Breakfast Pizza

Everyone knows that cold, leftover pizza is the breakfast of choice for many 20-year-old college students, but what adult in their right minds would actually MAKE pizza for breakfast? Really, it's absurd.

Oh, right... WE have made pizza for breakfast... and possibly crossed whatever line separates merely liking pizza from being thoroughly obsessed.

It was so good there weren't even leftovers for lunch.

1. Par-baked whole wheat crust (it's important to have fiber at breakfast, you know...)
2. Drizzle of olive oil
3. Yukon gold potatoes, sliced paper-thin, spread in a single layer over the crust
4. Generous dusting of old bay seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder, along with a pinch of celery seed and black pepper
5. Grated mozarella and a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan
6. Breakfast meat of choice, sliced and browned in a skillet ahead of time - we used chicken sausage, but pork sausage or ham or bacon would also be deeeelicious

Assemble all of those items and slide the pizza onto the stone in the preheated oven. Once it's in place, crack raw eggs (approximately one per slice) on the top of the pizza. Bake at 450 F for at least 11 minutes. The crust will get a little darker than usual, but the potatoes and eggs need the extra time.

If it doesn't seem like the egg whites are cooking enough, try gently covering the pizza with aluminum foil to trap some steam and help the top cook. The whites should be gelatinous, not runny, and the yolks will be a lovely over-easy. It's everything you've ever wanted for breakfast in one dish.

A Guessing Game

WHAT is this ugly turd of a bread substance?

Anyone? Guesses?

Okay, fine, I'll tell you. Continuing the using-leftover-pizza-dough theme of the last post, this blob was originally cut off of a pizza crust to make that crust more attractively round. I smeared the uncooked dough with peanut butter, added a pile of chocolate chips, and obviously did not seal it adequately because the insides exploded out. But however hideous the outside, it was LOVELY on the tastebuds. Next time I would probably brush it with butter and a dusting of powdered sugar to make it even more desserty.

Wrapped-up Pizza

I guess, to most people, the pseudo-pizza below probably resembles a calzone. In fact, it probably IS a calzone, but given its unplanned creation and utter lack of ricotta, I can't justify calling it that. When we're ready to post a calzone recipe, we're going to make some legit calzones and there will be no question as to what they are or what to call them.

However, these pocket/wrap/pie things were a hungry lunchtime attempt to use up some leftover pizza dough without making yet another pizza. So I'm calling it "wrapped-up pizza" because that fairly literal description applies to a broad range of dough-filling constructions. We used what we had on hand, which happened to be sausage and leftover sauteed bell peppers and onions, but I'm quite sure you could take almost any pizza recipe and accomplish something similarly tasty.

Assuming you've already made the dough, stop before the par-baking part of the recipe! Split one of the dough balls in half or even in thirds and roll each chunk out into a thin circle. Add cheeses, veggies, meats (already browned and/or mostly cooked) and just a little bit of sauce (too much will make it soggy) to half of each dough circle.

Fold the other half of the dough over the toppings and firmly crimp around the edges so that nothing can leak out. Bake on the pizza stone at 450 degrees F for about 10 minutes, or until the crust is nicely golden.

Serve with some extra tomato sauce for dipping. Ours didn't turn out as gooey and full as a true calzone, but it sure made for a tasty lunch.

Spinach & Ricotta Pizza

Although we invent many of our own pizza topping combinations, we do occasionally refer to cookbooks for inspiration. In this case, we borrowed a recipe from the aptly titled cookbook "Pizza," by Diane Morgan. It is, in fact, the recipe pictured on the book's cover, so you know it has to be good.

It's a very simple layering of ingredients, spread evenly over the crust in this order:

1. Par-baked whole wheat crust
2. Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
3. Spread of tomato sauce (or our lazy version of Pomi crushed tomatoes with a sprinkling of Italian seasonings and salt)
4. Sprinkling of grated Parmesan
5. Two big handfuls of fresh spinach, torn into large pieces
6. Two minced garlic cloves
7. Grated mozzarella
8. Dollops of ricotta
9. Sliced fresh tomatoes

With three kinds of cheese, be careful not to over-top your pizza! The ricotta in particular is very moist and prone to cause sogginess, so a few strategically placed dollops are all that you need.

When it comes out of the oven, drizzle with more olive oil and shake on some crushed red pepper flakes. Eat at least three pieces...

