Quick Pizza Dough

Pizza dough

Source: Judy's Gross Eats

(with whole-wheat flour}

1 package active dry yeast

2/3 c. lukewarm water (105-115°F)

2 t. sugar

½ t. salt

1 T. olive oil

1 ½ c. all-purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour (I sometimes use all-purpose flour)

Dissolve yeast in warm water (with a pinch of sugar) in the processor bowl. Add sugar, salt, oil, and all the AP flour. Process with the metal blade for 15 seconds. Let rise for 30 minutes in the processor bowl. Add whole wheat (or AP) flour and process until a ball forms on the blades.

Remove dough and knead on floured surface for 1 minute. Roll out into a large circle or rectangle to the desired thickness, about 1/8 to ¼ “ thick. Pinch up a rim around the edge.

Top with your favorite pizza toppings.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

If you read yesterday's post. then you are probably wondering what I did with the pork rub. When my husband I were dating we had a weekly date nite that we affectionately called "movie nite". It was the one night a week solely devoted to us. It was almost always the same night of the week so we had something to look forward to and knew that was our night so nothing else was planned. Since we didn't live together, some weeks it was the only night we actually got to see each other. On a normal movie nite, Jake made dinner and we watched a movie.

On occasion when we didn't know what to have for dinner, we would go to the store together in search of something. One night we stumbled upon this pork rub. Not being big on pork, we decided to try the rub on some baked chicken. We loved it. It has a sweet and savory taste to it, kind of resembling a BBQ flavor but spicier.

One night when we needed a new dinner idea, we put this together and another winning recipe was born!


BBQ Chicken Pizza

pizza dough
chicken
McCormick's Grill Mates Pork Rub
BBQ sauce
mozzerella cheese

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Cook they are almost pink. Sprinkle pork rub seasoning over chicken. Finish cooking chicken until no longer pink, it will cook a little more in the oven.

On a rolled out pizza dough, brush with your favorite BBQ sauce. Layer on the cooked chicken. Top with mozzerella cheese.

Bake until cheese is melted and dough is crispy.

Gilled Chicken Caesar Pizza

When Jake and I were dating we used to have movie night. It was one night during the week dedicated to us. On occasion we would shift the night for a commitment but if we could help it, Thursday nights were spent usually having dinner and watching a movie. Ultimately it was quality time for the 2 of us. Now that we're married, we still plan a special date night but since we now live together we feel like we get a lot of quality time together.

This past week presented itself with a need for a special night. One of our movie nights included Jake making Grilled Pizza. We loved it then and haven't made it since. We thought we would try to recreate since we can't remember where the recipe came from.

Grilled Chicken Caesar Pizza
source: us
photo: our kitchen


Ingredients

Pizza dough
Caesar dressing (recipe to follow)
2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
mozzarella cheese
romaine lettuce
tomotos
cucumbers


Directions

Roll out pizza dough on a well floured surface. Carefully move pizza dough to the rack of a grill. Note: if using an inside grill pan on the stove, be sure to ventilate the area very well as the excess flour from the pizza dough will burn quickly.
Grill the dough on both sides. You'll know when its done by the grill marks but it only takes a few minutes on each side.
Once the dough is done, move to a baking sheet.
Spread on a layer of Caesar dressing. Top with chopped chicken and mozzarella cheese.
Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted.
Top with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and additional Caesar dressing.
Enjoy!


We wanted to make our own Caesar dressing for this meal and let me just say, I will never buy Caesar dressing again. This is amazing!!

Caesar Dressing
source: cooks.com

1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove of garlic (minced)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon milk

Mix all ingredients together and shake or whisk until well blended.

A New Twist...

...on an old favorite! We added spinach to our Fresh Tomato Pizza. It was so yummy. I bought a package of frozen spinach, thawed it in the microwave, drained all the excess water and sprinkled it on top of the tomatoes. Enjoy!

Breakfast Pizza

So, our menu changed this week. We decided to have pizza last night instead of Thursday! I'm excited because it came out amazing! Jake was coming home late from somewhere so I wanted to have dinner all ready for him. Well, I hate rolling out dough. That is always his job. So, I rolled up my sleeves, threw some flour on the counter and armed with my rolling pin I began to tackle the dough. I was very proud of how it come out. (next time I'll tackle making my own dough!)

Ingredients
dough (store-bought or homemade)
7-8 eggs
milk
bacon, cooked (about 7-8 pieces, crumbled)
mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions
Beat eggs with milk and scramble them up in a pan, season as desired (we use black pepper and onion salt). Spread dough with a layer of butter. Layer on scrambled eggs. At this point, I like to season with oregano. Layer on crumbled up bacon. Sprinkle on the cheese. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes.




Husband Rating: A+, "yummy!"
Wife Rating: A+, pizza is always a favorite and so is breakfast so I love the combination!

Our Favorite Pizza

This has become one of our favorite meals and we eat it on a weekly basis. I forgot to take a picture when the pizzas came out of the oven before we ate so this is a picture of the last lonely piece.



Fresh Tomato Pizza

pizza dough (we've tried a variety of doughs from fresh dough purchased at the store, Pillsbury's roll out dough, Boboli crust and homemade dough; wheat crust could also be used)
olive oil
garlic salt (fresh garlic can be used as well)
fresh ground pepper
Morton's Nature Seasons seasoning blend
shredded cheese (we usually use an Italian blend of cheeses)
tomatoes, sliced very thin
oregano
basil (can also use fresh)

Roll out pizza dough onto pan. Brush crust with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper and Morton's season salt. Layer on cheese and then tomatoes. Sprinkle with oregano and basil. Cook at 450.

Husband Review: A+
He was hesitant the first time and absolutely fell in love!