White Pizza

It wasn't too long ago that I shared with you The Pizza Dough that Changed My Life. It truly has. I don't exaggerate much (stifles laughter).

We were getting home from a few days away the other day and I thought pizza would be a great option for dinner because it's easy. Now I realize when I say that, that most people grab their take out pizza flyers and start perusing what place they're going to order from that night. However, they don't call me Crafty for nothing and well, when I think pizza, I think of making the dough and throwing some toppings on it! (hey, I buy DelGrosso's pizza sauce, so there you have my "easy" button)

So, really, when I tell you that this dough is so simple to make... can you just trust me and try it sometime? It really is THAT good and once you get the hang of it, you can have pizza in about an hour. And if you're all organized and have the dry ingredients already portioned out in zippie bags, you're going to knock this one out even faster!

okay, okay, onto the actual pizza recipe!

I'm about 28 weeks pregnant now with bambino number 6 and the worst part of pregnancy for me every.single.time is the heartburn. Tomato sauces seem to be the major culprit but really, when we get down to brass tacks, I think anything that goes down is bound to give me heartburn at this point. The good news is, is that in 2 more months and a few weeks, the heartburn will go away for good and I will be holding a brandy new baby!

where was I? oh yes, pizza.

I thought if I cancelled out the red sauce and went with a white sauce, I might "help" the heartburn stay away or something along those lines. Nah, it didn't work, but good gravy am I glad I did some searching around and found THIS recipe which I combined with some swiss chard (that I GREW on my back PORCH- say what!?!?), sautéed mushrooms, grape tomatoes, mozzarella and feta.  We had ourselves a winning pie!


Crafty's White Pizza ala Annie's White Sauce
This sauce recipe makes enough for ONE half of my pizza dough. We used a traditional red sauce on the other pie.

Pizza dough

White Sauce (from Annie's Eats Spinoccoli Pizza)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
3/4 cup whipping cream/heavy cream
1 garlic clove- I like Trader Joe's crushed garlic
3-6 Tbsp parmesan cheese
little S&P

Toppings of your choice:
(in the picture above)
swiss chard
sautéed mushrooms
mozzarella cheese
feta
grape tomatoes

parchment paper
pizza stone


Step 1: Make your pizza dough about an hour before you'll need it and up to a day before you'll need it. You can keep it in the fridge after you've kneaded it a bit and it will rise perfectly. I take it out about 30 minutes or more before I'm ready to roll.

Step 2: Make the white sauce. Melt butter and add flour. Whisk together and cook about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the cream to combine making sure you incorporate after each addition. Add garlic and S&P. let simmer a bit to thicken. Remove from heat and add parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust S&P to taste.

Step 2.1: Preheat your oven to HOT- 425 works.

Step  3: Roll out your dough. I divide my dough into two and roll it out on a piece of parchment paper. This just makes it easier for me to slide it onto the HOT as HADES pizza stone.

Step 4: dress your pizza. First, brush some olive oil onto the edge of your pizza crust. I sprinkled some granulated garlic on top of that (parmesan would be nice, too) Add a smathering of sauce. A thin layer of mozzarella and then any other toppings you want.

Step 5: Take a upside down sheet pan and SLIDE your pizza onto it (you're using this as your makeshift pizza peel)... then slide it onto the hot pizza stone. (alternatively, you can use the sheet pan right side up with your pizza on it, if you don't have a pizza stone (but really, you should... it makes the crust soooooooooooo good)

Step 6: Bake about 15 minutes or until the cheese on top is just how YOU like it.

Step 7: VERY IMPORTANT- if you're using a pizza stone, let your pizza rest up a bit on it after you take it out of the oven. This step ensures the crust will be crisp on the bottom. It retains an amazing amount of heat  and will keep your pizza hot!

Step 8: enjoy!

The Pizza Dough that Changed My Life ~ 12.9.12

Homemade pizza. Why bother? There are oodles and oodles of great pizza places (and not so great for that matter) around this great city of ours and ordering from one of them is oh so easy- dial, pay, deliver, done.

There is the occasional Sir Pizza trip. And the once in awhile DiCarlo's (only Elm Grove will do).

I'm also game for Anthony's delicious pies. And Fiori's is just iconic and infamous and sooooo good with the steak sauce, but I digress.

Those are all awesome and delicious, but not what I can do on a weekly basis feeding my family of 7!

 I just always wanted to be able to make my own.

And then one day, I tuned into my favorite cooking show that I've mentioned more times than most of you care to hear about, Mad Hungry*, and my life was forever changed. 

Lucinda made this foccacia-like pizza dough and I was completely ON BOARD.

Now, I've not had too much luck with yeast and most of my friends mentioned using a bread machine. I tried that method on our ancient bread machine only to have it fail, epically.

But I was determined to figure this process out and wanted my own pizza something FIERCE!

Friends, let me just say that we RARELY order pizza out anymore. FOR REALS.

We were having friends over for dinner last night and we decided to do pizza, salad, dessert. Mr. Crafty was wondering where we were planning on ordering the pizza from for dinner. I told him we weren't ordering I was making it. Knowing that Saturdays are a bit hectic around here he was surprised I was going to take that mission on... there would be 4 adults and 10 children between us!

