The basic approach remained the same. I used my traditional recipe, a bit wet (slightly higher water) for the dough. It was very soft, but not sticky coming out of the bowl. This was allowed to rest in the refrigerator over night in about 22 oz. balls. The next day around noon, I took the ball out of the oven and stretched it into a cookie sheet which was lightly coated with olive oil. Chef Bruno says to use a lot of oil, but I had too much oil on my first attempt, so I cut back this time by simply wiping the pan with an oiled paper towel, rather than allowing puddles to form. I also treated to top of the dough with a very light coat of olive oil in the same way, no puddles. I wrapped the top of the tray with cellophane to keep it from drying out and let it rest at room temperature. Two hours later I came back and stretched the dough gently into the corners of the pan. I could see that it had risen and bubble were forming in the crust. I used care not to flatten or press on the dough, but rather stretch it by gently pulling on it. Two more hours later, the dough had risen just above the tray top and almost completely filled the corners. I pulled very slightly toward the corners and set it aside.

The toppings are very expensive for this pie. I spared no expense this time, but will begin to experiment with slightly less expensive toppings for future trials. It gets topped with mozzarella and Parmesan, whole tomatoes, garlic, rappi (rappini), oregano, basil, salt and pepper.

First up was the roasted garlic and rappi. I roasted this myself while the dough was rising. Simply peel the cloves (I used 1-1/2 small cloves) and place them in aluminum foil with chopped rappi (about 2 TBL). Then place the wrapped ball in the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes until the garlic becomes tender.

I used 1/2 lb fresh (U.S.) mozzarella for one half and a 1/2 lb ball of smoked mozzarella for the other side of the pie. The cheese goes down first, sliced thickly in about 1/4 inch slices. I left about a 1 inch gap between slices for melting.

Once the cheese in in place, I sprinkled the pie with Oregano, salt and pepper. Next I spread about 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil liberally over the cheese.

Up next were the tomatoes. I purchased Cento brand San Marzano tomatoes in cans. The cans were $3.99 each and I used 1 and 1/2 cans (youch). It hurt to spend that much on toms, but they are San Marzanos, after all. I did my best to hand squeeze most of the water out of the tomatoes before slightly crushing them and laying them onto the pizza. I like lots of tomato, so I covered most of the top leaving about 1 inch gaps between tomatoes.

Lastly before baking, I smashed the garlic and rappi and spread it over the pizza as well. I’ll need a better way to spread garlic as doing it by hand was a messy and inefficient affair. Once done, the pie was ready to bake.

I had raised the temperature to its max for my home oven – 550 degrees. This requires caution when using oil and a cookie sheet on the bottom rack as the oil gets close to it’s burn point very quickly. The idea is for the oil to lightly fry the bottom of the crust. If you begin to see smoke, the oil is burning and you might have to lower the temperature. I baked it for just about 10 minutes and it had just began smoking at that time.

When the pizza comes out it will look and smell amazing! However, stop to finish it with 1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese for a little extra texture and flavor.

I noticed immediately the difference that less oil had made this time. Combined with the wetter dough and longer rise time it made for a wonderfully light airy, yet robust crust. I could almost imagine it being healthy for me! The other observation worth noting was that, for me, the fresh mozzarella tasted better than the smoked cheese for this pie. It seemed to have a tang that complimented the tomato perfectly while the smoked cheese was more subtle and seemed to blend in rather than stand out as a distinct flavor. This pizza seems to explode in your mouth and it’s a truly wonderful experience especially right out of the oven. This is one that you can use to impress even the most snobby of your pizza friends because the taste is classy and timeless. I highly recommend this recipe despite it’s higher cost.

Next up – I’ll try to get the cost down by using other tomatoes and shopping around for fresh cheese. Enjoy!

Good thing I also made a pepperoni pie for the kids – no one went hungry.

 

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

 

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

It’s official – my white pizza recipe has passed the deliciousness test and can be moved to the recipe list from the experimental list. We tweaked it a bit tonight, added some ricotta cheese clumps and BAM! The pictures make my mouth water just thinking about it.

