Muffin Tin Pizza

I was surfing the web thinking of a snack for the kids then I saw this super easy mini pizza.  I had all the ingredients on hand and it took me only about 15 minutes to make this tasty snack.

Ingredients

Pillsbury cresent roll
Mini pepperoni
Chicken sausage (optional), cooked
Pizza sauce
Mozarella cheese, shredded

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 12 cup muffin tin.
• Put the pepperoni, sauce, mozarella cheese and mix to blend.
• Take the cresent rolls apart and lay inside each  muffin tin taking care to close the bottom so the filling does not come out.  
• Top each filling with more cheese if desired.
• Bake until golden brown.  Remove and serve. 

*  There is no measurement here,  use your best judgement

Pizza Dough

Guess what? I made pizza from scratch and it turned out simply superb.  I even made it the 2nd time and it was better.  The dough is pretty straight forward and does require a little rising time but I am sure we can spare at least 1 hour of ahead time for dough preparation.  I made Hawaiian Pizza and the ever so popular Pepperoni Pizza.

Source:  Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients


1 packet ( 21/4 tsp) yeast
1 1/3 cup warm water
3 1/2 cup flour plus more if needed
3/4 tsp salt
2 Tb olive oil
1 Tb sugar
1 tsp Italian seasoning, optional
cornmeal, dusting the pan

Method

Combine yeast, water and 1 tsp of sugar. Mix and leave in a warm place until yeast is foamy and dissolved.


In another bowl combine the flour, salt, olive oil, seasoning and balance of the sugar.  Pour in the yeast mixture and knead dough adding in more flour as needed.  Dough needs to be soft and elastic when poked in with finger it should slowly bounce back up.  Cover tightly with clingwrap or kitchen towel ( I usually have one towel just for making bread).  Let rise in warm place, I usually place my bowl inside the oven for about 1 hour or until double in size.

Once it has rise up, punch the dough down and let it sit for another 15 minutes.  At this point you can freeze the dough by place it in a oiled ziplock and sealed tightly for about 3 months.  **

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Oil the pizza pan and spread with cornmeal.  Take the rested dough and spread out.  Pinch the sides slightly to create a rim.  Spread the pizza sauce ( I bought a store bought one).  Fill in the delicious toppings.  Bake in a screaming hot oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.  Take it out and slice it immediately and serve.

Leftover pizza can be stored tightly in the refrigerator and reheated when needed.

** Its important to know that this recipe is enough to make two 12 inch pizzas.

Put your frozen pizza dough balls(s) in the fridge overnight or for about 12 hours to thaw.  When ready to make the pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and set out on the counter to rest for 30 minutes and come to room remperature.

Whole Wheat Pizza Knots

When I came across this recipe, I knew that I had to try it immediately and this is the most amazing soft rolls eventhough I used whole wheat flour, yummm. I love garlic bread and this is sort of turning the whole wheat pizza dough into garlic knots..The dough was a little sticky . Although nothing beats kneading bread by hands, some dough are super sticky and its easier to be done in a bread machine.

Source:  Takeamegabite

Ingredients

• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour ( I used approximately about 1 1/4 cup flour)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour, fine grind
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar

For the garlic mixture

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Note :  This dough can also be made as pizza dough.  Instead of cutting into strips, roll out into a circle and top with marinara sauce and topping.

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar with warm water.  Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast is frothy.  That means it’s alive and ready to go.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours and salt.  Create a small well in the center of the flour mixture.  Pour in the yeasty water and add oil.  With a fork, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  If the dough is too sticky, add more all-purpose flour.  Dough should be slightly sticky, but not stick to your hands too much.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes.  Place dough in a large greased bowl.  Flip the dough over to coat the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel, and leave to rest in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour, or until the dough is doubled in size.  At this point, you can make the garlic knots, or let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight.  Just bring the dough to room temperature before rolling it out.

When ready to prepare the garlic knots, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface.  Roll into a 10-inch by 10-inch square.  Roughly….   Use a pizza cutter to slice 10 1-inch stripes.  Tie a knot in the center of the dough, and wrap the ends under and around the knot.  This doesn’t have to be perfect either… just make sure that the dough is all tucked into itself.  Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.   Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place dough knots on prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown.

While bread bakes, in a large bowl whisk together minced garlic, butter, olive oil, parsley and salt.  When rolls come out of the oven, immediately toss them in the garlic butter mixture.  Toss until coated and remove from the butter bowl.  Serve rolls warm.

Rolls are best served the day they’re made, but will last for 3 days if well wrapped.  Just reheat in a piece of foil in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

Anchovy Pizza

This is another addition to my pizza nights.  The recipe for the dough is soft and nice.  Can be used as a pan or thin crust.

