snow and pizza (the story of today)
This was going to be a post about the stew and soup I made this weekend (both really really good), but then we had this delightful day that included playing in the snow and making pizza and dancing in the kitchen and coloring and lots of toddler giggles as snow continued to fall outside, so I am sharing this story + recipe instead.*
(More than Just a) Simple Pizza: A Cooking Experience
Before you begin to make this simple pizza, set the scene. Having music on is a very good thing. (Current favorite is radioIO Acoustic Café using the Pocket Tunes App for ipod/iphone.) Then have your family nearby so you are reminded that you are making this meal for people you love. Of course, being totally solo in the kitchen singing along with Adele is an equally delicious way to approach this meal, and since this pizza isn't huge, it would be perfect for dinner for one and then lunch the next day.
Then, take premade pizza dough from the fridge, remove it from the bag, and let it sit for 20 minutes on a floured surface. (My friend Christine recently mentioned that Trader Joe’s has a great pizza dough in their refrigerated section, so we tried it today. It is awesome! Your local store should have Pillsbury or another brand near the pre-made cookie dough if you don't have Trader Joe's nearby.)
Preheat oven to 450.
Next, gather your toppings. Cut up your veggies; then find the cheese you want to use and put it in a pretty bowl just because it makes you happy. When someone says, “We are going to have more cheese than that, right?” you can reassure him that yes, we will but this bowl looks pretty for photos.
At this point you might realize you have 12 minutes until your 20 minutes are up. Here are some options:
a) Dance with your family in the kitchen to a song or two.
b) Fill one more grocery sack with items from your cabinet full of too many glasses and put on the porch to take to Goodwill.
c) Give your one year old her very first orange pepper slice and then proceed to feed her about 10 more pieces because she keeps saying, “good!”
d) Begin to clear the table of all your beading supplies so you can sit at it to eat.
e) All the above (as you realize 12 minutes is much longer than you think).
f) Make a quick salad that would pair nicely with pizza and give you more greens. (Next time. Yes. Next time)
Now you are ready to roll out the dough onto a floured surface. It is a good idea to let go of having a round pizza, especially if the surface you are using is rectangular. (And when you cook it, it somehow finds its way to being mostly round. Of course, later I thought about how I would roll it out on the pizza stone next time. Ahem.) And if someone stronger than you is around and offers to roll it for you, well, say yes. (It wasn’t that hard though and reminded me of standing at the window at Noble Romans watching teenagers make pizza decades ago.)
(Now this next step is one you should insert up there right before “dance with your family,” but when it comes at this point instead, give yourself permission to roll with it.) Next, remember that you have chicken sausage in the fridge that you want to add to the pizza.
Cook the sausage if you are adding it. If someone else is cooking it (thanks Jonny), you might be able to wire-wrap 10 beads and dance with your daughter.
Next, put pizza dough on a pizza stone if you have one (if not, use a pan). Then, assemble your pizza. I layered as follows: olive oil, thin layer of cheese, mushrooms and orange pepper and small bits of chicken sausage, then lots of cheese.
Bake for 8-12 minutes. You know it’s done when the bottom of the dough is browning. I baked ours for about 15 minutes though and it was perfect, so do adjust the time based on your oven and dough thickness.
When you take it out, gather your family to oooh and ahhh at the pizza’s beauty.
Take a few photos.
Eat.
Have toys on hand for your toddler to play with when she decides she is full from all the pepper slices and won’t eat while you are eating. She can color or build things and you will be much more likely to enjoy your pizza if she is content.
Because this is a food that Ellie eats and since it really was so easy to use this dough (and felt really satisfying to roll it out and even has me thinking about making my own dough), I imagine making pizza a few times a month and sometimes making it for the two of us for lunch during the week (EJ and I are more likely to do no meat, less cheese, more veggies). So, this means, I am totally creating a pizza Pinterest board to save recipes I want to print out and add to my recipe binder. Just started using the binder because I am learning that I simply need that “oh right, I could make pizza this week” reminder that seeing a recipe in a binder gives me.
