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Lynsey Lou's

Enjoying Life One Bite at a Time!

Pizza

Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza

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I love pizza, I think it’s actually a weekness for me.  There just something about pizza that screams comfort and feel good food, and there’s no better way to end the week than with a good, hot pizza.  I have a few restaurants in my area that I LOVE, a couple are local and the other is a chain, Old Chicago.  Depending on what I’m craving determines where I get my pizza that night.  When it comes to deep dish pizza, nothing beats Old Chicago’s deep dish pepperoni pizza.  It has the perfect amount of crust, and it’s not overly breaded and then topped with the delicious tomoato sauce, tons of cheese and pepperoni, both regular and spicy.  The combinations of all those flavors are soooo good, and it’s actually double the toppings since it’s deep dish.  There’s really nothing that can beat that!

I love the deep dish pepperoni so much I tried to recreate it at home.  I must say, it turned out quite delicious.  It wasn’t identical to Old Chicago’s, but it was definitely just as tasty.  I started with a homemade crust, followed by homemade marinara and topped with both spicy and regular pepperoni and tons of cheese.  Can I tell you my mouth is watering now just telling you about it?  To achieve the crisp, crunchy crust I baked it in a skillet that I had preheated in the oven with just a little oil.  This steps makes all the difference in the world; the outer texture of the crust is delicious, it’s crunchy and the perfect texture to bite into before getting to the fluffy bread in the center.  I promise this is one of the best pizzas I’ve made in a while; this too is the perfect amount of bread without being too much and then tons of delicious toppings.  This is a must make recipe, and the perfect meal for your next “movie and pizza” night!

Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza

Ingredients:

1 Recipe for homemade pizza dough, or store bought
1/2-1 Cup marinara, homemade or store bought
1 Cup Parmesan, shredded
1 Cup Cheddar or Colby Jack, shredded
8 Ounce provolone, sliced
1 Package pepperoni
1/2 Package spicy pepperoni, if desired
2 Tablespoons cornmeal

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil into a 9 inch skillet and swirl around to coat entire skillet.  Place in oven to warm the pan.

While the pan is heating, sprinkle the cornmeal over a clean surface, place dough on the cornmeal and roll out to desired size.  Place the dough in the hot skillet and bring the dough up the sides of the skillet.  Line the bottom and sides of the dough with the sliced provolone, then spoon 1/2 of the marinara over the cheese.  Place a third of the cheese over the marinara then half of the pepperoni over the cheese.  Start another layer by spooning the remaining marinara over the pepperoni layer, then add another third of the cheese followed by the rest of the pepperoni, reserving a few pieces to place on the top of the pizza.  Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese over the pepperoni layer then top with the reserved pepperoni.  Place the pizza in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Let stand for 5 minutes.  Cut the pizza and serve.

Recipe source: A Lynsey original

Clean Eating Brie and Crab Pizza

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 Today is National Clean Eating Day.  I didn’t really know about clean eating until I read some information provided on Loves To Eat food blog, and I’m still learning about what it actually is the benefits of it.  She has some great information on her blog and tons of helpful links about clean eating, so head on over and educate yourself!

When I saw this recipe on the Loves To Eat blog I knew I HAD to make it.  I was literally drooling while I was reading the recipe and looking at the picture!  We love pizza at our house and I’m always up for trying new and different toppings on my pizzas.  When I told Spencer about this pizza he didn’t know what to think at first, but he said he was willing to try it, he’s usually not too fond of fruit on his pizza.  When we tried the pizza Spencer liked it, but shocked me by saying that he would have actually liked more pineapples so the next time I make this I will add quite a few more pineapple chunks.

This pizza was absolutely delicious!  It was unlike any other pizza I’ve ever had and I just LOVED it.  The crust was perfect; the inside was soft and bready and the outside had a nice crunch.  The pesto was out of this world, I LOVE cilantro so I could eat this stuff by itself.  The toppings were rich and oh so good the sweetness of the pineapple paired perfectly with the salty, richness of the pesto and cheese and the crab topped things off perfectly.  