Source:  Jamie Oliver-Food Network

Pizza Dough

• 7 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour or 5 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour, plus 2 cups finely ground semolina flour
• 1 level tablespoon fine salt
• 2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dried yeast
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Sift the flours and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a large measuring cup, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.

Like so...(this is my little chef's hands)

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands - this is called punching down the dough. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straightaway, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas - this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas.

Timing-wise, it's a good idea to roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20 minutes before you want to cook them. Don't roll them out and leave them hanging around for a few hours, though - if you are working in advance like this it's better to leave your dough, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator. However, if you want to get them rolled out so there's 1 less thing to do when your guests are round, simply roll the dough out into rough circles, about 1/4-inch thick, and place them on slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted aluminum foil. You can then stack the pizzas, cover them with plastic wrap, and pop them into the refrigerator.

Topping

Anchovy in oil, 4 pieces

Onion, sliced

Tomato, cut into rings

Mozarella cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

* I saute onions in olive oil, added the anchovies and cooked till the onions turn brown.  Use this to top the pizza, followed by tomato and cheese.

Pan Pizza

Who can argue with pizza night.  This dough is for pan pizza and you can bake in whatever dish you have or even a cast iron skillet. The amount of pizza you can make with this dough varies on the size of pan using. I just used my regular casserole dish.

Ingredients

1 2/3 cup water

1 pkt yeast ( 2 1/2 tsp)

1/2 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cup bread flour or all purpose flour

Method

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

Stir yeast ,warm water and sugar. Leave it a warm place to froth.

In a large bowl, put in flour and salt.  Make a well in the center and pour in the fermented yeast and olive oil.

Slowly stir with a wooden spoon till everything is moistened and comes off the sides of the bowl.  Dump on a lightly floured surface and knead.  Add more flour if needed.  Knead for about 10 minutes till smooth and spongy.

Lightly oil a clean bowl and put in the kneaded dough, cover and leave in a warm place to double in size for about 1 1/2 hour. At this point, you can store some dough in a oiled freezer bag to be used later.  Just make sure to take the dough out to room temperature couple of hours before shaping and baking.

Once doubled, punch the dough, turn it out to a lightly floured surface.Knead out the bubbles and the dough is now ready to be made into a pizza.

You can put the empty dish in the oven for 5 minutes just to get head start, take it out and then spread the dough as follow.

You can cut the dough into thirds and press on a lightly oiled and sprinkled with cornmeal pan. Any kind of pan can be used, I used a casserole dish. Press 1/3 of the dough till it comes up to the sides of the pan and get the kids to dress up the pizza. I bagged the rest of the dough and refrigerated so I can use them the next day or can be frozen in a freezer bag.

Bake the pizza on a preheated oven for about 15 minutes or till the cheese begins to melt.

There is no limitation on homemade pizza.  Let your imagination run wild...

Pizza Dough

Today I accomplished what I thought was tough, I made PIZZA...I never thought I would be able to make these but gave it a try anyways. The crust was soft and nice.

Source:  Illustrated Quick Cook

Ingredients

500 gm cups bread flour, all purpose flour or "00"  flour*
1 tsp of salt
1 pkt yeast (7g)
360 ml warm water
60 ml olive oil
some cornmeal for sprinkling

*  "00" flour is a superfine Italian flour and is the best flour to use for making pizza, as it produces soft, stretchy dough.

Method

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Baking sheet has to be in the oven to get really hot before cooking the pizza.

Sift flour  into a bowl and add a pinch of salt and a package of dried yeast.  Make a well in the center of the flour, then slowly add 360 ml of warm water.  Mix with a wooden spoon, or with a mixer attached with a dough hook until it comes together, then add 60 ml of olive oil, and continue to mix until it forms a soft dough.

Place the dough on a floured surface, and knead firmly, using the heel of your hand, folding the dough over as you go. Do this for about 10 minutes until becomes soft and spongy.

Put the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and leave in a warm place to double in size.

Turn the dough out onto the floured surface again and knead with your knuckles for a couple of minutes to knock out the air.  Divide the dough into fourths and roll each piece out as thinly as you can, rolling away from you and turning it as you go.  You may have to pull and stretch the dough a little as it tends to spring back.  You need it to be about 10in in diameter, although it doesn't have to be perfectly round.

Transfer to a hot, lightly oiled baking tray which has been sprinkled with some cornmeal, prick the top slightly to prevent it from rising and top with your favorite toppings. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the crust is crisp and golden..

I made mine with buffalo grilled chicken breast, pineapple and mozarella cheese.

I made this a thin crust