In the 'Zone

Our Hero loves pizza. Deeply. So deeply I often wonder if I should be jealous. No matter how recently he's ordered a slice or three for a meal, he's ready for more. A friend of his with whom he traveled talks of great detours in walking trips in order to procure a droopy wedge of the stuff.

Our Hero's favorite pizzas are pretty standard stuff, generally from the pizzaria around the corner (any corner): floppy crust, the barest schmear of marinara, greasy cheese, sausage and/or pepperoni. That's it. Oh, and the bigger, the better.

And here's where we part ways . . . Though I can enjoy a neighborhood slice, my favorite pizzas are usually homemade and healthier: white with lots of veggies and a bit of flavorful cheese.

(Note that one of my past recipes is called "Our Hero's Favorite Pizza" - let me qualify that as Our Hero's Favorite Homemade Pizza.)

. . . so it was with love in my heart that I decided to make "supreme" calzone for dinner. I had a couple of fresh italian chicken sausages, 1/2 a red bell pepper, and mushrooms in my fridge - all pleading to be used - calzone was calling. This was my first official try at a calzone (though there was one "rustic Greek calzone" accidental pizza fold-over my brother may remember), and it was as easy as I expected. I have been toying with a new pizza dough recipe, adapted from Mark Bittman's version. I have also (gasp) been taking to making it in the Cuisinart. I refuse to apologize. It's so fast!

Calzone Supreme

Dough:
1 pkg. rapid-rise yeast
2 t. salt
3 cups white whole-wheat flour
2 T. olive oil
1-1 1/4 cup water

In a food processor: Combine yeast, salt, and flour in the bowl of the processor. Turn the machine on. Slowly pour in the oil and 1 cup of the water. Allow to mix a bit, adding additional water little by little if needed until the dough forms a ball. Process for 30 more seconds. Remove from machine and shape into a ball. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 1-2 hours, until doubled in bulk.

By hand: Combine yeast, salt, and flour in a bowl. Stir in oil and enough water for dough to form a ball. Knead for 5-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 1-2 hours, until doubled in bulk.

Filling:
1 cup thick marinara or pizza sauce
2 links fresh italian hot chicken sausage, removed from casing
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
10 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 cup part-skim mozzerella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a skillet over medium-high. Add sausage, breaking up into small pieces until fully cooked. Place in a bowl and set aside. Add mushrooms to any accumulated fat from the sausage (it should be a modest amount), stir, cover, and cook 2-3 minutes, until juices begin to release. Add peppers, remove cover and cook until all juices have evaporated, 5 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper. It's important to cook away the moisture so that the calzone do not get soggy. When veggies have cooked, remove to a plate.

Divide the risen dough into four equal pieces. Flatten and stretch each piece into a circle 7-8 inches in diameter. You may need to let the dough rest a bit between stretches.

Spread 2-3 T. marinara on 1/2 of each dough circle, leaving 3/4-inch border. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the sausage and a good 1/4-cup of the veggies. Sprinkle with 2-3 T. of cheese You want the calzone full, but still able to close. Wet the edge with a bit of water and fold the dough over the filling. Pinch the two sides together with your fingers, and crimp the edges with a fork. Cut three steam vents in the top of the turnover.

Place on an oiled baking sheet and bake 20-30 minutes, until golden. Let cool a bit before serving.

Spring Onion Pizza

At our local farmer's market in Mytown, offerings are getting good. I couldn't resist the fat-bulbed sweet spring onions that beckoned to me from the farmstands. I picked up some beautiful local asparagus as well. I thought about a way to showcase both of these flavors and decided a pizza was the best way to go. I wanted this pizza to scream freshness and spring-y goodness, so selected a nice hunk of fresh porcini mushroom, prosciutto di parma, goat cheese, and basil. I served it with a locally-grown romaine salad.

For pizza crust instructions, see my favorite recipe here.

Additionally, dear readers, things are starting to get nutso with our impending relocation to SmallMountainTown. I beg forgiveness for the sparseness of my posts: look forward to a bit of leisure time come August!

