Insalata Pizza

Insalata pizza
The-Skipper-Bunch

4 (7-inch) pitas
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1 cup pre-shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup thinly sliced Vidalia or other sweet onion
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup quartered grape tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced black olives
2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
4 cups bagged salad greens

-- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Place pitas on a baking sheet lined with foil. Spread 1/2 teaspoon garlic on each pita. (I like to mix the garlic with a little bit of butter and the spread it on the pita) Sprinkle each pita with 1/4 cup cheese, and divide onion evenly among pitas. Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cheese is bubbly.
While pitas bake, combine vinegar, oil, and pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in tomatoes, olives, and basil. Add salad greens, and toss gently to coat.
When pitas are removed from oven, top each with about 1 cup of salad mixture.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Serves 2

ingredients:

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt
olive oil (optional)

pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings*

directions:

To "Rice" the Cauliflower:
Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater). Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes. There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.

One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

To Make the Pizza Crust:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9" round. Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

Enjoy!

*Note that toppings need to be precooked since you are only broiling for a few minutes.

*another way to 'rice' the cauliflower: I took frozen cauliflower and microwaved it as per package directions. Then I let cool slightly, shredded with a cheese grater and measured out the cup.

Want to hear something else? The entire crust is only:

calories: 434
fat: 25 g
carbs: 8 (net), 13 if counting all
fiber: 5 g
protein: 41 g

Per serving, that's only 109 calories and 2 net carbs

Some Pizza Tips

Ok we have been doing pizza for two years every friday from scratch and after much trial and error we have:

Make your dough 24 hours in advance

Pizza stone. oven on HOTTEST setting. As high as it will go (7 min for us at 550). PIzza stone put in cold oven turn oven on to preheat.

No oil on dough, roll out dough to stone size with cornmeal underneath to roll. You will need a pan without sides to work as a "peel". Cornmeal allows the pizza to slide off onto the stone.

sauce, cheese, toppings bake.

remove pizza, put one an elevated rack ( we have a mesh pizza pan bought from a restaraunt supply store) to cool a bit and crisp up. Add melted butter to the outter crust and let it sit. Slide onto your pan and cut.

This will give you super crusty and thin sicilian. We roll the dough paper thin. If you want a thicker crust roll it thicker.

I use a modified recipe from wolfgang puck.

· packet 1 packet 1 packetactive dry yeast

· 1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)

· 1 tablespoon honey

· 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil,

· 3 cups all-purpose flour we use king arthur flour

· 1 teaspoon salt

· add garlic or herbs to taste if you choose (we add fresh minced garlic)

mix honey with warm water add yeast, let sit 10 min until foamy.

mean while mix dry ingredients add oil, and water/yeast mixture. mix by hand just until a good ball forms. Let sit under a warm wet towel for 24 hous. keep towel damp.

ETA: we also put the pizza stone on the grill with both stone and grill cold, then heat to almost highest heat (we have flame up on our grill) then slide pizza on hot stone for 2-3 minutes.

Greek Pizza

Greek Pizza
Michelle (MMmom) Inspired by Taste of Home Healthy Cooking Oct/Nov 2010

* enough for two 12" pizzas

2 premade 12" pizza shells OR if making your own dough, see below
Olive oil
1 1/2 lemons
1 (5 oz) package fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
about 1/2 of a small red onion, cut in rings
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 scant cup feta cheese
1/2 cup sliced Kalamata olives
black pepper

Prebake pizza crusts. Drizzle each with olive oil then squirt 1/2 a lemon over the top of each.

Divide the remaining ingredients between the two pizzas. Pile on the spinach then top with the onion rings. Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese and feta cheese. Scatter the olives on top of the cheese so they're visible. Shake on a little black pepper. Squirt the juice of the remaining lemon half over each pizza (skip if you don't like strong lemon flavors).

Bake at 450 until the mozzarella melts.


Homemade Wheat Pizza Dough
Based on Master Pizza Dough recipe from Aimster aka Amy

Makes 1 (14-inch) thick-crust pizza or 2 (12-inch) thin-crust pizzas.

1 cup whole wheat flour
2-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package FLEISCHMANN'S RapidRise Yeast *see note below
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup very warm water (120 to 130 F)
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
Cornmeal

In large bowl, combine 1 cup wheat flour, 1 cup AP flour, undissolved yeast, and salt. Stir very warm water and olive oil into dry ingredients. Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes. Cover; let rest on floured surface10 minutes. Lightly oil 1 (14-inch) or 2 (12-inch) round pizza pan(s). Sprinkle with cornmeal. Shape dough into smooth ball. Divide and roll to fit desired pan(s). Bake in preheated hot oven (450) for about 10-15 minutes.

Amy’s Notes: Honestly, I think this recipe is so easy, I just mix it with a spoon at first and then switch to using my hands. I only knead until it is smooth --probably about 4 or 5 minutes. Test it after a few minutes to see if you can pull a piece of the dough into a thin, tight membrane that you can see light through. If it breaks before you can get it there, knead some more.

*Note: There are several types of yeast available for baking. Make sure you buy Rapid Rise yeast for this...that’s what makes the rising time so short.