Balsamic Steak, Roasted Red Pepper, & Goat Cheese Pizza

I've mentioned this before, but we love to make our own pizza. We are always on the lookout for new toppings and sauces to try. While reading through Pink Parsley last month, I came across this recipe. I have had steak on a flatbread/pizza before at a restaurant and it was absolutely amazing, so this recipe caught my eye. Anything that combines steak, goat cheese, and balsamic has got to be good! And let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint! It was one of the best pizzas I have had in a while, actually.

Pizza Dough
Olive Oil
1/2 cup Roasted Red Peppers, patted dry and coarsely chopped (I charred 1 red bell pepper and removed the skin)
Salt and Pepper
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2-3 Basil Leaves, torn
3/4 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese 
1/2 cup Steak, thinly sliced (I used 1 6oz beef tenderloin filet)
1/2 cup Goat Cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 500 degrees for at least 30 minutes. In a food processor, puree the roasted red peppers, garlic, and basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle a pizza peel with cornmeal or flour and stretch out the dough into about a 12-inch circle. Brush the outer ring of the dough with olive oil and spread the roasted pepper puree over the dough. Sprinkle the top with mozzarella cheese. Scatter the steak over the cheese and then top with the goat cheese crumbles. Transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the crust is browned and the cheese is bubbly. (Alternatively, turn on the broiler and broil the pizza for about 5 minutes, keeping a close eye on it so that it doesn't burn). Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil. Continue to boil until it is thick and syrupy and reduces to about a few tablespoons. Allow the pizza to cool, then drizzle the vinegar over the top. *A little vinegar goes a long way, so you may not use it all. Slice and serve.

Raspberry and Brie Flatbreads

Our new street has an island in the middle and our village does not take care of it, so the residents of the street formed a block club and everybody helps with maintenance, including planting flowers. A few weeks ago, we attended the spring information meeting where we picked the flowers we wanted to plant. We were especially excited to go to the meeting to meet the neighbors, since we moved in during the winter and haven't really gotten to see anybody yet. Our neighbors are all great, and as it turns out, they do a lot of things throughout the year. Things like block parties, block sales, garden walks, progressive dinners, and my personal favorite, wine and cheese night! I'm so excited to be living on such an awesome street! So, the night of our block meeting, we wanted something quick and light for dinner. I turned to this dish that I saw on Mrs. Regueiro's Plate. I was intrigued by the combination of ingredients, as well as the simplicity of the recipe. After eating, Joel commented that these would be great as appetizers for a cocktail party; I agreed. I will definitely have to keep these in mind the next time I'm planning a party!

1 Onion, chopped finely
1 tablespoon Olive Oil 
1 1/2 teaspoons Fresh Rosemary, chopped
Salt and Black Pepper
Flatbreads or Pizza Dough (I used 4 sandwich sized flatbreads)
3 1/2 ounces Brie, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups Fresh Raspberries
2 tablespoons Basil Leaves, chopped

Add the oil to a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute the onions until they caramelize, about 15-20 minutes. Stir in the rosemary and pepper. Arrange the flatbreads on a baking sheet or pizza stone. Divide the onions up between each of the flatbreads and top with the brie and raspberries. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes, until the cheese melts and the bread is slightly crisp. Sprinkle the tops with the basil and serve.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Joel is a fan of literary magazines. One that he reads regularly is the quarterly McSweeney's. The people from that magazine have now launched Lucky Peach, which is a quarterly journal of food and writing. It comes to our house four times per year (well, it will, but it is only on issue 3 so far). Within its pages, there are interviews with chefs, recipes, and other associated food writing. It is a very interesting read and I enjoy it, but then again, any magazine with recipes in it would be hard for me to dislike! In the most recent issue, Spring 2012 Issue 3, there was an article about Ed LaDou, Wolfgang Puck's first pizza chef at Spago, who later created the menu at California Pizza Kitchen. While the recipe that they provided belonged to Puck, the sauce for this pizza was inspired by a barbecue sauce that LaDou had created in a collaboration with a barbecue sauce company. Though I did not use the recommended brand of barbecue sauce, this pizza was absolutely delicious! Mentioned as an alternative for the fontina and mozzarella cheeses was smoked gouda, which I know would have been a hit in our house. As great as this pizza was, I think that it might also be delicious grilled. I definitely plan to make it again, and next time, perhaps I will make those two changes.