An invitation: I would love to know your favorite homemade pizza toppings/recipes. Please share them in the comments.
*The story behind the story: In some ways, this is the most important paragraph of this blog post, so I hope you made it to here. In the past few months, there haven’t been a lot of days that could be described like the romantic “wow, aren’t they lucky?” paragraph that begins this blog post. There are moments of beauty and love each day, but there have also been some of the toughest moments Jon and I have experienced as a couple. Today, as I wrote this post, I kept thinking about how the slight changes I have been making as I continue to focus on leaning into whole(ness) have been creating space for more laughter, for listening, for sharing (because we are talking with one another when we sit at the table), and for intimacy as we work together in the kitchen or as he talks to me while I cook or as we read or work together after she goes to bed (or naps) because we just want to continue to be together and not turn the television on.
*****
Here is a simple version of this recipe in case you have a binder like me and would like to print it out.
The "Anyone (this means you too) Can Use Premade Dough" Pizza
Ingredients:
Premade refrigerated pizza dough (I used Trader Joe’s)
Veggie toppings of choice
Meat toppings of choice (I used Trader Joe’s breakfast chicken sausage)
Cheese of choice (I used pre-shredded mozzarella from Trader Joe’s)
Olive oil (I used Annie’s infused with basil)
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. UPDATE: I now heat our oven to 500 so it takes less time.
- Take dough out of packaging and let sit 20 minutes on floured surface.
- Chop veggies, cook meat if applicable, grate/slice cheese as needed.
- Roll pizza dough into a round(ish) shape, continuing to keep surface floured to avoid sticking (it’s a good idea to follow directions on your dough’s packaging).
- Spread olive oil over dough.
- Add toppings of choice (keeping to thin layers to avoid weighting down the dough)
- Bake for 8-12 minutes (longer as needed depending on oven/dough thickness).
a recipe, in the kitchen, whole(ness) in the moments.
Reader Comments (10)
Here's my bread machine pizza dough recipe.
Add these ingredience in order in the bread pan from the machine:
2 t yeast
3c flour
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 T sugar
1 1/2 T skim milk powder
1 1/2 T olive oil
1 1/4 c + 1 T warm water
Put the pan inside the machine and set to the "dough" setting. On my machine (Black & Decker) it's a 2 hour sequence till the dough is ready. If I am aiming dinner for 5 p.m. then I put the dough on at 1:00 p.m. to have it ready on time. (This includes prep time and baking.)
Once the dough is done (the machine will beep and let you know to take it out) remove the dough from the pan and split into 2 balls. Knead lightly a couple times, just to work the air out. Don't overdo it! Spray a pizza pan lightly with cooking spray and lay one ball of dough onto the pan int he center. Work it with the heel of your hand to for it to the shape of the pan. Repete with the second ball on another pizza pan.
Once the crusts are formed, wet a thin tea towel with hot water and wring it out. Lay the towel over the pans and let rise for 1 hr.
Make your pizza however you like and then bake at 350 F for 30 mins. Allow to stand for 5 mins. before cutting.
that all sounds yummy - time together with family (best part), dancing, music, a bit of crafting and homemade pizza ... enjoy!
i haven't made pizza in a long time (too long) so have no recipe to share. still appreciate yours and lelainia's, above. might give one a try this week.
ages ago i used to live in denver. there was a pizza parlor there (see? that's how long ago it was ... or how old i am ... it was called a pizza "parlor". ha) that would put just about anything you wanted on pizza. cauliflower? sure. peanut butter and jelly? yep. tuna fish? no problem. not that i tried any of that. my favorite type is a simple thin-crust pizza with just a little tomato sauce, no cheese, lots of veggies cut into big chunks (varying combinations of whatever sounds good/i have in the kitchen/the restaurant offers: mushrooms, onions and/or green peppers most often. sometimes spinach leaves (can't keep them around long), often with slices of 'cherry' tomatoes) and some black pepper on top. :)
hope you all have a good night.
kathy
Beautiful post, Liz... visually (drool!) and in so many other ways :)
In response to your invitation, I would indeed be delighted to share my homemade pizza ideas!
