I have not posted a new recipe in AGES! Things have been SO BUSY with the kids and all.
Now that it seems that fall is upon us, I can get caught up! My latest obsession is pizza. A found a new (faster) way to make homemade pizza and I will share it here.
I call it Roasted pizza. It kind of gives you that brick oven taste.
Here's what I do.
I am a homemade kind of person so I like to make my crust and sauce at home. I'll post those recipes at the bottom of this post.
Roasted Pizza
Here's what you'll need:
1 - pizza crust
pizza sauce
shredded Mozzarella cheese
You favorite (precooked) pizza toppings
Here's what you do:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and warm the pizza crust. It should be soft and warm, but not too brown.
Next add sauce, cheese and your favorite pizza toppings. Set your broiler to high. Place the oven rack at its lowest level so that it's as far away from the broiler as possible. Broil your pizza until it is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Depending on your oven or broiler, this will only take a few minutes 5-10 minutes max. You have to keep a close eye on the pizza while its in the oven because it can burn VERY QUICKLY!!!
Voila! Roasted pizza.
If you're like me, you'll want to make your own homemade pizza crust. Here's the recipe that I use:
Pizza Crust
makes 2 crusts
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 envelope dry yeast
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup of warm tap (NOT HOT) water
1 teaspoon of garlic powder (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl. In a separate container mix the water and oil. Pour the water mixture into the flour mixture and combine well using a fork. Once the dough has come together turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic. (don't worry, you can't over knead this dough.)
Once the dough is well mixed and smooth, coat your mixing bowl with a little olive oil and return the dough to the bowl. Turn the dough in the oil coated bowl. You want to oil the entire outside surface of the dough ball. Now just set it aside to rest for at least 10 minutes. Divide the dough ball in half.
Freezing the dough: If you like - you can stop right here and freeze the dough balls until you need them. Divide the dough in 2. Place each dough ball in a freezer bag and freeze. To thaw place the dough ball in the fridge or on the counter top until thawed. If you're SUPER careful you can even defrost it in the microwave.
Microwave defrost: Using the defrost setting, microwave for one minute. Flip the dough ball over and defrost for another minute. Now see if the ball if soft. If not, continue defrosting 30 seconds at a time until it is almost all the way soft. You want to stop when the dough is a little frozen in the middle. Allow the dough to rest on the counter for 15- 20 minutes. Knead and cook as listed below.
Cooking the dough: Lightly oil a cookie sheet.
On a floured surface roll out 1 dough ball to make your pizza crust. Place the unbaked crust on the cookie sheet. Poke it all over with a fork. Bake until it is lightly brown.
Remove the crust from the oven,
turn it over. Add your favorite toppings and sauce. Now you can bake or roast your pizza.
Easy pizza sauce
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 small onion finely chopped
1 small carrot shredded
1/2 teaspoon dry basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 c. water or broth (optional)
salt, pepper, garlic, sugar to taste.
Add the oil, onion and shredded carrots to a pan. Saute until the onions are soft. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil salt, pepper and garlic.
If the sauce is too thick add water until it is as thin as you like it. (I like mine pretty thick so I add only 1/4 c of water).
Simmer 5-10 minutes.
That's it, you're done!