To me, this was the perfect way to experience clean eating.  There is no sacrifice in taste but it’s food you can feel good about!  I can’t wait to try some other “clean foods”.

Brie and Crab Pizza

Ingredients:

1 recipe for clean pizza dough

For the pizza-

4 Ounces fresh crabmeat, cooked and coarsly chopped
1/2 Medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 Medium pinapple, diced or cubed (use about 1 cup)
3 Ounces brie cheese, sliced thick and chilled
For the cilantro pesto-
2 Cups cilantro leaves
2 Tablespoons unsalted almonds
3 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon low-fat Parmesan cheese
1 Clove garlic, minced
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475 F.

Place pizza stone (if using one) in oven to get warm.

For the pesto-

In a food processor, fitted with the standard blade, add cilantro, almonds, oil, parmesan cheese, and garlic and puree.  Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a resealable container.

***Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

For the pizza-

Divide the dough in half.  Place one ball of the dough on a flat surface lined with parchment paper.  Roll the dough to the desired size and thickness and spread 2 tablespoons of the cilantro pest over the pizza.  Top the pizza with crab, onion, and pineapple, making sure it’s evenly distributed.

Remove the pizza stone from the oven and transfer the pizza (along with the parchment paper) to the stone and place in the oven.  Cook the pizza for 7 to 8 minutes or until golden brown and the toppings are tender.  Remove from oven and top with the brie cheese and return to oven for about a minute or until the cheese is melted.

Remove from ove and slice immediately.  Enjoy!

**Ours cooked about 10 minutes to cook and then another 2 minutes for the cheese to melt.

Recipe Source: Loves To Eat

Clean Eating Pizza Dough

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This pizza dough was absolutely delicious!  If you’re worried about losing flavor or taste because it’s “clean”, don’t!  This crust is packed full of all of the flavor that every other crust is.  I definitely encourage you to try this dough, I made it for brie and crab pizza!

Clean Eating Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon raw honey
1 Cup, less 1 1/2 Tablespoons lukewarm water, divided
1 Package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
2 1/2 Cups whole weat flour, divided
4 Teaspoons vital wheat gluten
1 Teaspoon sea salt
3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together the honey and 1/3 cup water.  Sprinkle in the yeast and allow to proof, undisturbed, for 10 minutes or until the yeast if foamy.

While the yeast is proofing, mix together 2 cups of flour, wheat gluten, and salt in a separate bowl.

Once yeast is foamy, add the remaining water and 2 tablespoons of oil to the mixture.  Pour in the flour and gently fold together using a scraper or spatula until all combined.  The mixture will form into a very wet ball.

Coat the bottom of a large bowl with the remaining oil (ensure that bowl is large enough so that, when doubled in size, the dough will not reach the top).  Transfer the dough to the bowl and roll a few times to coat the dough in oil.  Cover the bowl tightly with saran wrap and set aside to let rise at room temperature for 1 hour.  Dough will be soft andsticky.

Lightly dust counter with about 1/4 cup flour. Transfer dough to floured surface and roll lightly in flour as needed. Gently knead dough, using remaining flour as needed, for about 1 minute. Form dough into a ball and place back into bowl. Cover bowl again tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature to rise for 30 minutes.

Transfer the dough back to the floured surface, adding more flour to prevent dough from sticking (if needed).  Cut dough in half to form two balls.  Lightly knead each for about 30 seconds and reform into balls.  Dough in now ready to be used or stored for future use.

To store, wrap each in saran wrap.  The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours or in the freezer for up to 1 month.  

TO USE FROM REFRIGERATOR:

Remove dough from fridge and allow to warm a  little at room temperature, about 10 minutes. Form a pizza crust by following their Step-by-step guide to rolling out your dough.

TO USE FROM FROZEN:

Transfer dough from freezer to fridge and let it defrost overnight before following “Use From Refrigerator” steps above.

