar from scratch. Anyway, it was pretty darn yummy, so I did a little experimenting to recreate and here you have it; made with whole grains and all real food, from scratch, cinnamon pizza.

½ batch of multigrain pizza dough

parchment paper

2 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons sucanat

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Roll dough out to ½ inch, place on parchment paper. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Strudel

2 tablespoons butter, softened

3 tablespoons sucanat

3 tablespoons sprouted flour

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

dash of salt

Cut butter into dry ingredients. Crumble the strudel on top of the dough and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes.

Glaze

1 teaspoon milk

1 tablespoon butter, melted

¼ teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup powdered sugar

Whisk until smooth. Let bread cool slightly and drizzle with glaze.

I have heard you can powder sucanat in the vitamix. I'll have to try it and let you know how it goes. I am really trying to avoid white sugar without sacrificing flavor, any tips?

Chicken Avocado BLT Pizza

As a teenager I worked at a pizza place called The Pizza Ranch (a chain in the Midwest). It was new in town and very popular. All of the pizzas had funny western names like “trailblazer,” “bronco,” and “round up”. One of the pizzas that were hardly ever ordered was the BLT. It was a bacon pizza that was topped with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato after baking. Yes, mayonnaise. I thought that was the weirdest thing ever to put on a pizza.

Now that I am a creative pizza connoisseur and have a delightful mayonnaise in my fridge: why not? Since this is a sauce-less pizza, I like to up the flavor by adding roasted onions to the dough. Just slice two onions, toss in olive oil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, stirring once. Once cooled, they can be added right to the mixer and kneaded in with the dough. Roasting onions takes all the bite out of them while making them tender and sweet. They melt away in the dough and leave nothing but great flavor to enjoy, so don’t be afraid to make this for onion haters.

1/2 batch roasted onion dough
parchment paper
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
4 slices bacon, chopped and fat rendered and saved
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
3 cups shredded lettuce
2 avocadoes, sliced
1 tomato, diced

Let dough rest while prepping the toppings. Preheat oven to 550 degrees. Divide dough in half, roll out each round and place on parchment paper. . Brush the dough with the rendered bacon fat, sprinkle with cheese. Arrange chicken and bacon evenly, top with 1 cup cheese per pizza and bake on hot pizza stone for 6 minutes. Let cool slightly, spread each pizza with 1/2 cup mayonnaise and slice. Then, top with lettuce, avocado and tomatoes and dig in because you deserve it.

Green Chili Pizza

Most Saturday’s are pizza night. Babysitters are busy, restaurants have too long of a wait for kids, weekends are cheap electricity. It’s as if the stars align and that line is pointing straight to Multi Grain Pizza Crust.

Great pizza ideas are inspired by leftovers. This time we have the remnants of some kickin’ burritos, enchilada style (Think Café Rio) leaving me with another delicious pizza combination to share. I didn’t list amount since this was a use-what-I-had creation and I want you to do the same.

Multi Grain Pizza Crust
Green Chili Enchilada Sauce
Shredded beef (chicken, pork…whatever)
Yellow pepper, sliced and sautéed
Colby Jack Cheese
Avocado, sliced

Preheat oven to 550 degrees. Roll out dough, place on parchment. Spread enchilada sauce on dough, sprinkle with half the cheese. Then top with meat, pepper and the rest of the cheese. Bake for 7 minutes. Let cool slightly. Arrange avocado on top, slice and serve. This would also be great with halved cherry tomatoes, shredded lettuce and salsa.

The Medium Pesto

Basil plants are so easy to grow and around here they last 9 months of the year. Right now is pesto season, when the leaves grow so fast there not enough time to eat them. Pesto is great to season vegetables, chicken, pizza, pasta, sandwiches or just a dip for bread. Along with a thousand different uses, this little mess of flavor has a thousand different recipes.

For pasta, you want it light, for vegetables you want it heavy. Some like it garlicky and chunky, while others like it spicy and smooth. Maybe it needs to be spread-able, or maybe dip-able. I make mine on the in between mark of all three of these scenarios.

The blender on slow makes it smooth but not too smooth. If I have time to roast some garlic, I add three cloves, but if it is raw, just one. Just enough oil to spread out onto dough, but not so much that it runs off my sandwich. Using half spinach and half basil makes pesto between mild and rich, while keeping the dip/sauce/spread/seasoning greener. Come on by, I have plenty to go around.

1 clove garlic
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups fresh basil
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup grated parmesean
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons olive oil

Place garlic in blender to break it up into small pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients, blend on low speed, scrapping down as needed. A tamper is very useful in getting all the leaves into the blades.

To store, press plastic onto the surface of the pesto and keep refrigerated up to 5 days.

Herbed White Chicken Pizza

I've met some health foodie gals in Gilbert and we recently met up at a local restaurant, Liberty Market. I have been by there before, but judging by the sign had no desire to stop and dine. Let me tell you, I am so glad I did. The place was charming, had delicious food, helpful waiters, interesting bathrooms, a friendly chef who grows produce out back and puts the leftovers out in a cold case for customers to enjoy (and that I did). I had the Farmer Sandwich, recommended by a Liberty Market regular (Shari). It was pretty much the perfect sandwich.

