Adventures With Pizza

Sorry for the lack of posts recently - it was a tough week and then I spent the weekend back home in Seattle. But more about the Seattle trip another time, for now let's move on to more important things... like pizza!

I've been on kind of a pizza making kick lately (making pizza dough has just been another extension of my new found joy in bread making). I am kind of in love with unique pizzas like that Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Pizza I made for Thanksgiving, so I decided to try out a few new varieties this week.

Last night I had intended to make a Potato-Leek pizza (inspired by the Pioneer Woman, as much of my cooking has been lately), but it turns out Jonathan used the potatoes while I was away and I didn't feel like heading out to the grocery store. Instead I decided to try an Apple-Leek Pizza...  sounds a little odd (I know) but it was delicious! Here is the recipe (roughly since I never actually measure anything - I should start doing that).

Apple-Leek Pizza
-1/2 recipe pizza dough
-1 leek, white part thinly sliced
-1 apple, thinly sliced
-2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
-cheese (I used a mix of Gouda, smoked Gouda, and mozzarella)
-olive oil
-salt and pepper



Apple-Leek Pizza



Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Saute leeks and half of the garlic in olive oil until just soft, set aside. Stretch pizza dough into a circle or rectangle, rub with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and sea salt. Layer on sliced apples and leeks, cover with shredded cheese. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before cutting.



Unfortunately, I still have yet to get a good light for taking photos so I'm not crazy about this one. I'd also add something else to this pizza next time for color - even just some chopped parsley would have looked nice.

Tonight, at Jonathan's request, I made a BBQ pizza inspired by his favorite pizza at American Dream. They call it the Tejano - I'll just call it a Southwest BBQ Pizza. Here's the recipe for that one:

Southwest BBQ Pizza

-1/2 recipe pizza dough

-Jack Daniels Original BBQ Sauce

-1/2 red onion, diced

-1/2 package Morning Star Chicken strips (or real chicken, if you're into that sort of thing)

-1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

-Shredded cheese (smoked Gouda and mozzarella)

-Olive oil

-Coarse salt



Southwest BBQ Pizza

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Cook the chicken strips according to package and cut into bite size pieces. Stretch pizza dough into a circle or rectangle, brush the edges of the crust with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. Spread a thin (or thick, if you're feeding Jonathan) layer of BBQ sauce on the dough. Cover with shredded cheese, diced onion and chicken pieces. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before sprinkling chopped cilantro over the top.

Yum!! That's all I really have to say about this one.

Anyone else have any good ideas for different pizzas? You should share them with me if you do!

-C