Spring Onion Pizza
1 recipe pizza dough (preferably whole-wheat)
Olive oil
3/4 cup spring onions, cut on the diagonal into 1-inch lengths, halved lengthwise
1/2 cup asparagus, cut on the diagonal into 1-inch lengths
1/2 cup chopped fresh porcini mushroom (any variety would work)
3 thin slices prosciutto di parma, sliced crosswise into strips
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
Generous handful fresh basil chiffonade

Prepare pizza dough according to recipe. Preheat oven and pan to 500 degrees. I recommend a pizza stone, but a baking sheet will work too. Heat a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute 3 minutes or so. Add asparagus and saute until tender. Stir in spring onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook 1 minute longer. Remove from heat.

Stretch or roll dough into a large round (or rectangle, if using baking sheets). Top pizza round with the sparsest sprinkling of olive oil, the veggies, prosciutto, and goat cheese. Remove hot stone or pan from the oven, sprinkle with cornmeal, and use a peel to transfer the pizza onto the pan/stone. Alternatively, build the pizza directly on the hot pan/stone. Put pizza in oven and lower heat to 450 degrees. Bake until crust is crispy and golden on the edges, 15 minutes or so. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

Much Nicer in Nice

This is my first crack at the Niçoise take on pizza, pissaladière. It's basically an onion tart, which can be topped with a variety of items. Traditionally, these include anchovies, little wine-y Niçoise olives, and tomato. The French never include cheese on these tarts (so says Mark Bittman), but I could not resist and scattered on a very restrained handful of chèvre. (You can take the American out of the cheese, but you can't take the cheese out of an American's pizza.)

I prepared my customary pizza dough in the food processor and let it rise slowly in the refrigerator all day, taking it out several hours before I intended to bake it. Bittman's tip about letting the dough rest every few minutes was an epiphany to me, and resulted in both uniform thickness and shape. Cooking the onions does take a good deal of time, so be sure to leave 60-90 minutes to get this done. It's a perfect weekend dinner, and authentic pissaladière is often served at room temperature, so this would be a lovely appetizer for a summer cocktail gathering, with all the work done ahead of time.

Pissaladière
With a few changes, from Mark Bittman's How to Make Everything
1 recipe whole-wheat pizza dough
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 lbs. onions, chopped
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme (one could use dried)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
2 oz. anchovies, packed in oil
2-3 plum tomatoes, sliced
20-30 tiny Niçoise olives, pitted
Palmful fresh goat cheese, crumbled (optional)

Heat 2 T. olive oil over low heat. Add onions, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally until onions have given up liquid and begin to turn golden (one to two hours). Do NOT brown onions. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

20-30 minutes before onions are finished, grease a rimmed baking sheet 1 T. olive oil. Stretch pizza dough to fit into sheet, at about a 1/4-inch thickness all the way around. The best way to do this is to stretch and press it a little at a time, then leaving it to rest for a few minutes and so on. It should cover the entire pan, into the corners.

Meanwhile, when the onions are done, remove the lid and turn up the heat a bit to cook off most of the accumulated liquid. Fish out bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Season with salt and pepper. Spread onion mixture evenly onto prepared dough. Top with anchovies, tomato, olives, and cheese (if desired). Put into oven and lower heat to 350 degrees. Cook until crust is golden and toppings begin to brown, 30-45 minutes.

Seasonal Pizza

Pizza is one of my favorite dinners to make. Dough recipes are easily divided in half and frozen for a busier day and topping options are only limited by your imagination. When Our Hero heard what was in this pizza, he wasn't so excited (OH: "Why can't we have pepperoni?" WU: "Because you ate almost an entire large pepperoni pizza from Leonardi's two days ago."), but when he tasted this one, it was declared a hit. There were no leftovers, a sure thumbs-up.

The toppings for this are certainly untraditional, but I urge you, TRY IT! It is the best pizza I've had since the mushroom-proscuitto version I made (and re-made) a few months back. The original Cooking Light recipe called for a 10-oz. Boboli-style premade crust. You could do that, or you could do what I did and make whole-wheat pizza dough of your own. I've made a couple of changes to the recipe.