Here are the instructions for the (modified) white garlic sauce base:

2 cup whole milk
2 T cornstarch
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
2 T Parmesan cheese, finely grated

The ingredients were mixed in a medium sauce pan and brought to a boil. Once they had boiled for 2 minutes, I allowed them to simmer on medium heat until the sauce began to thicken.

I coated the blank with a light coat of olive oil then spread the white sauce onto it, thickly. Next, I topped it with thinly sliced tomatoes, 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, several clumps of fresh ricotta cheese and a sprinkle of oregano. Bake for 9 minutes at 450 degrees.

If you’re looking for even more garlic, consider lightly brushing the crust rim with olive oil and sprinkling on some garlic salt.

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

This summer, while on a camping trip with some families from my church, I tasted a great combination of toppings. My friend Troy had advised me to place sliced peaches, cinnamon, and marshmallows together inside of a mountain pie [sandwich-like treat where filling is placed on two slices of bread then toasted in the camp fire]. The taste was amazing and I have been wanting to adapt it to a pizza ever since. My chance came this weekend when I had a ball of Bill’s Traditional pizza dough left over from my double-batch the night before.

The pizza dough was stretched onto my 16 inch pizza screen then topped with the following ingredients:

1 small tub of cream cheese (7 oz)
2 cups marshmallow creme
1 can sliced peaches, drained
cinnamon
streusel topping (4 tbl butter, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar)

The cream cheese and marshmallow creme were combined in a medium mixing bowl and softened by adding a bit of milk. The mixture was smooth enough to spread onto the pizza blank. Next, I placed the sliced peaches around the pie in rings. The cinnamon was sprinkled all over the peaches (I did not measure the amount used). Finally, the pie was topped with streusel topping which is simply made by hand-combining butter, flour and sugar.

The pizza was baked at 485 degrees for about 9 minutes.

This pizza tasted terrific! The texture and flavor seemed to really blend well. I was very excited to get the taste of cinnamon and peaches like the mountain pies from last summer onto a pizza. In fact, the flavor of the base mixture reminded me a lot of the mascarpone cheese that I use for my Almond and Roasted Apple dessert pizza. This is good news since cream cheese is at least half the cost of mascarpone cheese. Everyone who had a slice of this pizza was delighted and it was gone in minutes.

I may attempt to improve on this pizza slightly by adding nuts or something with a bit more crunch to offset the wet toppings. Other than that, this pie is a real winner because it is inexpensive, fast and delicious.

Dough:
1 1/4 c – Water (Luke warm)
1 tsp – Sugar
2 tsp – Salt
2 T – Olive Oil
3 c – Hi-Gluten Flour
1 tsp – Active Dry Yeast

Filling:
1/2 c – Bill’s Neapolitan Sauce
6 oz – Ricotta cheese
1/4 c – Grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp – black pepper
4 slices – deli ham
4 slices – Provolone cheese
1/2 c – Mozzarella cheese

Crust Glaze:
1 egg, beaten

I rolled the dough into a circle as I would for pizza, but I only spread sauce on half of the blank. I then mixed the ricotta, Parmesan, and pepper in a bowl and spread it on top of the sauce about 3/4 inches thick. This was topped with two slices of provolone and a handful of mozzarella. Finally, 4 slices of deli ham where sliced into strips and layered over the cheese. The dough was then folded over and pinched along the edge. I used the back of a fork to crimp the rim after pinching and cut 4 small vent holes in the top crust. A beaten egg was brushed over the calzone and it was placed on a stone set on the middle oven rack at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.

This calzone was incredible! We couldn’t even wait for it to cool down before serving it. I think next time I will try a bit more sauce, but we used a bowl of sauce to dip anyway which was fine. I must say that even though it was my first calzone, I can’t think of a way to make it any better! I will be adding this to my menu for sure!