Whole Wheat Crust

This recipe is basically identical to our very best pizza crust ever recipe, except that we substitute whole wheat bread flour to make it a little healthier and a little heartier. We recommend whole wheat bread flour if you can find it, but regular whole wheat flour will also work. I love the dense, earthy flavor of this crust and think it goes particularly well with vegetable-focused toppings.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat bread flour 
• 2 cups bread flour

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix together the two types of flour in a large bowl.
2. In another large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. 
3. Stir in remaining sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, until smooth. 
4. Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise in a warm location. Let rise until the dough has doubled in volume, about one hour. 
5. Punch down dough. Separate it in half and reshape into balls. Cover again with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. 
6. During the second rising, preheat oven to 450 degrees F. If using a pizza stone, place the stone in the oven for preheating. If using a baking sheet, lightly flour it (but don’t preheat). 
7. On a well-floured surface, roll out one ball of dough until it is approximately the size of your pizza stone or baking sheet. 
8. Prick the surface all over with a fork to prevent bubbling in the oven.
9. Par-bake the crust until barely brown and rigid, about 3 minutes.
10. Remove the crust from the oven and let rest on wire racks to avoid sogginess. Top with your favorite toppings and return to the oven for an additional 5-10 minute (depending on toppings), until the cheese is melted and the edges are golden brown.

Recipe yields two crusts. Dough can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for up to a month.

The MOST Important Accessory

It's time we sat down and had a serious talk about a very important ingredient in pizza-making.

[ML wants me to write chipotle peppers, but that's not it.]

The pizza stone. Yes, that flat ceramic circle that helps evenly distribute heat, builds a heat mass in your oven, and absorbs moisture so that your crusts are always perfectly cooked and crispy. Pizza is, after all, only as good as its crust.

If you don't have a pizza stone yet but aspire to make pizza, go get one. Now. It will be the best $20 you ever spend in your pizza-making career. And even if you don't end up making much pizza, it also comes in handy for roasting veggies and meats to perfection.

This is a new, unblemished pizza stone. (Our second one, for when we have company.) It's so clean and shiny. Almost immodest.

Some day it will look like this:

THIS is our old, much-used pizza stone. The surface is nicely seasoned, meaning it has absorbed all kinds of oil, giving it a perfect non-stick surface -- much like a cast iron skillet. (The yellow flecks are bits of toasted flour from the last pizza we made.)

We offer a few tips and tricks for working with your new (because you just went and bought one!) pizza stone:

• Avoid any drastic temperature changes in order to prevent cracking the stone. Always start with it in the cold oven and preheat it along with the oven. Allow it to cool completely before attempting to clean it. Never put anything refrigerator-cold in contact with its hot surface.
• The stone will season itself over time. However, to prevent sticking in the meantime, rub it with cornmeal before you heat it in the oven. Don't ever (EVER) wash the pizza stone with soap. Dish soaps are designed to dissolve grease, but the whole point of seasoning the stone is to build up oils and grease. Instead, scrape the surface with a spatula, wipe it with a paper towel, or as a last resort, rinse it with plain old water. (Remember, cool water on a cool stone.) 
• To speed up the seasoning process, we recommend trying out your favorite grilling recipes in the oven. The fats from meats and any oils that you put on vegetables will soak in and give it that slick, black surface in no time. Don't worry about bacteria -- as soon as you preheat that stone it gets far too hot for anything germy to stay alive.
• On that note, the stone itself gets much hotter than any of the other baking equipment you usually put in your oven and it holds the heat for a long time, so be careful not to burn yourself. Make sure you have a heavy-duty silicone oven mitt. OR spent another $20 and add a pizza peel to your equipment list. The flat wooden or metal paddle is perfect for sliding pizzas onto and off of the stone, or for lifting and moving the entire stone.

Questions? Comments?

Good, now run along.

Chipotle-Shrimp & Tomato Pizza

Last week, ML had an intense craving for Mexican food. So intense that our usual spot wasn't good enough. A Google search and some Yelp reviews later we found ourselves deep in the heart of South Philly eating what were, arguably, the best tacos we've had in a long time. But this post is not about those tacos.

Tucked away in a back corner of the restaurant were several bins of dried peppers. We're always on the lookout for quality ingredients and ML is addicted to spicy food, so naturally we walked out of there with a half pound of chipotle peppers. I mean, wouldn't you?

(Chipotles, in case you're wondering, are smoke-dried jalapeños with a wonderful smoky aroma and earthy, spicy flavor.)

This week, we've eaten chipotle-marinated chicken, chipotle-chorizo chile, chipotle salsa with tortilla chips, and now - you guessed it - chipotle pizza.

First, we combined all of the following ingredients to make a chipotle marinade:

• 5 dried chipotle peppers
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

This makes way more marinade than what you'll need for the pizza, so be prepared to enjoy chipotle dishes for a while.

The pizza worked like this:

1. Par-baked crust
2. Thin spread of salsa verde (read the ingredients on the packaging and look for a brand of of this green tomatillo salsa that doesn't add extra unpronounceable fillers; it tastes much better with just the veggies)
3. Grated mozzarella & Parmesan
4. Shelled and deveined raw shrimp tossed with about 2 tablespoons of the chipotle marinade
5. Sliced fresh tomatoes
6. Dusting of crushed dried chipotles

Bake at 450 degrees F for about 7 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked and the crust is browned. Sprinkle on finely chopped cilantro, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and spritz with fresh lime juice.

Oh, and prepare your mouth for burning. It's a spicy one!