Winter Greens, Pecorino, and Anchovy Pizza
Olive oil or cooking spray
1 sliced red onion
3 T. golden raisins
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 anchovy fillets, minced
6 cups torn or chopped white swiss chard or other winter cooking green (a bit over 8 oz.)
1/4 t. salt
1 t. crushed red pepper
Pizza crust option of your choice
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzerella cheese
1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees if making a premade-crust version. Follow the directions here if making your own crust. Cook red onion slowly over low-ish heat until onion begins to turn golden in places, 10-20 minutes. turn up heat to medium and add raisins, garlic, red pepper, and anchovies. Cook a minute or two, stirring. Add greens, toss, and cover. Cook until wilted. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates. Stir in salt. Cool slightly. Top your chosen crust first with the mozzerella, then the greens mixture, and then the pecorino. Bake according to your chosen crust method, 12 minutes or so.

our hero's favorite pizza

so i've mentioned that i make pizza on a regular basis. it's easy, fun to come up with new topping combinations, and always pleases our hero (spouse of wellunderstood). Cooking Light strikes again! i made this pizza for "movie night" last weekend, and our hero raved.

i used my own crust recipe, adapted from Terry Blonder Golson's 1,000 Low-Fat Recipes.

100% Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (110-120 degrees)
1 t. honey
3 t. olive oil
1 t. kosher salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
2-3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Combine yeast, water, and honey. Let sit until foamy (i love watching this part). Stir in the oil, salt, and whole wheat flour. Add the pastry flour a little at a time until a dough ball forms. Knead on a floured surface, adding flour little by little if necessary, until smooth and springy. (i test this by pinching the dough and seeing how much it springs back. it will be less springy than if you used white flour.) Put in a lightly oiled bowl (flip to coat the dough), and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place as long as you want, but at least 30 minutes. (in my drafty kitchen, i pre-heat the oven and let the dough rise on top of the stove.)

now's the time when i would slide my pizza stone in the oven to pre-heat. if you don't have a pizza stone, don't fret! a pre-heated baking sheet will work just fine!

Cooking Light's Wild Mushroom Pizza
1 t. butter
1 t. olive oil
1 1/2 lbs. wild mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. black pepper
1 cup shredded cheese (they recommend Monterey Jack, i used Cabot's 50% Light Pepper Jack)
2 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into short strips
Coarse cornmeal

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Melt butter in skillet over medium-high. Add 1 t. olive oil. Add mushrooms; saute 10 minutes or until moisture evaporates. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; stir.

Take dough from oiled bowl; stretch or roll it to fit your pan. Remove preheated pan from oven; sprinkle well with coarse cornmeal. Put dough on baking pan (or stone), slide into lower oven rack. Bake 8 minutes. Remove.

Spread mushroom mixture evenly over crust. Top with cheese. Sprinkle prosciutto over pizza. Bake on middle rack an additional 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese melts.

cl's fontina, olive, and tomato pizza

okay, so usually i'm pretty loyal to my whole-wheat pizza dough recipe. and usually i don't follow recipes to top my pizzas. however, i made an exception for this tempting treat right out of last month's Cooking Light. the dough was nice, even if there was a bit too much of it for just one pizza. the toppings were delish as well. to anyone who's scared of making your own dough or anything that you must "let rise," get over it. this is easy to do and much healthier than carry-out. i ask, who doesn't love pizza??

Cooking Light's Fontina, Olive, and Tomato Pizza with Basil Whole-Wheat Crust

Dough:
1 T. honey
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (i used whole-wheat pastry flour)
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 T. stone-ground yellow cornmeal



Toppings:
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded fontina
3 T. chopped pitted kalamata olives
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 T. chopped pine nuts, coarsely chopped

To make dough, combine honey and yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes to proof. Add 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (or whole-wheat pastry flour), whole wheat flour, salt, and pepper to yeast mixture, stir until a soft dough forms.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Turn dough onto a floured surface, and knead until soft and elastic (about 6 minutes); add enough of the remaining flour, a little at a time, to keep dough from sticking to hands (it will feel slightly sticky). Knead in fresh basil until incorporated. Place dough in large oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 40 minutes or until doubled in size (i just sit it on the preheating stove and it usually does the trick).
Roll or stretch dough into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface. Place on rimless baking sheet or preheated pizza stone sprinkled with cornmeal.

Position one oven rack in the middle of the oven, another at the bottom. Slide pizza crust onto bottom rack. Bake 8 minutes.

Arrange tomato slices between two paper towels; let stand 5 minutes.

Sprinkle fontina over crust, leaving a small border. Arrange tomato slices and olives over fontina; sprinkle with mozzarella and top with pine nuts. Bake on middle rack an additional 8 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese melts.