NUTRIENTS per serving (1/8 of each dough ball):
Calories: 96
Total Fat: 3 g
Sat. Fat: 0.5 g
Carbs: 15 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sugars: 1 g
Protein: 3 g
Sodium: 121 mg
Cholesterol: 0 mg    

Recipe Source: Loves To Eat

                               Originally from Clean Eating

Spinach Chicken Pizza

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Last night I decided to make pizza for supper.  I didn’t really want a normal pizza, I wanted something that was a little different.  I started thinking about the ingredients I had on hand and about how I could pair those together.  After thinking for a while I decided that a spinach and chicken pizza sounded pretty good.  

I had some roasted chicken leftover that I thought would be so good on this pizza.  The chicken was seasoned very well, so I didn’t want to add a whole lot of other seasonings because I didn’t want there to be too much going on.  The spinach sauce was very simple too.  All of the elements of this pizza were very easy and simple to make, and when they were put together they complimented each other very well.  We really enjoyed this pizza and all the flavors in it and it went well with my new pizza dough recipe.   

Spinach Chicken Pizza
Spinach Chicken Pizz
Ingredients:

4 Ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 Cup cream

1 Pound frozen spinach, drained

1 1/2 Cups chicken, cooked and chopped (I used roasted chicken)

1/2 Teaspoon onion powder

Salt and Pepper, to taste

1 Cup Roasted garlic cheddar cheese, shredded

1 Cup mozzerella cheese, shredded

1 recipe for pizza dough

Directions:

While the dough is in the oven, place cream cheese and cream in a sauce pan over low-medium heat.  Once the cream cheese has melted stir in the well drained spinach and stir.  After everything is mixed together add salt, pepper and onion powder and stir, then remove from heat. 

Remove dough from the oven and spread the spinach mixture evenly over the dough.  Sprinkle the chicken over the spinach mixture and then top with both cheeses.  Return to oven and cook for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Remove from oven and let cool for just  a moment before cutting.  Enjoy!
Spinach Chicken Pizza
 Recipe Source: Lynsey Lou’s Blog

Pizza Dough

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It seems like Spencer and I have been eating quite a bit of pizza lately, but it’s all been from restaurants.  Although all of the pizza we have had lately has been good, it’s just not the same as homemade.  I also like making homemade pizza because you can make pretty much any type of pizza you want and you have total control over the quality of the ingredients.  It just makes you feel a little bit better knowing what ingredients go into the product you’re about to eat. 

I have made a couple of pizza dough’s in the past, one being my own recipe and the other being a daring bakers recipe, which were very good but this time I wanted to try something a little different.  The last pizza dough I made had wine in it and I loved the flavor it gave to the dough and I wanted to try something similar this time but not have the flavor be so strong or the taste be so sweet.  After I thought about it for a while I decided to make it using beer, I could not have been happier with the flavor.  It had a great flavor, you could taste some of the beer but it wasn’t too overwhelming.  All of the flavors in the dough went together perfectly and every flavor could be tasted, but there wasn’t one that was too strong or overpowering.  Spencer was so impressed with the end result, and said that when he ate the edge of the crust with nothing on it he could taste all the flavors in the dough and liked the dough by itself.  I believe this will be our “go to” pizza dough recipe now.  It was so easy to put together, and I believe it will compliment a variety of pizza toppings.  

I used all of the dough to make one crust.  It came out to my desired thickness; it wasn’t too thick but wasn’t too thin either.  If you are a thin crust person just split the ball of dough in half and make two pizzas or freeze one half.  Even when I used all of the dough I didn’t think it was too much crust for one pizza, even the outer edges of the crust weren’t too doughy.  I would urge you to try this dough, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.       

