I love making food for my foodie friends, then talking about it again, and again.
Last weekend I had to fulfill a special request for homemade pizza. Pizza again? No argument from me! This was of course from the friend that told all the other friends last year to request pizza when they came to visit. So once again, it's a pizza post – but this time with a bit more detail on the recipe.I had some 50/50 boule in the refrigerator (made the same way as the artisan master boule, just substituting 1/2 of the flour with whole wheat) so I was able to make three pizzas for Sunday lunch.
Remember the War Eagle Mill flours that I mentioned a while back? I use their organic White Cornmeal to dust my pizza peel. It is silky fine, unlike some cornmeal that I've purchased at the big box stores. It makes it easy to slide the pizza onto the stone, and it doesn't give you big crunchy pieces on the bottom of the dough.
After dusting my peel with this great white cornmeal, I roll out an orange or apple sized piece of dough on a lightly floured surface (after turning it under just like an artisan roll). Once I get it nice and thin it is placed on the peel and brushed with olive oil. I like to use a garlicky magic oil that lovely Trish taught me to create. You crush up some fresh garlic, cover with olive oil and microwave for 25 seconds. Seriously, it's the best thing EVER.
After the olive oil comes the tomato sauce, then the toppings. Shimmy the pie onto a preheated pizza stone and bake for about 10 minutes in a very hot oven (maybe 475-500ยบ).
The photo below shows our "leftover" version of Grilled Chicken Pizza, made with marinated chicken from our grilling the night before. The hickory grilled meat (NO lighter fluid, NO chemically treated charcoal) got chopped up and surrounded by leftover grilled vegetables (asparagus and onion), a jarred organic pasta sauce, and topped with a mix of grated mozzarella, Dutch goat cheese and parmigiano-reggiano.
I don't want to honk my own horn, but (*honk*) SUPER (*honk-honk*) DUPER (*honk*) YUMMY. The smoky flavors of the grilled meat and vegetables were matched perfectly with the bite of the goat cheese.
What's next? Breakfast for dinner!
I am happy to admit I am the friend that started all the pizza talk. I am all about the homemade crust, not that store bought stuff....Nit's is one of the best if not the best I've ever had. I am VERY GLAD :D that she fulfilled my request when I was in TN last week. It was so good with all the grilled veggies and chicken from the night before. The one with the salami was yummy too. If Nit doesn't want to honk her own horn, I will honk it for her...HONK HONK HONK!!
ReplyDeleteOh. My. God, I love your homemade pizza. That is actually a praise statement made to the Most High. I should write a worship song thanking Him for you, and your skills. And for salami. Amen.
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