epicuric
Legendary Member
OK, that's on the list to do this week.
This is one of my favorite quick lunches. Just turn the broiler on, with a cast iron skillet under it, and once that's reached temp, turn your burner on medium-high.
Take the skillet out, a bit of oil, in with a tortilla, some sauce, some toppings, some cheese (and get that cheese right over the edge, so it crisps up a bit), then under the broiler for a few minutes. Leave the burner on.
Once the top is melted to your liking, back on the burner, just to char the bottom a bit, then onto a rack for a few minutes, finish with a little red pepper, some oregano if you like, maybe a bit of salt, some grated parm, a little more oil, whatever:
Takes mere minutes. You can find these sold at a lot of bars around here for cheap, like a buck, just to get you in the bar and drinking. That's why here, they're called bar pizzas or tavern pizzas, though I call them tortizzas!
Take the skillet out, a bit of oil, in with a tortilla, some sauce, some toppings, some cheese (and get that cheese right over the edge, so it crisps up a bit), then under the broiler for a few minutes. Leave the burner on.
Once the top is melted to your liking, back on the burner, just to char the bottom a bit, then onto a rack for a few minutes, finish with a little red pepper, some oregano if you like, maybe a bit of salt, some grated parm, a little more oil, whatever:
Takes mere minutes. You can find these sold at a lot of bars around here for cheap, like a buck, just to get you in the bar and drinking. That's why here, they're called bar pizzas or tavern pizzas, though I call them tortizzas!
Here's my go-to cast iron pizza recipe. Be sure to read the "Food Lab" portion if you're interested in all the details behind it.
Foolproof Pan Pizza Recipe
Foolproof Pan Pizza Recipe
Mountain Cat
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The local community center, acknowledging that this would normally be kid's week off from school, provided pizza making kits to those of us in town who'd be interested. (Prior to Covid, there'd be a day when all those kids could descend on the kitchen, be given dough, and allowed to top as they would.) So... I ordered a kit.
It was a 12 inch diameter pizza dough, already flattened out. Since I don't have a 12 by 12 inch pan - and I didn't want to eat the whole thing at once to begin with - I cut it in half. Had one half for dinner Thursday, and one half for brunch yesterday.
They had choices for toppings - I selected pepperoni and peppers, and added my own mushrooms. Also I added extra oregano and garlic powder to the sauce, and topped the thing with red pepper flakes. I also pushed the sauce to the edges of the pizza dough, as I loath the "pizza bones" - which normally go to the chickens. (PS, they did supply sauce and mozzarella cheese.)
Turned out pretty good! I am simply going to have to learn how to make my own pizza dough, and I should have the ingredients here.
It was a 12 inch diameter pizza dough, already flattened out. Since I don't have a 12 by 12 inch pan - and I didn't want to eat the whole thing at once to begin with - I cut it in half. Had one half for dinner Thursday, and one half for brunch yesterday.
They had choices for toppings - I selected pepperoni and peppers, and added my own mushrooms. Also I added extra oregano and garlic powder to the sauce, and topped the thing with red pepper flakes. I also pushed the sauce to the edges of the pizza dough, as I loath the "pizza bones" - which normally go to the chickens. (PS, they did supply sauce and mozzarella cheese.)
Turned out pretty good! I am simply going to have to learn how to make my own pizza dough, and I should have the ingredients here.
It really is about the easiest thing to make. It's very simple to get "pretty good" dough - a little (but just a little) more work to get exceptional dough.
I'd say heat the skillet really hot first and then slide the pizza in using a pizza paddle, rimless baking sheet or if you have neither, an upturned baking sheet (so it has no rim). If you have some cornmeal or semolina, scatter that on the baking sheet then place the rolled (shaped) dough on that, then add toppings. The cornmeal will help the pizza slide off into the skillet.
Far as I'm concerned, pizza dough is simply basic bread dough. I often make a loaf of bread and reserve a third of the dough for a pizza. Allow dough to rise, knock back and roll out/shape. No need to prove again.