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup warm beer

1 Package dry yeast

2 1/4 Cup all-purpose flour

2 Tsp sugar

2 Tsp honey

1 Tsp olive oil

1 Tsp salt

Directions:

Pour dry yeast in a medium bowl and then add the warm beer.  Let rest about 2 minutes, until yeast has disolved.  Add sugar, honey, salt, and olive oil and mix together.  Add flour and mix together well, one mixed place dough on floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, don’t overwork otherwise dough will be too tough.  

Form dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, sprinkle with a little flour and drizzle a little oil over the top of the ball, cover bowl and set aside to let dough rise for about 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, while the oven is preheating place baking stone in as well to preheat.  While oven is preheating roll out the dough (or toss) into desired size.  Once dough is ready and the oven is hot, remove the stone and place dough on the stone and poke with fork multiple times to prevent air bubbles.  Place the dough in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Remove dough and add favorite toppings and then place back in the oven to warm ingredients and melt cheese.

Recipe Source: Lynsey Lou’s Blog 

Chipotles and Ranch…a great combo

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For the Daring Baker’schallenge this month we were challenged to make pizza dough the way classic pizzerias do.  We had to toss the dough in the air and all that fun stuff.  It was quite an experience and I had a blast completing this challenge.  This dough is incredible as well, it takes a little more time since it is a two day process but it is so worth it.  For any of you that love pizza and love making pizzas at home the dough is a must try.  

For my pizza I decided to make a chipotle ranch pizza.  It turned out awesome.  All the flavors came out perfectly and blended together so well.  There are many more pizzas I want to try and I have plenty of dough waiting on me; so I can’t wait to share them with you.  This recipe is a ranch lovers dream; this will quench the heaviest craving for something ranch!  I loved coming up with this pizza and we enjoyed every slice. 

Chipotle Ranch Pizza

Ingredients:

Recipe for Basic Pizza Dough 

2 Chicken breast, boiled

2 Tablespoons Tupperware Ranch Chipotle seasoning

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 Small onion-sliced and sauteed

1 Block cream cheese-room temperature

4-5 Tablespoons Ranch dressing mix

1/4 Cup homemade ranch dressing (follow directions on dressing mix)

1/4 Teaspoon dill

3/4 Cups shredded parmesan cheese

 

Directions:

Preheat baking stone on highest setting for 45 minutes before cooking pizza.

Once chicken has cooled, shred and then add salt, pepper, chipotle ranch seasoning, and dill; mix together well.  

In bowl take room temperature cream cheese and mix in dry ranch dressing mix.

In small skillet preheat a little olive oil and sautee onions.  Remove from heat once the onions start to turn clear and get nice and carmelized.

Remove stone from oven and place dough on stone and form edges.  Spread cream cheese on dough, sprinkle with chicken, add onions, drizzle ranch dressing on top, and then add cheese. 

 

Place back in ove for 5-8 minutes; until crust reaches nice golden brown.

 

   

Chipotle Ranch Recipe from: Lynsey Lou

Daring Bakers Pizza Dough

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This was my first challenge as a member of The Daring Bakersand I enjoyed every moment of it.  The challenge this month was to make real pizzaria style pizzas by tossing the dough and everything.  What an experience!  I definitely don’t see tossing pizzas in a pizzeria in my future but I sure did have a lot of fun. 

The hosts of the challenge for this month were supposed to be: Rosa of Rosas Yummy Yumms, Sher of What Did You Eat?, and Glenna of  A Fridge Full of Food.  Glenna had a little too much going on so she decided to pull out of the Daring Bakers so she ended up not being a host this month.  Sherry (Sher) suddenly past away in July of this year but before she did she had shared her idea of the pizza challenge with Rosa.  In honor of Sher, Rosa decided to keep the pizzaria pizza as the challenge.  I’m sure Sherry would have had a wonderful time doing this challenge, but in honor and as a tribute tons of pizza doughs were flying through the air in October for her.  Thanks to Sherry for finding this challenge and recipe and sharing it wil Rosa and thank you Rosa for honoring Sherry through this challenge.

