Kevin Cooks: Spicy Lamb Meatball Pizza

With a bunch of classes behind him and onto the second half of Kevin's school year, he's moved on to take a Foods 11 course through online school!  The first assignment was to find a pizza or hamburger recipe, change one thing about it, and cook it.

Of course Kevin's response was, "Only change one thing? Can't I make my OWN recipe?" Um, sure, but that's not the assignment.  I threw him my latest issue of Bon Appetit for inspiration and he was enthralled with this recipe.  Spicy lamb meatballs, nestled in cheese and vegetables, on top of a tender crust was just the thing he wanted to make.  We happened to have a fridge just bursting with all sorts of pizza topping options, which made things really easy!









Adapted from Bon Appetit

First, the meatballs:

½ tsp caraway seeds

½ tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 whole 2 inch dried chipolte chile or 2 tsp ground chipolte chiles  (see *notes below)

1 small (3 inch diameter) potato, peeled

1 lb ground lamb

1 heaping tbsp minced scallion (white parts only)

1 ½ tsp grated pecorino cheese (we used Parmesan)

1 tsp salt

½ tsp finely grated peeled ginger

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

(*note:  If you can't find these, try getting a can of chipolte chiles in abodo sauce.  Dump them in a food processor and make a puree.  Skip the step of roasting/grinding the chipolte pepper and add a tbsp of the puree to the meat mixture before you combine everything together)

In a dry skillet, toast the caraway, coriander, and cumin seeds until aromatic and a little darker in color (about 2 min). Let cool. 

Broil the chile on a baking sheet, watching it carefully, until it puffs up.  Don’t let it burn!  Cut the chile in half and discard the seeds and stem.  Cool and transfer, along with the caraway, coriander, and cumin seeds into a spice mill.   Grind them together until they are fine.   If you use the ground chipolte chiles instead, just add to the seeds mixture and then grind. 

Meanwhile, submerge the potato in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil before reducing the heat and simmering for about 10 minutes, or until just cooked through.  Drain and allow the potato to cool, then grate. 

In a large bowl combine the chile mixture, the potato, ground lamb, scallions, cheese, salt,  and ginger.  Mix well with your hands and form into tablespoon sized meatballs.

Brown the meatballs in a skillet with a little oil, but leave them a little pink in the center as they will finish cooking on the pizza.

Now, the pizza!






Make a batch of this pizza dough.  If you don't want make the dough from scratch, you can use a pre-made shell or get ready made dough at the store.  Roll it out and fit it into a 12 inch pizza pan.

Pre-heat oven to 450 F.

Kevin chose to skip the traditional pizza sauce and instead drained a 14 oz can of plum tomatoes. Then take the whole tomatoes and seed them, discarding the juices from the insides.  Chop them up and spread them over the crust.  Follow with mozzarella cheese, red onion, feta, sweet peppers, slivers of garlic, and sliced black olives.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes until the bottom is golden.  I like to then remove the pizza from the oven, turn the oven to broil, move the rack to a higher position and broil the top of the pizza until it's nicely browned.  At this point you have to watch it carefully so that it doesn't burn.

Cool the pizza in the pan for about 5 minutes and then slice into pieces to be fought over at the table, snacked on cold at night, or taken for lunch the next day.

**NOTE: We didn't use all the meatballs on one pizza.  They would easily divide between two pizzas, so cook through any that you don't use and freeze them for another day.  Also, the meatballs cook faster if they are on the smaller rather than larger side.

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Home made Pita 'Pizzas' with Arugula Lemon Salad

Inspired by watching Food Network, these arugula topped ‘pizzas’ are amazing. We left out the traditional tomato sauce and played with all sorts of toppings-sliced and seeded plum tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, thinly sliced fresh sweet peppers, mushrooms, and more.  The fun of these is you can top your own, then pile lightly dressed arugula on top, fold, and eat. Warm and cheesy yet a bit peppery with a hit of lemon from the arugula, it's an incredibly delicious way to get your veggies.  I didn't include formal measurements, because you can pretty much dig through your fridge and come up with whatever toppings work for you.   Leftovers are great, but I tend to pack the pizza and salad topping separate.  Also, don't dress the arugula until you are just about to eat it or it will wilt and be soggy.

