Tag archive for pizza

The sun came out in full force this weekend and I attacked the patio and a few other areas of the house will equal force. Sweeping, trashing old plants that didn’t make it through the winter, giving a little TLC to the ones that did make it and finally I dusted off the BBQ. Around here, one of the indicators that spring is really here to stay, coincides with the first usage of the BBQ. It is official, spring is here.

It may be clear to those of you who often visit the blog, that I am not the hugest meat-eater in town. I don’t really know how to cook much meat therefore I often stick with recipes that call for bits of meat here and there, as opposed to a huge rack of ribs of some such thing. What that also means is that a lot of the traditional BBQ items never really make it onto our grill. And I am often left pondering what other foods could be prepared on the BBQ.

One of my favourite things to throw on the BBQ is homemade thin crust pizza. This no-raise recipe is fast and easy and works well as a base for pizza, flatbread or I bet you could even use it as a rustic wrap! Once I have whipped up the pizza dough I like to make a couple of variations, one tradition and a second experimental version. This usually leaves something for everyone, even the more adventurous members of the family. This time round my experimental version was topped with mozzarella cheese, potato, caramelized onion, a bit of crumbled bacon and finished with pea shoots after grilling. I have big plans for my next creation, I am thinking of an adaptation of  Kelsey from Happy Yolks Grilled Carrot + Carrot Green Pesto + Asiago Grilled Cheese  recipe. I’m pretty sure that it is going to be magic once new carrots start showing up at the market! Experiment or make something tried and true, it is up to you. I’m know both will be delicious.

Grilled Thin Crust Pizza
Makes two 10-inch pizzas | adapted from The Kitchn

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3/4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons salt

Preparing the dough
Fill a measuring cup with lukewarm water, add the yeast to the water and stir to dissolve. Add the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and pour in the water and yeast mixture. Using a wooden spoon mix the dough until incorporated. The dough will be loose and sticky. Turn the dough out onto a clean working surface and knead until smooth and elastic. About 5 – 10 minutes. Add additional flour a tablespoon at a time if the dough is overly sticky. Divide into two equal portions, cover will a towel and allow to rest while preparing the toppings of your choice.

Grilling the pizza
Pre-heat grill to about 600F. Roll out the dough, roll until it is about 1/2″ thick, the dough will stretch out more as you transfer it to the grill. Transfer dough from the working surface to a cookie sheet or cutting board. Brush one side of the pizza with olive oil. Place the pizza oiled side down on the grill. Leave the BBQ’s lid open and cook for 3 minutes. While the first side of the pizza is cooking bring pizza topping out to the grilling area. You will need to top the pizza quickly so, being organized is helpful. Depending on your grill you may want to check the pizza half way thru the cooking time and rotate it if needed. Once the 3 minutes is up lightly oil the top side of the pizza and flip it, freshly oiled side down onto the grill.

Working quickly, add your toppings to the grilled side of the pizza dough. Keeping the toppings light seems to work best with this type of thin crust pizza. Once you have placed all your topping on the pizza, close the BBQ lid and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Using tongs or a flipper remove the pizza from the grill, cut into pieces and serve!

After reading an article on the blog Design Observer a few weeks back about the amount of food that is wasted in America, I decided to create a little challenge for myself. Too often I head down to the grocery store and pick up a few things for dinner and only end up using a quarter of the bunch of mint, 2 out of the three leeks and half of the lettuce and by the time I finally come up with a dinner plan that uses the left overs, some or all of the ingredients that remain have gone to waste. To make matters worse, I find that there are always a few items that are just a little more difficult to fully use up while they are still fresh. In my fridge you will often find a odd half of a lemon or lime, an expired half full sour cream, yogurt with a few tablespoons left in it the bottom, nearly finished cheese blocks and a few other such items that some how always seem to get left behind. I even have one of those smaller european fridges, I can only imagine what would happen if I were in charge of a full sized fridge.

So with the wasteful side of me in mind, I decided to create a challenge for myself: buy a whole chicken and really use it to its full potential. And no eating the same chicken dish over and over all week long. This challenge was about creativity and each dish needed to be significantly different. I’m actually pretty impressed with the results. Not only did I do a good job of using the whole chicken but we also ate pretty diverse meals every evening. All and all I think the challenge was a success. Here is what I did with one Chicken and a few other things:

Night 1: Herbes de Provence Rotisserie Chicken

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Night 2: Quick Singapore Noodles

Night 3: BBQ Chicken Pizza

And finally with the bones I made a stock which was the base for Lemony Spring Soup with Peas & Rice which was lunch.

So it turns out that I might be a sucker for the Bon Appétit cover recipes. And while taking on cover recipes is always a little daunting, it’s been a rewarding experience overall! The recipes are always delicious although my presentation tends to be a bit off! March’s pizza issue was no exception. When it first arrived in my mail box a few weeks back, I knew we’d be having pizza.

Actually, the timing was pretty good. Last winter, I had a bread starter going, inspired by this amazing book, so most weekends I’d be baking bread. And as noted in the book, pulling off a little piece of dough for a pizza is almost a requirement when you’ve taken all of that effort to make the bread. And not one to take pizza lightly, I have some fun extras – a great pizza stone, a pizza peel and cutter. Anyway, no starter is brewing this winter and there has been some general dissatisfaction noted about the lack of pizza.

This recipe looks easy and it is. Really, all you need is a little time, so make sure you’re planning ahead of your pizza craving! Oh, and this is a good recipe to read all the way through, but isn’t that always the case. If you don’t have a scale to measure the flour, make sure you measure carefully – I find that the softer the dough, the better the pizza. And, this recipe makes enough to feed a small party of friends, or yourself for several days! Either way, it’s all good.

No-Knead Pizza Dough

From the March issue of Bon Appetit

7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (1000 grams) plus more for shaping dough
4 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 cups of water

Measure and mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. I prefer to get my hands dirty, gradually adding the water and stirring by hand. Continue gently mixing the dough until it comes together and forms a rough ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and tuck it in a protected corner or warm spot in your kitchen. Let the dough rise at room temperature (about 72°) until the dough has more than doubled and small bubbles cover the surface. This will take about 18 hours, but could vary depending on temperature, etc. Once the dough is ready, transfer it to a floured work surface. At this point, you’ll want to work carefully with the dough to preserve all of those amazing little bubbles. Gently shape the dough into a rough rectangle. Divide the dough into six equal portions. One at a time, gather the four corners to the center to create four folds. Turn the seam side down and mold gently into a ball. Dust dough with flour and set aside on work surface or a floured baking sheet. Continue shaping the remaining dough.

Cover the dough with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rest for about one hour. If you don’t plan to use all of the dough at once, wrap individual portions in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Before using, bring to room temperature for two to three hours.