ElizabethB
Legendary Member
TR
I think you are the resident "Pizza King"
I scored and found a local pizza restaurant that sells raw dough (still no Yeast available except on line at stupid prices.) Deano's sells pre-shaped dough. I got dough for 2 12" pizzas. Made a crawfish pizza earlier in the week. OMG - SOOOO good.
I have the other left.
This is what I have on hand.
San Marzano canned tomatoes
a tube of tomato paste
a tube of anchovy paste and tins of anchovies in oil
Jarred pesto
onions
garlic
shallots
scallions
rosemary
dill
basil
thyme
oregano
sage
the herbs are all fresh
bell pepper
jalapeno peppers
spinach
beets and beet greens
cream cheese
fresh mozzarella
sharp and mild cheddar
Parm R
Manchego
Jarlsburg
Blue cheese crumbles
ricotta
sour cream
plain Greek yogurt
whole milk
cream
a good assortment of spices
red and white wine
beef and chicken stock
For meat I have
Italian sausage
a package of sliced Genoa Salami
fresh and smoked venison/pork sausage (the fresh is better than the smoked)
venison/pork ground meat
The usual condiments
Please put your Chef's hat on and design a pizza for me. Sauce and toppings.
I will make whatever you suggest and know that it will be wonderful.
NOTE: don't use the Manchego. I want to make The Late Night Gourmet popovers using Manchego instead of unavailable Gruyere.
I know I will have the absolute best pizza ever!!!
I think you are the resident "Pizza King"
I scored and found a local pizza restaurant that sells raw dough (still no Yeast available except on line at stupid prices.) Deano's sells pre-shaped dough. I got dough for 2 12" pizzas. Made a crawfish pizza earlier in the week. OMG - SOOOO good.
I have the other left.
This is what I have on hand.
San Marzano canned tomatoes
a tube of tomato paste
a tube of anchovy paste and tins of anchovies in oil
Jarred pesto
onions
garlic
shallots
scallions
rosemary
dill
basil
thyme
oregano
sage
the herbs are all fresh
bell pepper
jalapeno peppers
spinach
beets and beet greens
cream cheese
fresh mozzarella
sharp and mild cheddar
Parm R
Manchego
Jarlsburg
Blue cheese crumbles
ricotta
sour cream
plain Greek yogurt
whole milk
cream
a good assortment of spices
red and white wine
beef and chicken stock
For meat I have
Italian sausage
a package of sliced Genoa Salami
fresh and smoked venison/pork sausage (the fresh is better than the smoked)
venison/pork ground meat
The usual condiments
Please put your Chef's hat on and design a pizza for me. Sauce and toppings.
I will make whatever you suggest and know that it will be wonderful.
NOTE: don't use the Manchego. I want to make The Late Night Gourmet popovers using Manchego instead of unavailable Gruyere.
I know I will have the absolute best pizza ever!!!
First of all, I'm truly humbled by that. Thank you. BTW, my favorite local pizza place here is Cassano's, though their full name is "Cassano's Pizza King," so being called the resident pizza king makes me feel pretty damn good.
You may be a bit disappointed, because I'm a less-is-more guy with pizza, and something of a traditionalist at heart (my favorite pizza is...cheese pizza, haha!), so I'm going to recommend a few:
1. For the sauce, I'd just crush those tomatoes up, maybe a little olive oil, red pepper flakes, and salt to taste. You could bolster it with a squirt of anchovy paste, but you'll probably want to cook that sauce a bit. Sometimes I'll grate a little onion and garlic in as well, sometimes not. And sometimes a splash of red wine
2. With the pesto, you could use that as a sauce on its own, but I like dollops of pesto over a red sauce, especially on a sausage pizza.
3. With the ricotta, you could do a white pizza, and the thyme (or the other herbs) would go nicely with that, especially with a few eggs cracked on top. Also, I think the venison and the rosemary are made for each other.
Other than that, I'm not much for getting too out there with pizza. I like the basics, and even then, I don't like too much going on with a single pizza.