I have made a few different types of pizza dough but none of the doughs I’ve made have been a 2 day process.  When I first read this challenge and saw the dough was going to take two days to prepare I was kind of leary.  I knew it would be better to do this challenge on a weekend so I could take my time with everything and make sure I did everything as the directions read.  This dough turned out incredible; the flavor was so light and fresh and it goes with basically any type of recipe you can create.  This recipe makes quite a bit of dough, so it’s one that could be made then frozen in individual bags or containers in the freezer.  I will definitely be using this recipe again, it was awesome.   

The only guidelines to this challenge were to follow the recipe and toss it like in a pizzeria.  This challenge turned us loose in the kitchen.  As far as toppings and sauces, that was entirely up to the creator of the pizza.  I decided since I was breaking out for this challenge I would get creative with the toppings as well and try a type of pizza and sauce that I hadn’t tried before.  This got the creative juices flowing and I thought of multiple other recipes that sounded so good, so stay tuned for those!  I decided to do a chipotle ranch chicken.  I know that doesn’t sound as adventurous as some things but the way I went about seasoning the chicken and making the sauce was not typical.  All the flavors combined in this recipe were fabulous and everything blended well.   

So, on to the fun stuff…the actual recipe!!!

 

Basic Pizza Dough

From: “The Bread Bakers Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart

 

Ingredients:

4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled

1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar – FOR GF use agave syrup
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

Day 1:

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter.  Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them.  Gently round each piece into a ball.

 

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

 

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

 

 

  Day 2:

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

 

 NOTE:Make only one pizza at a time.
9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE: During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan. 

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.
13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

 

Here are a few pictures of the tossing process for your laughing pleasure!!!

            

      

 

Here’s a picture of theChipotle Ranch Pizza

       

 

BBQ Chicken Pizza

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I was craving a different type of pizza one night, so after preparing my drunken pizza dough I started thinking about toppings.  I was in the mood for something with chicken and you know with chicken there are endless possibilities; so I started listing all the options in my head and what all kind of chicken pizza I have had before when I thought BBQ Chicken Pizza sounds like it will hit the spot.  

This pizza turned out awesome.  The flavors of thedoughcomplimented the flavor of the chicken the flavores throughout the rest of the pizza.  This would be a great addition to any pizza night, or just for a quick meal.  

Ingredients:

6-8 Chicken cutlest

1 1/2-2 Cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1 Bell Pepper, sliced in strips

1/4 Red Onion, sliced (kept in long pieces)

1-1 1/2 Cups BBQ sauce-keep it sweet.  (I used equal parts of “Bone Sucking Sauce” and KC Masterpiece honey)

Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil

Montreal Grill Seasong-for chicken or steak

1 Recipe for drunken pizza dough (or your favorite dough recipe)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

After dough is made and rising, put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet on medium heat.  Season chicken cutlets with salt, pepper and Montreal seasoning.  Place is skillet and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.  Cook chicken completely and remove from pan.  Place sliced onions and peppers in skillet on low-medium heat, drizzle with olive oil and saute until onions begin to clear.  Once onions are clear remove both from heat.  After chicken is cooled, cut into bite size pieces.

Remove risen dough from bowl and roll out in desired size.  Place on pizza sheet or baking stone and form edges of the dough.  Spread part of bbq mixture over the dough and then sprinkle chicken, onions, and pepper (I reserved part of the mixture to put on top of the cheese) and then top with the rest of the bbq sauce.  Sprinkle cheese over pizza, and then add the reserved onions and peppers then place in oven.  Cook for 20-30 minutes, until dough is golden brown. 

***I cooked mine for 25 minutes

 
Recipe Source: A Lynsey Original

Drunken Pizza Dough

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I was really in the mood for pizza the other night but I didn’t want the same old regular pizza, I wanted something different.  I thought the first thing I could start with was the crust.  How could I give the crust a little different flavor but not so much that it would take away from the pizza toppings?  I had some wine in the refrigerator and thought I could use wine as part of my liquid to give it a little kick.  The end result was absolutely fabulous and would be great with a multitude of different toppings.  I got so many compliments on it and I had no leftovers after that meal!