Toppings:


Smoked prosciutto, sliced
Mozzarella cheese, grated
Fresh parmesan, grated
Sliced black olives
Garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
 Zucchini, thinly sliced
Roasted peppers, thinly sliced

Arugula topping:

baby arugula (about 340 g)
Lemon
Olive oil

Pita crust:
(adapted from Andrea’s no fail pita tortillas)

2 cups flour
1 tsp sea salt ( I often use less)
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup hot water

In a bowl, stir together the salt and flour.  Cut in the shortening with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Stir in the hot water until the mixture begins to form a ball, then turn out onto the counter and mix with your hands.  Knead about 4-6 minutes or until smooth, then cover with a tea towel and let rest.

Once you have allowed the dough to rest for 20 minutes, pre-heat the oven to 450 F.  Roll out each piece of dough into approximately 6 inch rounds, the set either on a baking stone or an upside down cookie sheet.  (yes, I know this sounds weird.  To be perfectly honest I’m not even sure why you use the back of the cookie sheet and not the actual baking surface). 

Transfer the rolled dough to the baking sheet-I can fit three at a time on a sheet.  Top with some of cheeses, and then follow with slices of proscuitto, black olives, roasted peppers, zucchini, and garlic.  Bake for about 5 minutes, watching carefully, until the bottoms are golden.  Remove to a wire cooling rack and let cool.  Allow the pan to cool before assembling the next batch of ‘pizzas’. 

Once you have baked each pizza and they are cooling, toss about 350 g of arugula in a large bowl with 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.  Zest the lemon right over top into the bowl, then cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice over top.  Sprinkle with salt and fresh cracked pepper, and toss until everything is well coated. 

Serve the pizzas with the dressed arugula mounded on top so that people can fold them in half and eat. 

Serves 4-6

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Shaved Asparagus Pizza

This is a different take on the usual tomato sauced, cheesy pizza that you are probably used to. Mozzarella and shaved asparagus dotted with creamy boursin cheese sound different and interesting in theory, but to be honest I was wary of them in reality. That is, until I took a bite. This pizza is so good that you will have the most staunch veggie refusing child nibbling their way through it without complaint. I'm not ashamed to say we pounced on the leftovers, greedily shoving each other out of the way. (well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe.)

Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Pizza dough for 1 12-16 inch pizza (I like this recipe)
Olive oil
About 8 oz mozzarella (fresh is good, but I used regular shredded)
1 pound of asparagus
½ of a 5 ¼ oz package of Boursin garlic and herb cheese (or the same amount of a similar spreadable her and garlic cheese)

Pre-heat oven to 450 F.

Over a large bowl, shave your asparagus the best you can. Mine kept breaking, it was hard to actually shave it much. I took the leftover bits and sliced them as think as I possibly could. Set aside.

Roll and stretch out the pizza dough to fit the stone/pan you are baking it in. Drizzle with a little olive oil and slather the surface of the dough with it. If you are using fresh mozzarella, cut the ball into slices and lay them on top of the dough. Otherwise, just sprinkle your grated mozzarella cheese on the dough.

Top with the asparagus. I know this will look like a lot of asparagus, but it will cook down. Don’t worry!

Crumble/dot with the garlic and herb cheese, trying to get some all over the top.

Bake for about 15 minutes until the bottom of the pizza is golden brown and the cheese is turning a little brown and melty. Let sit for five minutes before slicing and serving.

Makes 8 pieces.

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Food Revolution Friday Cook Off: Roasted Cherry Tomato Pizza with Boursin Cheese

Pizza is, without a doubt, my favorite food. Cheesy, warm, loaded with veggies or meat, it's my go-to dinner when I want to indulge a bit. Food Revolution is having a weekly cook off, and this week the challenge is pizza! How could I say no?