One thing I do like to do is make a big pizza, and do the quarters differently, so it's like four mini pizzas. You could try something like that.
Sorry I'm not more adventurous that way, but as they say, "uneasy is the head that wears the crown." I think, at best, I'm "Pizza Dough Royal Family," but with the toppings, I'm very much a peasant.
I can't wait to see what you come up with!
ElizabethB
Legendary Member
OMG - I still do not know where to start.
Please choose a meat and give me a sauce recipe. I have made pizza exactly once in my life. Left to my own imagination I will over do the sauce and the toppings. Being a pizza neophyte I need specific directions. I appreciate "less is best". I just do not know how to do that.
Talk to me like I am a 3 year old. Select a protein. Give me a sauce recipe. Tell me exactly what and how I need to do every step. Remember I am 3 years old.
Please choose a meat and give me a sauce recipe. I have made pizza exactly once in my life. Left to my own imagination I will over do the sauce and the toppings. Being a pizza neophyte I need specific directions. I appreciate "less is best". I just do not know how to do that.
Talk to me like I am a 3 year old. Select a protein. Give me a sauce recipe. Tell me exactly what and how I need to do every step. Remember I am 3 years old.
Ok, either break those tomatoes up or zip them with a stick blender/food processor. Get a saucepan, heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil gently. With the tomatoes, I'm basing everything off of about a 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes. Don't add the tomatoes yet.
Toss in just a scant amount of red pepper flakes maybe a quarter teaspoon of anchovy paste, an half teaspoon of tomato paste, some dried oregano, and maybe a tablespoon of wine. Heat that just enough to get the pastes sizzling a little, stir it good, and give it a couple of minutes to come together a bit.
Grate in or mince in a clove of garlic, and as soon as you smell it, in with the tomatoes, and just a good pinch of salt. You can add more later.
Bring that to a simmer, then cook gently while partially covered, for about 30 minutes. If it doesn't look thick enough to your liking, take the lid off after about 20 minutes and let it reduce a bit.
Taste it, and if it taste a little sharp, add just a bit of sugar, maybe a half teaspoon. If anyone asks, deny that you did this.
Off the heat, stir in another splash of olive oil, and even a small handful of grated parm if you feel fancy. Purely optional.
There's your sauce. Back in a bit with the rest.
For the rest, you could keep it really simple and just go with the fresh mozzarella. I don't know what form it's in, but slice it or tear it or whatever, and give each piece a good squeeze in some paper towel. That stuff is wet, and in a proper 900F pizza oven, that ok, but in a home oven, you get some moisture on the pizza if you don't squeeze the cheese a bit.
Brush the dough with some olive oil, down with the sauce, the fresh mozz, bake that, then during the resting time out of the oven, a good sprinkle of parm or pecorino and a good drizzle of olive oil, and a little fresh basil.
I think some caramelized shallot, which takes no time, would work with that, sparingly, and maybe some of the salami, if you must have meat. Possibly nuke the salami for a bit to render out some of the grease.
Enjoy!
Brush the dough with some olive oil, down with the sauce, the fresh mozz, bake that, then during the resting time out of the oven, a good sprinkle of parm or pecorino and a good drizzle of olive oil, and a little fresh basil.
I think some caramelized shallot, which takes no time, would work with that, sparingly, and maybe some of the salami, if you must have meat. Possibly nuke the salami for a bit to render out some of the grease.
Enjoy!
ElizabethB
Legendary Member
TR
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
You are "The Pizza King"
Luv ya.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
You are "The Pizza King"
Luv ya.
medtran49
Forum GOD!
Forget the sauce, make a Margherita pizza. No, not the drink and different spelling. Pizza crust brushed with gsrlic olive oil, slices of fresh mozzarella, thin sliced tomatoes (I slice them, salt them lightly, put them on a rack and let them sit for a while, then blot), and a basil chiffonade.
I'll have to look for photo in cloud storage.
I'll have to look for photo in cloud storage.