Pizza

I’m finally posting my Barefoot Bloggers recipe from last week. I love, love, love the recipe that was chosen for last weeks challenge. I know your saying to yourself “ if she loves it so much then why didn’t she post on time?” well, good question. We make this recipe at least once a week and sometimes the kids want it so much that we’ll have it more than once. The recipe is for Pizza. That’s right. How simple? Pizza. This recipe was picked by Andrea of Nummy Kitchen. The recipe is White Pizza with Arugula and it can be found in Back to Basics on page 82. For those of you who have not seen the posts “around town” Barefoot Bloggers are a community of bloggers that make and post reviews of Ina Garten recipes twice monthly. Now back to the pizza.

What I love about this recipe is the dough. Each and every time I make this recipe the dough turns out perfect. I have made the dough with all-purpose flour, Whole-wheat flour and ½ all-purpose ½ whole-wheat. No matter what you choose this is a very good and very easy dough recipe. Ina suggests to make a garlic/pepper infused oil to spread on the dough. I agree the oil makes the difference between a good pizza and a great pizza. Again, we play with different flavors for the oil. Sometime rosemary/garlic, sometime pepper/garlic and other times just garlic. Have fun with the flavors of the dough and the oil. The only other change we made to her recipe is to grill it. If you have never grilled a pizza, DO!

There is nothing better than grilled pizza. OH and I almost forgot. This pizza dough is a great way to use up leftovers or things that need to be used in your refrigerator. Again, HAVE FUN!

Finally, unfortunately I don’t have a picture of our arugula pizza but the lemon with the Fontina cheese is so very summery and refreshing.

Ina’s recipe:

Ingredients

For the dough:nocoupons

• 1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110) water
• 2 packages dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Good olive oil
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• Kosher salt
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the topping:nocoupons

• 3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese (7 ounces)
• 11 ounces creamy goat cheese, such as montrachet, crumbled

For the vinaigrette:nocoupons

• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces baby arugula
• 1 lemon, sliced

Directions

Mix the dough.

Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

Knead by hand.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.

Let it rise.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make garlic oil.

Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Be sure your oven is clean!)

Portion the dough.

Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Place the dough on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Stretch the dough.

Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 circles on each sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)

Top the dough.

Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.

Make the vinaigrette.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Add the greens.

When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.

TIP: Make sure the bowl is warm before you put the water and yeast in; the water must be warm for the yeast to develop.

TIP: Salt inhibits the growth of yeast; add half the flour, then the salt, and then the rest of the flour.

TIP: To make sure yeast is still "alive," or active, put it in water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. If it becomes creamy or foamy, it's active.