Dough:
1 1/4 c – Water (Luke warm)
1 tsp – Sugar
2 tsp – Salt
2 T – Olive Oil
3 c – Hi-Gluten Flour
1 tsp – Active Dry Yeast

Filling:
16 slices pepperoni
4 slices deli ham
4 slices Provolone cheese
1/2 c – Mozzarella cheese
pinch basil
pinch oregano

Crust Glaze:
1 egg, beaten
poppy seeds

First, I mixed the dough for 30 minutes in the bread maker. Then I cut it into two balls and placed them into greased bowls. They were covered and stored in the refrigerator for 18 hours. Once it was time to bake them, I removed the dough and allowed it to come to room temperature. On a lightly floured counter, I stretched the dough as thin as possible. A rolling pin was then used to get a consistent thickness (about 1/8 inch thick) and a nice oval shape.

The filling was placed on the center of the dough leaving a 1 inch edge all around. I rolled the entire boli like a jelly roll so that it formed a long oblong loaf. The edges were pinched and tucked under. I then cut several small slits on the top of the loaf to allow steam to escape during baking. I cut the center one too wide and this allowed some toppings to spill while baking. Be careful not to cut the loaf too much.

Next, I beat an egg in a small bowl and brushed the outside of the loaf with it. This allows the crust to turn a golden brown color and gives it a bit of a crunch. I also sprinkled poppy seeds on top.

The stromboli was baked on a pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven for about 15 minutes at 420 degrees. I pretty much just watch it until the crust turned brown.

The result was absolutely amazing!! We gobbled the thing in minutes by dipping it into a warm bowl of Neapolitan Sauce. I will definitely be making many of these in the near future!

Base:
1/2 c – barbecue Sauce (I used K.C. Masterpiece Hickory flavor)
1 tsp – Honey

Topping:
2 Boneless Chicken Breast, grilled
1 Red Onion, thinly sliced
1/2 c – Gouda Cheese, grated
1/2 c – mozzarella Cheese, grated

I started by grilling 2 chicken breasts on the grill. The chicken was flavored only lightly with a dry mix of spices. Once the chicken was grilled, I cut it into half-inch cubes and coated it very lightly with barbecue Sauce. I then set the chicken aside.

Next, I stretched the dough ball I had prepared (Bill’s Traditional, prepared about 48 hours previous and stored in refrigerator). It made an 11 inch pie which I perforated with a fork. I coated the pizza bottom and peel with corn meal.

Once the blank was stretched and peeled, I spread the barbecue sauce on liberally (covered the blank so I could not see through it). It turns out this was probably a bit too much sauce. Next time, I will spread a fairly thin layer of sauce. I also drizzled honey on the sauce as some recipes included this step and I love honey.

Next, I spread a base layer of shredded Gouda cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese – enough to cover the sauce edge and lightly cover the pie. This was topped with the chicken pieces and sliced red onions. More cheese mix was sprinkled on top to cover toppings.

I baked the pizza for about 9 minutes at 485 degrees. The result was outstanding! The pizza was quite delicious. There were some large bubbles near the crust edge, so I guess I should have perforated closer to the edge than I did.

The choice of barbecue sauce will make a big difference for this pie. K.C. Masterpiece had a very good smoked flavor. I think using less will really bring out the taste of the Gouda cheese and onions. The only things I might try slightly different are using a bit less sauce and adding fresh celantra as some of the recipes listed. This is a great recipe to have on hand for those times when you are sick of red sauce (which I guess *could* happen to some people). It’s also very simple, fast and hard to screw up.

Base:
8 oz tub – Mascarpone cheese
5 oz – Sour Creme
3 oz – Brown Sugar
1/2 t – Almond Extract
1/4 t – Vanilla Extract

Toppings:
2 – Red Delicious Apples (roasted – see below)
3 oz – Dried Cranberries (plumped – see below)
3 oz – Slivered Almonds
Streusel Topping (4 tbl butter, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar)

To prepare the base mixture, I simply combined the ingredients in a mixing bowl and set them aside. I also had to plump the cranberries by simmering them in hot water until they regained their round shape.

