Friday, August 15, 2008

Food Friday: Veggie Pizza


For my first Food Friday I thought it would be best to start with what we have every Friday - pizza! If you came for dinner on Friday you would be 99.9% guaranteed on having home-made pizza. This tradition was established at least a dozen years ago.

We always have cheese - because it's Aidan's favorite and Liam really doesn't like toppings. The other pie is always a toss up. But last Friday I did something a little wacky. Well, actually it was a wacky take of my favorite - grilled vegetable. Here goes:

Let's start with the dough. For one pizza:
1 C. luke warm water
2 t. yeast
1 t. salt
2 T brown sugar
3 C flour
I first mix the the water, yeast and sugar letting them sit for 10 minutes to make sure the yeast is alive. It should bubble. Next add the salt and flour. I have a kitchen aid so I mix all this with the dough hook in my mixer. I add more flour so the dough isn't stick, but not too much either, or it'll be tough. I knead this for 5 minutes. The dough should come away from the bowl and feel like a baby's bottom. Take the dough out of the bowl and spray the bowl with cooking spray then place the dough ball back in and spray the top, cover with saran wrap. Let this sit for one hour. It'll rise then punch down and lay out on a sprayed pizza pan. You must get these kind of pans. I've used these forever and they make the bottom of the pie crusty. Let the dough sit for 10 minutes and then you'll be able to stretch it out. If you like your pie doughy don't stretch too much. If you like thin-crust, s-t-r-e-t-c-h- it.

Now come the toppings. Ooops, don't forget to preheat your oven to 425!

Grilled vegetables. I love them. Tonight I'm grilling asparagus, red onion and, here comes the wackiness, baby carrots! Just cuts, slice or julienne your veggies and lay on a grease cookie sheet. I then spray them with Olive Oil Cooking Spray. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes. They'll carmelize and crisp up. 

Now to put it all together - spread about 2 T. olive oil over the crust. Sprinkle of salt. Arrange your veggies over the pizza evenly. Normally I use mozzarella on pizza but something told me goat cheese would be more appropriate for this pie. I don't normally enjoy goat cheese. It has a goaty flavor to it that is a bit too strong for my palate. But something in me (and Dave added) said, "Goat Cheese". So about 4 oz. of goat cheese is crumble over the veggies. Bake for about 10 minutes. Add a glass of shiraz and you have a perfect pizza dinner!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh how I miss those Moody pizza nights!!

Anonymous said...

You're killing us, over here, friends—but with Hannah's comment, we must try to replicate. Maybe on one of our cooler nights. LOOKS AWESOME & I can almost taste it.