Pizza

I have been wanting to make  Pioneer Woman's pizza ever since reading about it on Randi and Anna's blogs. Finally several weeks ago I made some. I loved the pizza crust recipe and it will be the recipe I use from now on. (see recipe below or click on the link)

On Sunday I made the dough for two pizzas and let the dough sit in the refrigerator until Wednesday when I made a pizza using my own toppings of chicken, roasted red peppers, onions, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.  I used the other dough on Thursday to made the caramelized-onion -prosciutto pizza. (see recipe below or click on the link)

Here are pictures of the pizzas before and after I baked them.

 

Basic Pizza Crust 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/main-courses/basic-pizza-crust/

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
• 1-½ cup Warm Water
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• ⅓ cups Olive Oil

Preparation Instructions

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes. In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it. 

Note: it’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

When you are ready to make the pizza, grab HALF the pizza dough (recipe makes 2 crusts) and squeeze the dough toward the bottom to form a nice, tight, pulled ball. You can roll out the pizza with a rolling pin if you’d like, but sometimes it’s just as easy to throw it around and pull and stretch till it feels right. And when the crust is nice and thin, lay it on an oiled baking sheet or pizza pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and spread it with your fingers. Very lightly sprinkle some salt on the crust.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Top your crust with your toppings of choice. Then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.

Caramelized Onion Prosciutto Pizza

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/03/caramelized-onion-prosciutto-pizza/

Ingredients

• 1 whole Pizza Crust
• Olive Oil, For Drizzling
• 1 whole Large Red Onion, Halved And Thinly Sliced
• ¼ cups Brown Sugar
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Parmesan Cheese, Grated
• 10 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Thinly Sliced
• 8 slices Prosciutto (more To Taste)

Preparation Instructions

 

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions and brown sugar and toss/stir for several minutes, or until onions are brown and cooked. Set aside.

Roll out pizza dough to a rectangular shape. Drizzle on olive oil, sprinkle on a little salt, followed by a little Parmesan. Lay slices of mozzarella evenly over the top of the crust. Arrange caramelized onions over the top of the mozzarella. Randomly lay slices of prosciutto over the onions. 

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the lower half of the oven, or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and cut into squares. Serve immediately.

Note:  I did not have red onions so I used sweet yellow onions.