The preparation of the apples took the most time. I thinly sliced (about 1/4 inch slices) 2 Red Delicious apples and placed them in a medium sauce pan with 1 t cornstarch, 1/3 c sugar, cinnamon, 1 t lemon juice and 1 T apple juice. The apples have to be heated over low heat for about 35 minutes or until they are tender and caramelized. Then they are set aside to cool for assembly.

I hand made streusel by mixing 1/4 stick of butter with about 1/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour. I adjusted the flour amount by adding until the streusel was breaking into small crumbs when mixed.

I stretched a blank of Bill’s Traditional into an 11 inch pie and spread the cheese mixture on with a spatula. The cheese mix was very thick and I had to spread from the center toward the edges to keep the pizza in shape. Once the base was down, I placed the apple slices edge to edge. Next, cranberries were drained then sprinkled evenly on the pie. Almonds and Streusel were also spread. The streusel covered the toppings lightly.

Pizza was baked for about 12 minutes at 480 degrees. When removed from the oven, I drizzled the pie with a small amount of caramel topping in a criss-cross pattern. With all of the amazing ingredients, how could anyone not like this pizza?!? The mascarpone cheese is the main ingredient in tiramisu. As such it was a bit expensive (almost $9 per pound). Everyone loved this pie, but I will have to find a way to reduce the cost if I am going to be able to make it more frequently! Great dessert pizza!

I gathered and prepared all of the ingredients for the taco pizza while the dough proofed. Here are the ingredients:

Base:
2/3 c – Taco Sauce
2/3 c – Pizza Sauce (I used my Neapolitan Sauce)
1/4 c – Refried beans
1 bag – Ortega brand Taco meat seasoning
1 lb. – Ground Beef
1 1/2 c – Mozzarella cheese

Topping (after baking):
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Shredded Lettuce
Chopped Tomato
Sliced Black Olives
Sour Creme

The beef was browned in a skillet and drained. Then I mixed in the packet of taco meat seasoning and some water as per the instructions on the bag. Assembly was easy. Once the dough was stretched, I mixed the taco sauce, pizza sauce, and refried beans and spread it on the blank. Next, a layer of mozzarella was laid with the taco meat sprinkled on top. Another layer of mozzarella was placed over the meat. The pizza baked for 11 minutes at 480 degrees.

Once out of the oven, the pizza was cut then topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and sliced black olives.

The flavor of the taco pizza was great! The base sauce had a great taste and had texture to it. The refried beans offset the tangy tomato and cheddar. This is a hearty pizza – an 11 inch pie fed 3 adults and two young children. I will definitely be making this one again soon!

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

1 1/2 c – Water (110 degrees)
2 tsp - Sugar
1 ¼ tsp - Kosher Salt
2 T - Olive Oil
3 c - Hi-Gluten Flour (Pillsbury)
¼ tsp - Garlic Powder
1 t - Baking Powder
2 t - Corn Meal
1 ½ tsp - Instant Dry Yeast (flieshmans ADY)

Mixed ingredients in bread machine and allowed it to rise for 30 minutes. I stretched it and panned the dough immediately after patting it slightly with flour. Used a cookie sheet greased with spray shortening. Sprayed crust edges with spray shortening. Topped with Neapolitantian sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms and some green peppers.

Cooked at 480 degrees for about 13 minutes since the last thick pizza did not cook through. It turns out this was a bit too long and the pie was slightly over-cooked. Crust rose over 1 inch! It had a very good flavor.

I’ll have to reduce the cooking time of this crust and I’d also like to experiment with allowing this dough to rise overnight.

1 c - Water
1 1/8 tsp – Sugar
2 tsp - Salt (not kosher salt)
1 ½ T - Olive Oil
3 c - Hi-Gluten Flour (Pillsbury)
¾ tsp - Instant Dry Yeast (flieshmans ADY)

Variables changed:
Went back to normal salt for this crust. Forgot to use vegetable oil (called for in my encyclopizza recipe) and used olive oil instead. Omitted dough relaxer.