I was firm on my stance. I was making the pizza. He still checked in at 3 to see if I was unwavering in my decision or if I'd like to hit the easy button. I assured him I was hitting the easy button by making this myself. 

So, onto the recipe! I use my kitchen aid stand mixer, but you could work this by hand as well. Also, the original recipe says to let rise overnight in the fridge and I used to do that until one day I forgot and let it rise on the counter and guess what, it was still awesome. So now, I usually just make it the day of.

Lucinda's Deep Dish Pizza Dough 

(but it doesn't have to be deep dish.... see end of recipe for how I make this every week)

1 1/3 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp yeast (I use rapid rise and buy a jar b/c I use it so often)

3 cup flour + 1 Tbs - I use bread flour, but all purpose works, too

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil plus more for bowl

1. In the bowl of your mixer, combine water, sugar and yeast. Stir and let sit 3-4 minutes, until bubbles form (it will look foamy)

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and cornmeal. Stir to combine.

3. Add flour to yeast mixture and turn mixer on low, slowly stream in the 1/4 cup olive oil. When mixture forms a clump, turn dough out on a lightly floured surface.

4. Knead 5-6 times until dough is smooth. Place in a oil covered bowl and refrigerate overnight. OR let rise on the counter. Use when dough is doubled in size- takes about an hour.

5. To make the pizza. Oil a large baking sheet and press dough out into the pan. If the dough tears, let it rest a minute or two. Use a fork to prick the dough all over and cover with a towel to let rest, 20 minutes. 

6. Add toppings: for foccacia, brush dough with olive oil and add roasted tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella or parmesan cheese. see here for original recipe. Bake in a preheated oven, 450 degrees, 15-18 minutes.

Here's how I make this every week:

1. After dough has risen, I dump it onto a sheet of parchment paper and preheat my oven to 450 degrees. I divide the dough into 2 pieces and the place the other piece on another sheet of parchment paper. (the parchment helps me transfer the dough to my pizza stone in the oven)

2. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to your desired shape: round, rectangular, you decide!

3. Add sauce, cheese and toppings. 

4. Slide an upside down baking sheet under the parchment and transfer your pizza to the HOT oven. If you don't have a stone, you could just bake the pizza on a baking sheet instead.

5. Cook about 15 minutes. Check the middle of the dough for doneness. We take ours out of the oven, on the stone, and let it crisp up for a few more minutes. It stays hot while we eat and makes the second, third, fourth piece stay nice and hot!

 this is one of my favorite toppings - found in the freezer section at TJ's

original recipe source: here

So which method do I prefer? We like the new one made on the parchment and pizza stone... let me know if you have any questions!

Mexican Pizza ~ 10.1.11

I've been declaring my love for *Pinterest* on my other blog, but really, it has provided the Crafty Cafe patrons a wonderful assortment of good eats over the past 2 months!

Lately, I've been craving Mexican-inspired foods. I haven't stepped foot in or driven through a Taco Bell drive thru in over 5 years and suddenly.... the bean burrito is my new best friend! LOL
So, when I saw this recipe for Mexican pizza using ingredients I almost ALWAYS have on hand... I was sold and knew it would make the list of recipes to try immediately!

But first, a good salsa is not a bad thing to have in your fridge and this homemade restaurant-style version from Ree is a winner! It's been on my to-try list for awhile, anyway, so Mexican pizza and the fact that I didn't have a jar of salsa on hand at all were the perfect reasons to give it a go!

It comes together super-duper fast, if you have a food processor. And Thankfully, I do! But if you don't, I bet a blender would do the trick.

PW's Restaurant Style Salsa

And that wonderful creation goes beautifully inside this next recipe for Mexican Pizza.

Here's the original post that I saw and my take on the recipe! I don't have exact amts b/c it all depends on how many you're making it for. I usually get all the ingredients ready so that throughout the week, I can have mexican pizza whenever I want it!

Mexican Pizza
my version

tortillas- I like whole wheat
1 can refried beans- I choose the one with least amt of sodium and opt for vegetarian - we are going to doctor these up!

couple green onions- chopped
salsa of your choice
couple tomatoes- chopped
shredded cheese- colby jack is good
optional: onion, jalapeno, sour cream, taco sauce

Preheat your oven and line a pan with foil.
Take 2 tortillas and brush them with a little canola oil.
Place in oven for about 10 min.
While the tortillas as warming/crisping-- heat your refried beans in a small saucepan. Add in a 1/4 cup water,  couple Tbs chopped onion (no, thank you), 1 tsp taco seasoning (if none, use a little cumin and chili powder and garlic powder), I added some of my fave- Adobo seasoning and a couple turns of freshly gr black pepper.
Let the beans heat on the stovetop, on low, careful not to burn.
Chop your veggies and grate your cheese- some tomato, green onions and if you'd like more heat- jalapeno

Take the tortillas out and build your pizza!
1. spread a good amt of beans on one tortilla. Add a dollop of salsa- not too much.
2. top with second tortilla and spread a dollop of salsa on that and add some chopped veggies: tomato, green onion and jalapeno
3. Top it all with cheese and put it back in the oven for about 12 min.

Remove from oven, slice and serve! Ole!