Artichoke, Arugula, and Prosciutto Pizza at Home - The Basics

I love making pizza at home. It's easy to do, doesn't require a lot of hands on time, and tastes much better than anything delivered from a restaurant chain.  It also allows me to experiment with new vegetables, cheeses and sauces. 

My local supermarket makes a great pizza dough, so that's my starting point. I have made the dough myself in the past, and it tastes just the same, so I'd rather use store bought dough and focus on really good toppings. 

Here are some tips for making a great pizza:

• Take the dough out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you plan on getting started cooking. I try to do an hour if I can. Letting it come up to room temperature will make it much easier to work with. 
• Don't rush rolling and stretching the dough. If it starts to spring back after you roll it, leave it alone for five minutes (start prepping your other ingredients and try again. 
• Sprinkle your work surface and the top of the dough with a little flour before rolling. This should prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface or your rolling pin. Picking up the dough and moving it will also prevent sticking. 
• When rolling the dough, use gentle pressure. If you press down really hard, the dough will likely stick. 
• If using vegetables, try to remove excess moisture. Squeeze frozen thawed vegetables in a clean kitchen towel or saute vegetables with a lot of moisture (zucchini, squash, onions.)
• Break out a ruler.  If the recipe states to roll out the dough to a certain size, match that size. Otherwise your pizza may be too thin and tear, or too thick and bready. 

Here's the recipe for Artichoke, Arugula, and Prosciutto Pizza, adapted from cookinglight.com. I never had artichokes before this.  For the pesto, you can buy some already made, or see this post for a quick and easy pesto recipe. 

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon cornmeal

1 lb. pizza dough

2 tablespoons pesto

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 (9-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained

1 ounce thinly sliced prosciutto

2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

1 cup baby arugula leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions 

Position oven rack to lowest setting. Preheat oven to 500°

Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray; sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll out dough into a 14 x 10-inch rectangle and place on baking sheet. 

Spread the pesto evenly over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over pesto. Place baking sheet on the bottom oven rack; bake at 500° for 5 minutes. Remove pizza from oven.

Pesto and mozzarella on the dough.

Coarsely chop artichokes. Arrange artichokes on pizza; top with sliced prosciutto. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Return pizza to the bottom oven rack; bake an additional 6 minutes or until crust is browned.

Place arugula in a bowl. Drizzle juice over arugula; toss gently. Top the pizza with arugula mixture. Cut the pizza into 4 (7 x 5-inch) rectangles; cut each rectangle diagonally into 2 wedges.

Adding the artichokes, prosciutto, and parmesan.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza with Pineapple

Serves 4 (serving size – 2 slices)

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 1/2 tsp. barbecue seasoning blend, divided (I used Penzey’s BBQ 3000.)

1 c. ketchup

¼ c. brown sugar

3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. siracha

2 tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. dried mustard

½ tsp. salt

1 pre-baked pizza crust (such as Boboli)

1 small yellow onion, sliced

1 c. chopped pineapple

½ c. shredded cheese (I used gouda, but any cheese that melts easily would work well.)

2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1.      Drizzle the chicken breasts with the olive oil.  Sprinkle ½ tsp. of the barbecue seasoning blend on the chicken and bake at 350⁰F for 30 minutes.  Let cool, then chop into ½ inch pieces.  Raise the oven temperature to 450⁰F.

2.     While the chicken bakes, make the barbecue sauce.  In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, mix the remaining teaspoon of seasoning blend, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire, vinegar, siracha, garlic, mustard and salt.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat. 

3.      Sprinkle the cooked chicken and onion over the pizza crust.  Add the barbecue sauce, top with pineapple, followed by cheese.

4.      Bake the pizza at 450⁰F for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with the chopped cilantro.  Let cool 5 minutes, cut into 8 slices, and serve. 

Momentary Lapse of Blogging

I haven't posted any new blogs lately, so I was determined to add one today. 

Things have been really busy.  We took a trip up to NY and Pennsylvania.  It was a lot of rushing around but I got to see my sister, my niece (cutest baby ever!), some good friends, and the in-laws.  As soon as we got back, I started 2 classes at the local college.  These classes are very intense, and cram 16 weeks worth of material into 8 weeks, so I've been doing a lot of reading.  Luckily, I've had some time to do some cooking.

I made a tomato tart last week.  The base as a sheet of puff pastry, coated with a thin layer of sour cream and grainy mustard.  This added great flavor and prevented the crust from getting soggy.  On top of the crust were sauteed cherry tomatoes (which are at season's peak right now) and leeks.  This was baked, and then topped with goat cheese (yum!) and basil. 

I'm going to try to add some more posts this weekend...a neighbor gave me some homemade strawberry jam...I'm going to try to make some cookies with it!

Grilled Pizza - My New Best Friend

I've never been much of a griller...it's always been Cronk's job.  This year I decided to jump into the wide world of barbecuing. I've become a huge fan of grilled pizzas.  I occasionally make my own dough, but it's really easy to just swing by the supermarket and pick up some pre-made dough from their bakery.  Then I just roll it out, add some salt, pepper, and olive oil, then throw it on the grill.  Just 2 minutes makes it nice and crispy with great grill marks.  Then I flip it over, add the toppings, go for another 2 minutes and enjoy.  So far the toppings I've used have been:

• Arugula and mozzarella 
• Caramelized onion, fontina, and thyme
• Ricotta, parmesan, asparagus and lemon zest
• Tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil

They've all come out great! They're definitely a 

different flavor and texture when you cook the pizza on the grill compared to a pizza stone (although I do love my Pampered Chef pizza stone!) I think I'll go south of the border for the next one and do something with chicken and chipotles in adobo sauce.

Last night, I went into my 2nd bedroom and saw Abby snoozing....I had to take a few pictures to get a good shot, but I love this one.  Cronk's been taking her on long walks in the morning, and it helps tire her out by the time 9 PM comes along.  A tired dog is a happy dog.