I have written about pizza before and shared my favorite dough recipe, but I didn't give you my home made sauce or the toppings that landed on this particular one. Make pizza sauce is so easy, there's really no reason to buy it. Just make a batch and freeze in small 1/2 cup servings, then it's always ready to just thaw and spread on a pizza when you need it! Now you may notice that this sauce will seem more watery than the stuff you buy, but that is because it doesn't have all the thickeners and emulsifiers in it. If you prefer your sauce to be thicker, then stir in some tomato paste and you shouldn't have a problem.

Pizza Sauce

Adapted from Canadian Living

one 28 oz can of plum tomatoes (Italian ones are really good if you can find them, and sometimes they are low sodium)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
pinch sugar

In a frypan over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft and translucent. Add the oregano, salt, pepper, wine vinegar, and pinch of sugar, stirring and cooking a bit more. Add the tomatoes and break up with a spoon.

Simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the sauce is thickened. Let it cool to lukewarm before transferring to food processor or blender and blending until smooth.


Okay now you have sauce, a link for dough, let's move on to toppings! I have become somewhat of a roasted tomato addict these days. Roasting tomatoes brings out the natural sweetness and they turn into these little bites of concentrated tomato goodness. First, pick up a carton of really good cherry tomatoes at the Farmer's Market or, if you were like me and missed it this week, the store.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Pre-heat oven to 400 F

Get a rimmed baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Cut all your cute cherry tomatoes in half and put them in a bowl, then drizzle them with enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top.

Dump them out on the parchment paper, cut side up and spread out so that they are a single layer. Roast for about 45 minutes, or until wrinkled and dried out looking. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Now, for the pizza!

Roll out your dough and fit it in a pan. Slather with sauce. Cover with some mozzarella cheese, then dot with roasted cherry tomatoes, some thinly sliced bell pepper rings, thinly sliced fresh mushrooms, and thinly sliced pieces of fresh garlic. Dot with crumbled bits of Boursin cheese. (I used about 1/3 to 1/2 package)

Bake your pizza at 450 F for about 10 minutes or so, until the bottom of the crust is all nice and brown-about the color that you like your toast. I like to turn on the broiler and broil the top a bit to get the cheese a bit browned and bubbly, but if you do this, be careful! You'd hate to forget about the pizza and let it burn by accident.

Let it cool slightly before slicing up, and enjoy.

Makes one medium sized pizza (enough for 3-4 people

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Food Revolution Friday: Pizza

Are you a fan of cheesy, gooey, delicious pizza like I am? For Food Revolution Friday I shared a whole wheat pizza dough recipe. Topping pizza is another story and what ever you choose to plunk on that dough makes the difference between a good and a great pizza.

What did I use? Instead of pizza sauce, I used some passata in my fridge. It did make the crust a bit soggy. Maybe trying pesto would be an idea.

On this particular pizza I used zucchini, red and yellow sweet bell peppers, mushrooms, and seeded tomatoes. For cheese, I used some mozzarella, freshly grated Parmesan, and crumbled feta. Follow the dough directions to this point, then bake the pizza at 450 F in the bottom of your oven for 10 minutes until the crust is golden brown. When it's finished baking, I often turn the oven onto broil and move the rack higher so that I can broil the top just for a bit to brown it. Make sure you stand right there and watch though, so you don't ruin all your hard work.

What do you like best on your pizza? We're a veggie pizza family, but I'm open to trying new things this summer. Suggestions?

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Pizza Bread

The other night I just didn't feel like cooking. Besides being Monday, it was the first day back from Spring Break and I just couldn't get into the groove of cooking anything. So I reverted back to a staple that I used to make in my childhood.

Pizza Bread.

This is so easy, and so yummy, that your kids could make it. Basically all you do is this:

Get a loaf of french bread. split it in half, or if you want to make individual ones, cut it into thick slices.

Toast the bread under your broiler. Don't butter it.

Slater with pizza sauce.

Top with all the pizza toppings you love. Or have the kids do their own. In the one above I put a bit of cheese, then some chopped red pepper, sliced mushrooms, diced bits of turkey pepperoni, and more cheese.

Bake at about 450 F for a few minutes. Make sure to watch it carefully so that it doesn't burn on you.

Remove from the oven, let cool, and cut into slices. I served it with veggies and dip.

Oh, it was yummy. I might even make some ahead to tuck into Jake's lunches.

