Pizza Topping Ideas

We have been making pizzas at home for about 4 years.  Recently, it has become more of a stable, ever since we realized that our preschooler loves it (no surprise!)  Our go to method:

1. Use  a store bought whole wheat dough.  It’s sweeter and has a nice texture compared to regular dough.
2. Drizzle a metal baking pan with oil and press the dough into the pan.
3. Often less is more-not too much sauce or topping otherwise you end up with a raw crust.  But most would argue that you could pile on the cheese!
4. Using light shredded cheese takes some of the guilt away since we eat this pretty often.
5. Bake at 425 degrees on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes, depending on the amount of toppings works our quite well.

The product is a pizza with a chewy, fluffy, ready crust!   Here are a few of my favorite combinations

the Chicago-Sausage, mushroom, provolone, pecorino and caramelized onion, pizza sauce – our favorite thus far. Can’t go wrong with pork!

the Naked Pizza-Bacon, mashed potato, roasted garlic, roasted cauliflower, sautéed spinach, ricotta, pecorino (no sauce)

BBQ Chicken-Store bought BBQ pulled chicken, red onion, sliced black olives, frozen roasted corn, mozzarella, BBQ sauce

Meatball Sub-Meatball, marinara, mozzarella, basil, pecorino

I would love to play around with figs and more roasted vegetables. Next pizza will be sausage, roasted bell pepper, basil for tomorrow night.

My favorite restaurant pizza combinations:

Spinach, garlic, ricotta, tomato sauce

Broccoli, tomato, olive, onion

Zucchini, Mushroom, Eggplant

Pork Chops Smothered in Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions

INGREDIENTS

• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 TBSP brown sugar
• 3 cups sliced onions
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 TBSP flour
• 1 c chicken broth
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 4-6 thick bone-in pork chops
• Emeril’s spice rub (see below)
• 1/4 cup white wine (optional)

Melt the butter, over medium heat, then add onions.  Add brown sugar and sauce till caramelized, about 20 minutes

Add garlic, thyme and cook till fragrant

Add flour and cook for 2-3 minutes

Add broth and simmer for 15 minutes

Add the mushrooms and cook until softened

Set aside and prepare the pork chops: rub with equal parts paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder, cayenne, oregano, thyme, garlic powder (aka Emeril’s spice rub)

Sear for 5 minutes on both side, then place in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes

Remove the pork chops and let rest.  Deglaze the pan with a little both or white wine and add to the gravy

Top the chops with gravy, serve with garlic mashed potatoes

Vietnamese Grilled Pork Chops with Green Onion Oil

For Father’s Day Dinner, we took out one of our Vietnamese cookbooks that B gave me as a gift last year to make pork chops seasoned with lemongrass, one of our favorite ingredients.  I love the smell-citrusy, earthy and slightly sweet.  We ate the chops with white rice garnished with green onion oil and served with a side of green leaf lettuce, raw cucumber and seasoned fish sauce.

VIETNAMESE PORK CHOPS

INGREDIENTS

3 pork loin chops about 1 inch thick

2 TBSP oyster sauce

2 TBSP fish sauce

2 tsp honey

2 tsp sugar

2 small stalks of lemongrass, finely minced

2 cloves garlic

4 green onions cut into 1/4 inch pieces

5 TBSP oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and let sit over night before grilling

GREEN ONION OIL

In an 8 inch fry pan, heat 1/3 cup oil with about 4 green onions, cut into thin rounds on medium heat.  Heat gently to allow the onions to infuse into the oil for a few minutes.  Leftovers can be kept for a later time.

Pizza Dough and Topping Ideas

B has been working on making pizza dough from scratch. He has come a long way from wet sticky globs of goo to tight little balls of dough. In the past month we’ve also tried different toppings, primarily inspired by left over ingredients. We’ve made some very standard pizzas like spinach, basil, mozzarella, pepperoni and mushroom which we had tonight. Some more memorable pizzas include:

Sausage, mushroom, provolone, pecorino and caramelized onion – our favorite thus far. Can’t go wrong with pork!

Mashed potato, roasted garlic, roasted cauliflower, sautéed spinach, ricotta, pecorino – this one was screaming for some bacon, and my original plan was to add it, but I chickened out last minute. Still not accustomed to using it as an ingredient in my cooking yet. I know I’m crazy!

I would love to play around with figs and more roasted vegetables. Next pizza will be sausage, roasted bell pepper, basil for tomorrow night.

As for the dough, we tried a mix of white whole wheat flour and all purpose flour which actually produced a more flavorful crust in my opinion. To make the dough:

Mix 3 3/4 cup of flour (try using half whole wheat and half all purpose flour)
1 1/2 cup water (room temperature)
1 packet of dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt

Stir and combine a sticky ball is formed. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set at room temperature overnight.

Divide into 3 equal portions and form them into balls using generous amounts of flour to prevent sticking and for improved manageability.

Wrap 2 of the balls in plastic wrap and keep in fridge got later use. May be kept in the fridge for 3 days or frozen.

Form the remaining dough into a flat surface approximately 8-10 inches in diameter. If the dough starts to recoil, let dough rest for a bit to allow the gluten to relax.

Coat bottom with cornmeal

Transfer dough to pizza pan (ours is cast iron) and add toppings

Season with salt and pepper along with s good drizzle of olive oil if desired

Bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes in middle rack until crust is golden brown and cheese melts

Let pizza rest in pan at room temperature for about 10 minutes to allow the cheese go set

Slice and enjoy!