This recipe made quite a bit of dough.  I just made 1 large, thick crust pizza with it and the dough was still pretty thick and puffy after being cooked.  This recipe could probably make 2 medium thick crust or even more thing crust pizzas.  I didn’t need more than one pizza when I cooked but I probably could have halved the dough and used the other half for something later on.  It was still really good though; I paired it with BBQ Chicken Pizza…oh so good!!! 

Ingredients:

 1 Package yeast (1/4 ounce package)

1/3 Cup warm water

1/3 Cup white wine (I used a Riesling)

1/2 Teaspoon syrup

2 Tablespoons oil

2 Cups flour

1/2 Teaspoon sugar

1/2 Teaspoon salt

 

Directions:

In a large bowl proof the yeast with the sugar in 1/3 cup lukewarm water for 10 minutes or until it is foamy.  Stir in the wine, oil, flour, and salt and blend until it forms a dough.  Knead the dough on a floured surface.  Knead until smooth and elastic.

Put dough in an oiled bowl and turn it to coat it with the oil.  Let the dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place for 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. 

 

Recipe Source: A Lynsey original

Bacon Avocado Griddle Pizza

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I love recipes that take two distinctly different dishes and somehow incorporate them into one dish that flows together so nicely.  This pizza incorporates all the elements of a guacomole salad, yum, and istead of serving it as a dip it serves as the “sauce” on this light and delicious pizza.  I could eat guacomole all day long, it’s one of my favorite dips, I didn’t think it could get any better but with the addition of bacon, chicken and spinach it takes it to an entirely different leve.  I saw this recipe for Bacon Avocado Pizza in Rachael Ray’s magazine, and I knew instantly that I just had to make it.  

This is the first time I have cooked a pizza in a less than traditional manner, I’ve always cooked my pizzas in the oven but I’m always up for something new and cooking this pizza on the griddle was so fun.  The crust cooks up very quickly, and after you flip it once the pizza is ready to assemble.  The crust itself is fabulous, it’s just the right consistency of bread and crunch, and topping it with the avocado mixture and the bacon just put this pizza right over the top.  This is such a great twist on two classics but it’s also a very quick and easy meal to put together any night of the week. 

 Bacon Avocado Griddle Pizza

1 Cup lukewarm watter
2 1/4 Cups flour
One 1/4 ounce packet active dry yeast
1 Teaspoon sugar
Salt
1 Pint plum tomatoes, halved
1 Small onion, lightly sauteed
1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Pepper
3 Avocados
One 12 ounce package bacon
2 Cups spinach
Garlic salt, to taste
Tobasco, to taste
Grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast (optional)

 Directions:

 In a large glass, whisk together the water, 1 tablespoon flour, the yeast and sugar; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Using a food processor, combine the remaining flour and 1 teaspoon salt. With the machine on, pour in the yeast mixture and process until the dough forms a ball. Mix for another minute, then transfer to a large greased bowl, turning the ball of dough to coat. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
In a bowl toss together the tomatoes, sauteed onion, olive oil and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature.
In a bowl, mash the avocados and then mix in garlic salt, pepper, and tobasco then press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to cover.
Preheat a large skillet; add the bacon and cook until crisp. Drain on paper towels.
Preheat a griddle over high heat or an electric griddle to 400°. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into 4 pieces, then flatten each one into a disk. Stretch each disk into a 10-inch round (if dough is too elastic, let rest for 5 minutes).
Brush one side of each round with olive oil and transfer to the griddle, placing the oiled sides down. Cook, lightly brushing the tops with more oil and flipping once, until browned, about 6 minutes on each side. Transfer to a cutting board.
Spread the avocado evenly on each crust. Toss the spinach with the tomato mixture and scatter over the pizzas. Crumble the bacon on top.

Recipe Source: Slightly adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray

   

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