Focaccia

I made this sauce-less pizza last week after a walk at the SC Botanical Gardens. Our little family was hungry for pizza when we returned home, but what to do when there is no pizza sauce in the cupboards? Use olive oil and seasonings! The focaccia went over surprisingly well with our fam! First, Shastya loved it because the bread was so soft. Second, Anthony was a fan. Third, I thought it tasted similar to Macaroni Grill's marvelous fresh bread served with olive oil and seasonings for dipping. Eating the fresh focaccia I prepared brought back delicious memories of my first time having focaccia maybe ten years ago when I was in college and had bought a round of focaccia at a local Fresh Market.

Mexican Cheeses, Mushrooms, Pepperoni, & Cayenne Pepper

I used my own secret dough recipe. I sauteed some fresh mushrooms in a skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper. After throwing my dough and pressing it out into my pizza pan, I layered sauce, cheeses, seasonings, pepperonis, and mushrooms on top. For seasonings, I used Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and cayenne pepper. The pizza was very good. Anthony and I probably ate too much of it for one sitting.

Fresh Basil & Tomato Pizza

This is a Sbarro inspired pizza. When I was recently in PA, at the Montgomery Mall, I got a slice of pizza for lunch. The pizza was amazing and incredibly fresh tasting. It had a layer of fresh basil and tomato instead of sauce, then large slices of fresh mozzarella on top. As soon as I ate it, I knew I wanted to try making something similar sometime . . .

Shout out to Barb Fisher, who brought me fresh tomatoes, basil, and oregano from her garden the other day! I knew right away what I was going to make with them. And so today, Saturday lunch, I got my fresh ingredients out of the fridge after putting my dough to spinning in the bread machine.

After compiling my dough, fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, droplets of olive oil, and finally frozen shredded mozzarella, I sprinkled my favorite Italian five spice on top! I do not know if Italian five spice is original to me, but I do know that it is much different from Chinese five spice. My Italian five spice includes garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and oregano. This time, I used fresh oregano!

The first thing out of my mouth when I tried my fresh basil and tomato pizza was, "Oh wow." Another pizza success in the bag. Anthony really liked the pizza too.

Grilled Vegetable Pizza

Anthony has not usually enjoyed vegetable toppings. Tonight, I asked him if he would mind vegetable toppings if I sauteed them in soy sauce. He said that was fine. The toppings I used were asparagus, zucchini, and mushrooms sauteed in soy sauce and sesame oil. Our pizza turned out without a glitch, and tasted rather classic. Sugar had dumped out of the bag rather quickly when I was pouring it into the bread machine canister for the pizza dough. The crust turned out quite sweet, similar to Pizza Hut's.

Gourmet Pizza: "From Scratch" Curry Sauce + Specialty Cheeses

They say "necessity is the mother of invention." I love being creative so I think things just get more fun in the kitchen when a few key ingredients are missing. Last night, my plan was to make a pizza for dinner. Since there was no tomato sauce in the cabinets, and since there were no fresh tomatoes in our refrigerator, I knew we were in for a treat. I thought about making a black sauce out of black beans or making a yellow curry sauce. Because I had been wanting to try making a pizza with a curry sauce for some time, I decided to do that. I'll just have to come back to my black sauce idea. Maybe I could make it from black beans and squid ink! My curry pizza sauce turned out "out of this world." I'll definitely have to "write home" about it. Want the recipe?

Shari's "From Scratch" Curry Pizza Sauce

1 1/2 TB Oil

1 Chopped Fresh Onion

1 Cup Water

2 1/2 TB Ketchup

1 1/2 TB Ginger Paste

1 1/2 TB Minced Garlic in Oil

1 Tsp Red Chili Powder

1 Tsp Garam Masala

1 Tsp  Tumeric

1 Tsp Cumin Powder

Shari's Delicious Pizza Crust Du Jour

1 Cup Warm Water

2 Tsp Bread Machine Yeast

1 TB Granulated Sugar

3 Cups Bread Flour

1 Tsp Sea Salt

Shari' Pizza Toppings Du Jour: Specialty Cheeses

2-3 Slices Gouda Chopped

2-3 Slices Sharp Cheddar Chopped

1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella

Ham & Bean Soup Inspired Pizza

I was so impressed with the outcome of my ham and bean soup inspired pizza endeavor! It so totally worked, and then some. It was like pizza, soup, and fluffy bread sticks, heaven in my mouth. It had the ham and bean soup nuance of flavor, and it also could have been called healthy ham and bean alfredo pizza, or cheesy ham and garlic bread sticks! It was amazing.

 

Mini Knots & Pizza

I made my pizza dough earlier in the afternoon than usual. The dough had extra time to rise, and I had extra dough when it was done rising. I decided to make knots to go with our pizza. Once I began rolling out the dough for knots, it became evident that I did not have very much extra dough. I then made mini knots for the first time.  I served the knots with tomato sauce for dipping. The mini knots and pizza turned out to be delightful. Anthony particularly liked the pizza. He said it tasted very Mediterranean. I agreed, and said that it was classic, margherita. (I might add that I made cheese pizza despite the fact that Anthony insists that he always likes toppings, and that he's not a fan of just cheese pizza.)

Memories of Broccoli Pizza

Last night I made broccoli pizza for Anthony and myself. Growing up, my Mom always took my brother, sister, and me out for pizza on Saturday nights. Our favorite spot at the time was Rudy's Pizza in Soudertown, PA. One of our favorite toppings to get there was broccoli. At the pizza shop, there were five seasonings that I always used: grated parmesan, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, and black pepper. While waiting for the pizza to arrive, we lined up our seasonings to put on top of it, and my Mom would read a chapter out of a book to us kids. She would often read inspirational biographies of Christian heroes of the faith to us.

  

 

National Garlic Day

Yesterday was National Garlic Day. I found that out when I found an awesome recipe, Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza Pockets on Twitter. The recipe was commemorating National Garlic Day. I decided to make the recipe for dinner. 

I did a few variations on the recipe. First, I used water instead of butter with the olive oil for cooking the chicken and onions on the stove. Second, I just made two large calzones instead of four pizza pockets. Third, I did not put as much cheese as the recipe called for.

I might add, this was my first time making roasted garlic in the oven. To me, it didn't taste any different than if I had just cooked the whole cloves on the stove in the water and olive oil with the chicken and onions. I did something similar when I recently made Chicken and Broccoli(with whole garlic cloves), and the garlic turned out fabulous and soft.

My husband and I loved the pizza pockets. We both ate more than we should have. I suppose we shall have to start an annual National Garlic Day tradition of having these delicious calzones for dinner!