3/4 pound Chicken, cooked and shredded
1/4 cup Barbecue Sauce
1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced*
2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, grated
2 cups Fontina Cheese, grated
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 recipe Pizza Dough (recipe below, I used one and froze the other)
1 bunch Cilantro Leaves, washed and chopped
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Cook the chicken however you desire (I boiled mine). Shred the chicken with two forks and place it in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then toss it with the barbecue sauce and set aside. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees and place a pizza stone on the middle rack. Sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel and stretch out the dough to an 8-10" round. Brush a little olive oil over the top of the dough and top with chicken and onions. Sprinkle the cheeses over the top and slide the pizza onto the baking sone. If you wish to bake the pizza, bake until the crust is nicely browned, about 10-12 minutes. Alternatively, turn on the broiler and, with the pizza stone on the top shelf, broil 3-5 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned and cheese is bubbly, keeping a careful watch to be sure that the pizza does not burn. Remove the pizza to a cutting board and sprinkle the top with cilantro. Cut and serve.

*I chose to use the red onions raw, but the original recipe suggests tossing them in salt and pepper and sautéing them in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 minutes first before spreading them on the pizza.

The Dough (My Bread, Jim Lahey):

500 grams Bread Flour
10 grams Yeast
5 grams Table Salt
3 grams Sugar
300 grams Water, room temperature

Use a food scale to measure out the ingredients. In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Pour in the water and stir until just combined. Cover the bowl and let it sit in a warm location for 2 hours. Take the dough out of the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Split the dough into 2 equal pieces and let them sit, covered, for about 30 minutes prior to baking. At this point, you can wrap the dough and freeze it.

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza

We tend to make a lot of pizza at home. We make our dough using a Jim Lahey no-knead recipe and cooking method.  We typically cook our pizza under broiler for about 5 minutes.  On Joel's birthday, we had a few friends over and everybody made their own pizzas.  After about 8 pizzas, it must have been too hot because our pizza stone cracked! It was about time for a new one anyway, because the old one was getting kind of grungy looking. A cute little kitchen boutique opened up around the corner from us, and while we were browsing one day, we came across a nice new Emile Henry pizza stone, which we ended up buying in red. We tried it out with this recipe from Cate's World Kitchen. We had some goat cheese in the fridge, and we always have onions, so it was a perfect recipe. How delicious!

1 recipe Pizza Dough
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Yellow Onions, thinly sliced
Salt
4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
4 ounces Goat Cheese
1 Egg Yolk
A few sprigs Fresh Thyme (I used dried)

In a wide skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. Add a few pinches of salt, stir well, and set aside. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, goat cheese, and egg yolk until smooth. Divide your dough into 2 8-inch pizzas. Spread the cheese mixture over the dough. Top with caramelized onions.  Bake for 10-12 minutes at 500 degrees until the crust is slightly golden OR under the broiler for 5 minutes, watching carefully. Sprinkle the top with some thyme and allow the pizza to cool before serving.

Asian Chicken Pizza

We ate almost 10pm.  Sorry about the dark picture!

When putting together our menu this week, I came across this pizza recipe on Lauren's Kitchen, which after following many links to other bloggers who made it, originated from Pizza by James McNair.  I showed Joel the picture and he hesitated to agree with it, saying that it doesn't look bad but that he wasn't too sure about it.  We decided that we'd give it a try on Wednesday after sailing.  When Joel walked in the door (at 9:30ish--after it had been out of the oven for a half hour!) he immediately made a comment about how amazing the house smelled.  As soon as he took his first bite, he couldn't get another fast enough.  I'm really glad that we decided to try this pizza.  It is a recipe I can't wait to try again (and again, and again...)!

Pizza dough (we used homemade)
5 ounces Chicken
1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons Honey
3/4 cup Rice Wine Vinegar or Cider Vinegar
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
Olive Oil
Sesame Seeds (optional)
2 tablespoons Scallions, sliced

Cook the chicken (we grilled it), cut it into small pieces, and set aside.  In a bowl, combine the red pepper flakes, garlic, soy sauce, honey, and vinegar and stir well.  Pour the sauce mixture into a saucepan over medium heat and cook until it becomes thick and syrupy, about 10 minutes.  Add the chicken and toss to coat.  Spread the dough onto a pizza pan and brush the top with olive oil.  Evenly distribute the glazed chicken mixture over the top of the dough.  Top with cheese and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake the pizza at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Top the hot pizza with sliced scallions and serve.

Portabella Pizzas

A few months ago, I threw together these portabella pizzas for dinner before bowling.  We were in a hurry, so I never took a picture, then completely forgot when I ate the leftovers the next day.  After thinking about adding them to my menu the last few weeks, I finally made them again Monday night.  These are a great alternative to regular pizza and keep with the theme of Joel's new food rules, which only allow us to have meat 4 times a month...we'll see how that goes!