Dough was mixed in the bread machine and came out very dry but medium hard. Immediately spread flour lightly on the counter and rolled the dough with a roller until it was very thin (about 3/16 inch). Dough ball made a larger blank than I could prepare on my peel, so I trimmed it with a knife to a 12 inch round. Folded the crust over and coated the bottom with corn meal then flipped and coated the other side, slid it onto peel.

Topped with extra Neapolitan sauce and mozz/provy blend – sauced almost completely to the crust edge leaving only about 1/8 inch. Topped with lots of sliced pepperoni. Baked for 8 minutes at 480 degrees (used stone).

Pizza was best yet thin! Big hit with everyone. Crust rose in the oven to about 3/8 inch. Bottom was crispy top was slightly chewy. The combined texture worked well and pizza was not too hard that it hurt to eat it. Great flavor of the toppings really came through. Dad was pleased and said he could eat the whole thing.

This crust worked well. Next time I’d like to see what difference vegetable oil makes.

 

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

 

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

I researched many ways of making buffalo chicken pizza. In all, I found 5 different methods for the creation of this pizza. Each method varied by how it used hot sauce and various cheeses. The following is my ideal buffalo chicken pizza recipe based on my analysis of over 20 different recipes.

Base:
1 ½ c Bill’s Neapolitan Sauce
¼ c Hot Sauce (Texas Pete’s)

Toppings:
2-3 Grilled chicken breasts, cubed
½ c Chopped red onions
½ c Shredded Cheddar
1 ½ c Shredded Mozzarella
Blue Cheese dressing (after baking)

Begin by grilling the chicken breasts. I lightly season mine with grilling seasonings to give them extra flavor. Grilling is definitely preferred to boiling or baking for this pizza because of the added flavor you get from a grill. Once cooked, cube the chicken and mix it with a small amount of hot sauce in a large bowl. This can even be done the day before and set this aside.

I use Bill’s Traditional Dough when baking this pizza. It has just the right thickness to hold the chicken and also provides a perfect bite to compliment the toppings. I start by tossing a 12 inch blank. Next, I mix hot sauce with my Neapolitan Sauce for the base. I’ve found this to be the best base for buffalo chicken. Other methods use straight hot sauce which I’ve found to be too harsh. I’ve even seen recipes which use blue cheese dressing for the base, which is certainly not for everyone. Pizza sauce mixed with hot sauce gives the perfect mix of flavor and kick. I used Texas Pete’s, but I imagine that most brands of hot sauce will serve just fine. I will update my recipe as I experiment with this.

Once the sauce mix has been spread on the blank, I circle the outer edge of sauce with cheddar cheese. Next, I spread the grilled chicken cubes and chopped red onions. Onions may also be sliced for aesthetic reasons. Once covered with chicken and onions, sprinkle the pizza with the mozzarella top cheese and bake at 480 for 10-12 minutes. When the pie comes out of the oven and the cheese has cooled, slice the pizza and drizzle it with Blue Cheese dressing. The blue cheese offsets the hot sauce and gives the pizza a balanced taste. Serve sprinkled with fresh chopped cilantro and celery sticks.

In a small saucepan, heat tomato puree over medium heat. After 5 minutes, the puree should darken. Add other ingredients and reduce heat to low. Simmer and stir for 5-10 minutes. Makes sauce for 2 12 inch pizzas or one large pan pizza.

Combine ingredients in order into bread maker bin. Use the dough setting on bread maker to mix dough for about 30 minutes. Remove Dough and roll it into a ball by tucking the edges under the dough ball. Lightly oil the outside of the ball and place it in a zipper storage bag in refrigerator for 5-20 hours.

Once ball has risen, remove from bag and stretch by hand using corn meal beneath if desired for texture, flavor and ease of stretching. Prepare pizza on a peel.

For thinner crust pizza from same dough, cut dough into two balls and allow them to rise separately.

 

  

©2004 goCrawford.com