A big menu item is pizza, specifically the highly recommended "White Pizza." I have a problem ordering pizza at restaurants because I make such fabulous pizza at home. My mom, in all her wisdom, gave thought to my lovely husband at home with the kiddos (wish it had been my idea). So we tried a nibble and the combination was almost perfect...chicken, bacon, pine nuts with a little (too little) bit of arugula. Those greens tantalized me until every leaf was gone. Yes, I ate all that peppery goodness rationalizing to Mom that it won't save well (we had a 30 minute drive you know).

Back to the combination...if I had arugula on hand I would have piled it high. Sadly, I didn't in my last minute urge to create, but when I spotted the red peppers I knew could make this work. I started with a basic white sauce and kicked it up with herbs from the garden. If I didn't have fresh sage on hand I would have used dried thyme, dried sage is yucky.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1/2 cup parmesean cheese, grated

Cook butter and flour for 2 minutes on medium heat. Add garlic and herbs, cook 30 seconds and add milk. Stir constantly and add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cheese until melted. Add more milk to thin if needed.

Once the flavorful sauce was under control I focused on the toppings. I had some procuttio ready to go from last week's pizza, so I used that in place of the bacon. I sliced red peppers and heated a pan really hot, sprinkled with a little sugar (sucanat for me) and salt. Sizzled those for about 2 minutes in a bit of oil. (This is a great way to soften and brown vegetables for a flavorful, less watery pizza topping. Then just chopped up some chicken, sprinkled on the pine nuts and mozzarella and baked to yummy perfection. And yes, I reuse my parchment paper until it falls apart.

Thai Chicken Pizza

It is so fun to expand on the possibilities of pizza toppings. Thai pizza is a completely different flavor combination that the traditional, which means you can use your leftover dough from yesterday’s dinner right now!

The Sauce:
3 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon thai chili sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 teaspoons honey

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Smear a thin coat on the dough and toss the chicken with the rest. My favorite toppings include; bean sprouts, grated carrots, green onions, thinly slices bell peppers, crushed peppers, cilantro and provolone cheese.

Super Wrap

I am always disappointed by the wraps I have had at the many sandwich shops around here. Poor quality ingredients that yield a dry, tasteless, less than healthy snack. After having Roxwell my visiting teacher, Sara, brought us these fabulous wraps to satisfy our appetites. Boy, did they ever! So I called her right up and got the dish so I could replicate. There are these fun flat breads at Costco, hiding by the tortillas called “Flat Out.”

We just spread on some hummus (roasted red pepper), pile on a good heap of spinach, line with tomatoes, onions, peppers, avocado, cheese, chicken, tuna, ham, turkey, bacon…whatever you have on hand. Maybe a little mustard and there you have it, a big package of yum-ness. I wrap the kids’ in foil and have them tear it off as they go to prevent a messy fall-apart. I am not a big fan of cold cuts (ya know UBER processed) I try to stick with the real stuff – most of the time.

Jarom has also used them to make a quick pizza with just sauce and cheese melted in the toaster oven. He says it’s good.

Muliti Grain Crust and Pear Walnut Pizza

Pizza night is a treat night in our house. It's the one night that vegetables are optional as long as lunch vegetables have been consumed. What is ironic is that the kid's favorite topping is spinach. Though I can't fit 2 whole servings on one little pizza, I feel warm and fuzzy that at our worst we are better than most.

I am a variety girl, so our pizza toppings are constantly evolving. Pear Walnut is one of my long time favorites, adapted from my sister in law, Reachel's remake of a California Pizza Kitchen selection. This crust is the perfect balance of sweet, chewy, crispness. Letting the dough rise after mixing is optional. I usually use the time to prepare my toppings and preheat the oven. A pizza stone is a must, it draws moisture out so you can avoid the inevitable infliction; soggy bottoms.

Also check out my Sourdough Spelt Pizza

Multi Grain Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cup water
1 cupsour dough starter
2 cup spelt flour
1 cup amaranth flour

1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon Real salt
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon yeast
2 cup white flour

Combine water, sourdough starter and whole grain flours. Mix and let sponge (rest) covered at least 12, but no more than 24 hours at room temperature (can sponge longer in fridge). After the soaking period, Place all ingredients except white flour in mixing bowl, yeast on top. Turn on mixer. Add white flour until dough pulls away from sides and center post. Knead 8 minutes. Preheat oven to 550 degrees (convection is best) Let dough rest 30 minutes in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap (optional). Divide dough in fourths, roll out on a floured surface, transfer to parchment paper. Top and bake on a preheated pizza stone for 6 minutes or until crust is crisp. Let cool 5 minutes for cheese to set before cutting.

Pear Walnut Topping
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 firm pears, sliced
½ red onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoon sucanat
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup walnuts
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup feta cheese

Saute pears on medium high heat in a large pan until browned, add onions, sucanat and sugar, cook. Turn off heat and mix in walnuts. Let cool slightly before arranging on dough, top with cheeses.

Links; Whole Foods for the Holidays