Full disclosure 1[edit]: this got kind of long (sorry!)
Full disclosure 2: I have a secret weapon when it comes to whipping up cheap, easy and heavenly pizza dough: my bread maker! (I got it for under 50 euros and it’s something like this one here: http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-5891-2-Pound-Programmable-Breadmaker/dp/B00067REBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326793045&sr=8-1 )
The dough setting on this thing makes perfect pizza dough (every time) in 90 minutes. I use the recipes that came with the machine for both plain and whole-wheat pizza dough. You just throw the ingredients in (flour, water, salt, sugar, olive oil, yeast) and the machine does all the kneading, rising, kneading, rising. It's magic! And the result is perfect, fluffy pizza dough, every time.
You can also use it to make dough for bagels and cinnamon rolls (see recipes below!)
My favourite pizza toppings are:
- homemade tomato sauce (with garlic and roasted red peppers), beet, spinach, and goat's cheese/feta.
-tomato sauce, chopped peppers, onion, black olives, chorizo, mozzarella
-tomato sauce, mozzarella, capers, cherry tomatoes, rocket.
-hey and, if you haven't done this already, go to "punchfork.com" and type "pizza" into the search box. prepare to drool ;)
We love calzone at our house too! And the boys always ask for homemade mini pizzas at their birthday parties! And they're always a huge hit.!
[mmmm, i'm getting sooo hungry!]
But, while I'm at it, I can't resist recommending the bread machine concept enough. Always reluctant to cramp up my kitchen with another semi-useless gadget, I wasn't too sure about it at first. But, oh my, I’d hate to be without it now!
My family of 5 goes through about 3 loaves of breadmaker bread a week and I love trying new bread recipes all the time... throwing in different flours, grains, seeds... yum! Amassing the right ingredients might seem daunting at first but once you find a nice supplier (we have a great organic grains/seeds, etc. supplier at our local farmers’ market), it becomes part of the weekly routine. You just measure it all out and pop the ingredients in, and the machine does the rest! Most loaves take about 3 hours, so sometimes I stick it on just before bed... and wake up to a yummy fresh loaf in the morning –my boys love toast with brekkie. There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly-baked bread wafting around the house... mmmm
And don’t get me started on the fact that my breadmaker also has a “jam” setting :-)
Breadmaker recipes:
Bagels: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/bread-machine-bagels/Detail.aspx
Cinnamon rolls: http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/01/bread-machine-cinnamon-roll.html
Breadsticks: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=319916
Whole-wheat bread: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/03/bread-machine-whole-wheat-bread-recipe.html
Ciabatta: http://www.cookipedia.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Ciabatta_bread_recipe
Italian herb bread: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=380816
More: http://www.breadman.com/t-recipe-main.aspx
Thank you for indulging my longwinded ‘doughfest’, Liz! Happy kitchen+family+love time.
Vx
This post brings back so many memories! When my children were little (they're 29 and 25 now) my mom and I used to take them to my parents very remote mountain cabin for at least one week...sometimes two...during the summer. I was teaching and had the summers off. We took a trunkload of craft supplies and made plans for weeks of what we would make and what meals to fix. Always, always, always, my kids wanted homemade pizza. We set it up like a pizza bar and each of them got to take turns "dressing" the pizza with whatever toppings they wanted....peppers, onions, mushrooms, LOTS of pepperoni, cheeses of all kinds....we used whatever we had on hand and it was always wonderful. Thank you for reminding me of this! Now I'll plan to do the same with my grandchildren. :)
Woop Woop!!!!! Welcome to the pizza cult!!!! My hubbin and I have at least one pizza date night a week! Our favorite toppings sound odd at first but we got this recipe from Roma's in Denver, CO and it is TO.DIE.FOR.