4 large Portabella Mushrooms

Pizza Sauce

Bell Peppers, diced (I used some orange, yellow, green, and red)

Onion, sliced thin

Mozzarella Cheese, sliced

Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.  Clean the portabellas with a damp cloth and remove the stems.  Place the mushrooms cavity side up on the prepared baking sheet.  Spoon some pizza sauce into the cavity and fill with peppers and onion.  Top with 1-2 slices of cheese, depending on the size of your mushrooms (I used 2 each).  Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese starts to melt.  After the cheese is melted, place the mushrooms under the broiler for a few minutes, until the cheese becomes golden and bubbly.  

Spinoccoli Pizza

We like to make our own pizza from time to time.  In fact, I can't actually remember the last time we ordered one from a pizzeria.  When we do make our own, we never make a traditional cheese and pepperoni pizza.  Instead, we like to get creative and try new things you wouldn't normally find on a take out menu.  I was looking around and found this recipe from Pink Parsley (originally Annie's Eats) and decided it was the one we were going to make.  We had a pizza dough in the freezer that we needed to use up, too.  This pizza took very little time and was absolutely delicious!

1 Pizza Dough (I used this one)
1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon Flour
3/4 cup Milk
1 Garlic Cloves, smashed
Salt & Pepper, to taste
6 tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Broccoli Florets, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
1 cup Fresh Spinach, packed
2/3 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
2/3 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded

**Preheat the oven to 500 degrees for at least 30 minutes, with a pizza stone.  (I did not do this.  Instead, we just oiled a cookie sheet and stretched our dough on that to make the pizza.)

To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add the flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until golden and bubbly, about 1 minute.  Whisk in the milk and add the garlic cloves.  Cook, stirring often, until the mixture thickens and bubbles.  Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the Parmesan cheese.  Remove and discard the garlic.  (I didn't read this part and added minced garlic instead, so it did not get removed.  Oh well!)

Roll the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round.  (As stated above, I opted to go with a rectangular pizza and did not use my pizza stone).  Brush the perimeter with olive oil.  Spread a thin layer of the white sauce over the surface and top with the spinach and broccoli.  Scatter the cheeses over the vegetables.  If using a pizza stone, transfer the pizza to the stone and bake for 12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving.

Hawaiian BBQ Pork Pizza on Homemade Crust

As soon as I saw this recipe from Pink Parsley pop up, I knew I wanted to make it.  We love to make our own pizza, and quite honestly, it's been far too long since the last time we did.  The combination of ingredients on this pizza is something I wouldn't have thought of on my own, but so glad that I tried.  Next time we have leftover pulled pork, I know what I'll be doing with it!

Pizza Dough (*recipe follows)
1/2 cup BBQ Sauce
1 cup Pulled Pork, finely shredded or chopped
1/2 Red Onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup Pineapple Chunks
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1 cup Smoked Gouda, shredded
2 tablespoons Scallions, chopped

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees for at least 30 minutes.  On a large square of parchment paper, stretch and roll the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch circle.  Brush the outer edge with olive oil.  Spread the BBQ sauce over the dough, then layer the pork, onion, and pineapple.  Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top.  Transfer the pizza to the heated pizza stone and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown and the cheese is melted.  Sprinkle the scallions over the top.  Allow the pizza to cool for 5-10 minutes, then slice and serve.

Pizza Dough (from Mark Bittman, found in The Essential New York Times Cookbook)


3 cups All Purpose Flour or Bread Flour, plus more as needed
2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
2 teaspoons Coarse Sea Salt or Kosher Salt, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup Water
2 tablespoons Olive Oil

To make the dough by hand, combine half of the flour with the yeast and salt in a bowl and stir to blend. Add the water and olive oil; stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Add the remaining flour a bit at a time.  When the mixture becomes too stiff to stir with a spoon, begin kneading it in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, adding as little of the flour as possible-just enough to keep the dough from being a sticky mess.  Knead for 5-10 minutes.  Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for a few seconds to form a smooth, round ball.  Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.  (You can cut the rising time if you are in a hurry, or-preferably-you can let the dough rise more slowly in the fridge for 6-8 hours.  The dough can then be used immediately or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 month.  Defrost in a covered bowl in the fridge or at room temperature.)  Form the dough into a ball and divide into 2 pieces, roll each piece into a ball.  Place on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a little flour, and cover with plastic wrap or a towel.  Let rest until slightly puffed, about 20 minutes.  Oil one or more baking sheets, as needed, then press each dough ball into a flat round directly on the sheet.  Pat out the dough as thin as you like, using oiled hands if necessary.  Proceed with pizza recipe.