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Scatteredmom's Veggie Pizza

I love a good veggie pizza. Too often the ones from a take out place have few veggies and mostly cheese, or they throw in weird things like pineapple. Fruit? No thanks. In my house, this is how we roll with pizza. Sometimes the toppings change a bit, but in general, this is our favourite.

red onion
thinly sliced zucchini
thinly sliced sweet peppers (red, yellow, orange, or combination)
sliced black olives
garlic cloves-peeled, cut into slivers
plum tomatoes-seeded, then thinly sliced (it's important to do this, otherwise you get soggy pizza)

We make our own sauce and crust. Recipes here.

So when you have made your crust, rolled it out, and then topped it with your sauce, we layer our pizzas like so....

-sauce
-mozzarella cheese
-garlic/onions
-zucchini, peppers, tomatoes
-olives
-maybe a sprinkle of feta or Parmesan cheese

The trick is not to put too much cheese on top of the veggies, or they won't cook.

Bake this baby in the middle of a pre-heated 425 F oven for about 15-18 minutes, watching carefully so the bottom doesn't get too brown on you. When it looks like how you enjoy your toast, remove the pan and set the rack higher. Turn on the broiler.

Put the pizza back in (and watch carefully) so the broiler can do it's work caramelizing the bits of cheese and stuff and making that pizza look amazing. Don't over do it, and don't get distracted or the pizza will be burned.

Remove from the oven, let sit for about 5 minutes, then cut up and eat!

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Home Made Pizza Crust and Pizza Sauce

Pizza is my favorite food in the universe. Oh, I do enjoy fancier fare, but when I crave something yummy, it's always pizza. I've tried various recipes so that I can make it at home and by pass the grease and expense, but none really quite made the cut.

That is, until I tried this one. Perfect! Below you will find a recipe for home made crust, sauce, AND a link to the how-to for a whole pizza of your very own. It's a 3 for 1 deal!

Pizza sauce

one 28 oz can plum tomatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp wine vinegar
pinch each of salt, pepper, and sugar

Drain the tomatoes, keeping the juice and putting it aside. Seed and coarsely chop the tomatoes. Put them aside as well.

In a saucepan, heat up the oil and saute the garlic and onion until translucent. Add oregano, tomatoes, juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar. Simmer until it has thickened, which is about 20 minutes or so. Let cool and then process in a blender until smooth.

Makes about 2 cups, or enough for 2-3 pizzas (depending on how much sauce you like). It keeps about 1 week in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer.



Pizza Crust
Don't be freaked out at the thought of making your own crust...it is sooooo easy and this one can be popped into the fridge or freezer even! This recipe makes enough dough for one 14 inch pizza. My pans are 12 inch, and the end product was far too thick for me. So the next time I made it, I set aside 1/4 of the dough before rolling it out and it was perfect.

Depending on the size of your pans and how thick you like your crust, you may want to play with this a bit.

3 cups flour
2 tsp quick rising (instant) yeast
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups hot water (120 F/50 C)
1 Tbsp olive oil

Turn the light on in your oven. Yep, you read that right.

In a medium sized bowl, measure out 2 3/4 cups of the flour, yeast, and salt. Whisk together. I measure out my water in a Pyrex measuring cup, add the oil, and dump into the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until a raggy kind of dough forms.

Dump the mixture out onto a lightly floured counter, and being kneading. If it's sticky, add bits of the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, 1 Tbsp at a time. Knead about 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

Get a large bowl and grease it with a bit of olive oil. Put the dough in and turn it to grease all over, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

At this point you can put the bowl in the fridge and leave it for 24 hours. Great prep for during the week if you are making pizza the next day! You could even chop all the veggies and have it ready to go!

If you plan to eat your pizza that day, place the bowl in the oven with the light turned on. The premise is that the slight heat created by the light warms the oven just a bit-and the fact that the dough is in the oven keeps it from getting a draft. Let the dough rise for about an hour.

Once your dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it to knock the air out of it. Roll it out to fit your pans with a rolling pin. Roll over and pinch the edges, and then top that baby!

Next, make a yummy pizza with it!

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