Pizza Night!

Saturday I made Pizza. I made 2 pizzas - basically because I had made enough pizza dough for 2. It also made it easier for everyone to have what they wanted. The recipe I was working from was from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cook book. If you haven't checked out her blog, do it. The pictures she takes make you want to make the recipe right then and there. I got the cook book for Christmas and have made at least 3 or 4 of the recipes so far (maybe more).

The recipe for the pizza crust was as follows.

1 tsp or 1/2 packet active yeast
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup extra Virgin Olive Oil plus more for drizzling

Pour 1 1/2 cups warm water into a bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top.

Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. On low speed, drizzle the olive oil until mixed in.

Stir the water and yeast mixture and then drizzle into the flour and oil mixture. Mix until the dough forms a ball.

In a new bowl, coat liberally with olive oil and put the dough in. Flip over until it is completely coated in oil. Cover and let set for an hour or 2 or in the fridge for up to 2 days.

To make the pizza preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Divide the dough in half and drizzle a little olive oil on a baking sheet or pizza pan (or stone!). Roll the dough out on the sheet. Layer on the desired toppings and bake for 8-10 mins!

Now, the pizza I made was the Potato Leek Pizza. I made a few modifications to her recipe, namely, no bacon ( I wanted to leave the door open for my son to try it, which he didn't) and no goat cheese (I AM trying to save money) and I added garlic.

Here's how I made it.
1 Large Yukon Gold Potato
2 Leeks
1lb fresh mozzarella
3 cloves minced garlic
Grated Parm
Pepper
Salt

I used my new Mandolin slicer to slice my potatoes very thin - like I was making potato chips. I also washed well the leeks (leeks are notorious for being dirty because of how they grow) and sauteed them for a few minutes with olive oil - until softened. I then placed the potatoes on the dough like shingles. Then added the mozzarella - big round white pieces of cheese all over the pizza. After the cheese I added the leeks and garlic. Topped it with salt, pepper and grated parm and cooked it up! It was better than I expected. Without the bacon, it needed the garlic. My kids chose not to eat this pizza so since I had the double recipe of dough, they got their own - half pepperoni and half onions & green pepper made "conventionally" with cheese and sauce. (their pizza is the 1st picture)