Red sauce (as much as you like), pepperoni or sausage, mozzerella cheese, dabs of cream cheese, and.....chopped cashews sprinkled all over. Roma's callas it "The Nutty Idea" and we love it! We do switch it up with mushrooms, jalapenos, and black olives, but cream cheese and pepperoni are always on there somewhere.
This was such a great post! I think the idea of a pizza pinboard is awesome and I can't wait to see what you find! I won't be surprised if the same pinboard gets created for me within the week.
Also; I'd like to credit Pinterest with my fridge full of amazing leftovers this week. I've cooked so much yummy stuff that all I need from the store this week is fresh veggies. I agree with setting the scene as well. My lime green dutch oven, pottery spoon holder with a dragonfly painted on it, and all the other goodies in my kitchen make it a cozy spot to hang out in. All were gifts from folks who love me and picked each piece with me in mind. How can you not want to spend time in a room filled with goodies from people who love you? In fact...I may blog about this myself. I'll show all the goodies in my kitchen that make me want to be there.
Thanks again for the great post Liz! This was so much fun to read! :O)
Great photos, great recipes and a very happy ending!
I made pizza last night, too (and now we're getting your snow)! This is our favorite pizza crust recipe http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/cheri-s-favorite-pizza-dough. It couldn't be easier - you mix the few ingredients in the food processor and let it rise, and that's it - no kneading or anything. Now if only I knew how to make it round...
Somehow never finished my comment last night. We make lots of pizza, usually the sauce, mozzarella, and whatever veggies we have on hand with or without meat.
Sometimes as a change, I like to spread pesto on the crust and then top it with mozzarella (slices of fresh mozzarella are really nice). I like to pair the pesto with tomatoes (really fresh or sundried), red peppers (roasted are particularly nice), and garlicky sausage.
My other favorite pizza (dinner tomorrow night) is chili pizza. Use a sourdough crust or a good multigrain with rye. Roll out the dough, spread chili as you would sauce. Top with grated sharp cheddar. Sprinkle with chopped onions and bell peppers. Top with a little extra cheddar. Bake at 450 for about 20-25 minutes.
Gorgeous post Liz. I love the truth added to the bottom paragraph too. Isn't it always the way. Moments of beauty and love right alongside all the hard bits.
So I have a couple of favourite pizza toppings:
1. Olive oil, garlic, prosciutto, caramelised onions, pine nuts and cheese. You can use mozarella as the cheese or go for something interesting like a gorgonzola and just put a few blobs around.
2. BBQ chicken, spring onions, pineapple pieces, green or red peppers and mozzarella.
I have a great recipe for pizza dough if you want it. Let me know. It's super simple to make. If you can work with premade dough you can definitely make your own.
I never commented on your other post about nourishing yourself with cooking this year. I meant to tell you that Jamie Oliver's cookbooks are absolutely great for aspiring cooks. He makes cooking so accessible and fun. I highly recommend picking up one of his cookbooks.
I use Martha Stewart's Whole Wheat PIzza Dough recipe (http://www.marthastewart.com/316808/whole-wheat-pizza-dough) because it's good and it fixes up quick, no kneading. PLus, it makes two so I pop one in the freezer for later (or make it into 4 mini pizza crusts that you can pull out of the oven, dress and bake without defrosting). You just have to remember you want pizza and start an hour ahead of time with making the dough.
favorite toppings: Bell pepper chunks, halved grape tomatoes, SHALLOTS! Shallots are amazing on pizza. I cut them into little rings and toss them all over the top. They give an onion-y flavor without the crunch of raw onions. Very yummy. Zucchini is surprisingly good as well. We haven't been putting meats on the pizza because we find we like the veggie goodness.
We had it for dinner last night.