Cheeseburger Pizza

Eric suggested grilling burgers for Friday this week. I thought a cheeseburger pizza would be another option.  Too lazy to grill burgers!  I did have leftover topping and we will use that on a roll like a Sloppy Joe for leftovers this weekend. Everyone really liked this pizza.   No complaints in this house!! Super simple and quite delicious.

Cheeseburger Pizza

 

1 pound ground beef
2/3 cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup diced dill pickles
2 cups cheddar
1/4 cup ketchup (for base of pizza)

1.  Brown the ground beef.  Drain off fat.
2.  Put ground beef in medium bowl and add ketchup, mustard and diced dill pickles. Mix together.
3.  Top the pizza with 1/4 cup of ketchup, 1/2 the ground beef mixture (freeze the other half for next time or use for Sloppy Joes!) and shredded cheddar (or whatever cheese you like).
4.  Bake at 475 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  I set the timer for 5 minutes and turn the pizza stone half way around.  That makes for a more even golden crust.   ENJOY!!

Tip for you; When you prepare your dough  use parchment paper, lightly floured.  That prevents the dough from sticking to your wooden peel.  Works every time!

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

I have tried a couple of different recipes for the Chicago Deep Dish pizzas.  This one was a hit.  Kent said it was better than Pizzaria Uno.  I got this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen.  Everyone liked this pizza; Eric, Martin II, Kaitlin, Lily, Paige, Kent and myself.  Rachel likes my usual pizza dough so she passed on this one.   Love this awesome recipe.  It is also really simple and no brainer delicious!!

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Dough

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups (16 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour (I weigh the ingredients if I can)
1/2 cup (2 3/4 ounces) yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/4 cups water (10 ounces), room temperature
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 4 tablespoons, softened
1 teaspoon plus 4 tablespoons olive oil

Pizza Sauce (this is quite delish!)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated onion, from 1 medium onion (see note)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Table salt
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (see note)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper

Toppings

1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 4 cups) (see note)
1/2 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)
4 ounces of meat (I used sausage on one of the  pizzas)

Directions

1.  Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add water and melted butter and mix on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is glossy and smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 to 5 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

2.  Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl, turning once to oil top; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45 to 60 minutes

3.  While dough rises, make your pizza sauce.  Heat butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add onion, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 25 to 30 minutes. Off heat, stir in basil and oil, then season with salt and pepper. (This sauce is great for any pizza.  Deep dish or not!)

4.  Adjust oven rack to lower position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto dry work surface and roll into 15- by 12-inch rectangle. Using offset spatula, spread softened butter over surface of dough, leaving 1/2-inch border along edges.  Starting at short end, roll dough into tight cylinder. With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 18- by 4-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle in half crosswise. Working with 1 half, fold into thirds like business letter; pinch seams together to form ball. Repeat with remaining half. Return balls to oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40 to 50 minutes.

5.  Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each. Transfer 1 dough ball to dry work surface and roll out into 13-inch disk about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer dough to pan by rolling dough loosely around rolling pin and unrolling into pan. Lightly press dough into pan, working into corners and 1 inch up sides. If dough resists stretching, let it relax 5 minutes before trying again. Repeat with remaining dough ball.

6.  For each pizza, sprinkle 2 cups mozzarella evenly over surface of dough. Spread 1 1/4 cups tomato sauce over cheese and sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan over sauce. Bake until crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Strawberry Balsamic Bacon Pizza

This was a pizza I made in 2012!!  When I was organizing my blog I saw it and thought I would give it another try tonight.  Martin2 and his friend Kaitlin along with Paige enjoyed this Simple and Delicious pizza.  It is funny, the last time I made this pizza was 3 years ago. Maybe I should organize my blog more often!

Strawberry Balsamic Bacon Pizza
(slightly adapted recipe from  Annie’s Eats blog)

Sauce

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 Tablespoon Sriracha Chili Sauce

Ingredients for pizza

Pizza Dough
Olive Oil, for brushing
8 slices bacon (cut into 1/2 inch pieces, cooked until crisp)
1 small yellow or vidalia onion
Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup freshly, grated Parmesan Cheese
2-3 Tablespoons fresh parsley
1/2 cup diced strawberries

Directions

1.  Add the balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan over medium high heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let cook 3-4 minutes or until reduced by about have with a thick, syrupy texture.  I usually take off the heat after the 3-4 minute time period.  As the sauce cools it thickens.  (That is my experience at least.) In a small bowl, combine the balsamic reduction, strawberry jam and sriracha chili sauce.  Set Aside.

2.  To make the pizza, preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Be sure to preheat pizza stone for at least 30 minutes.  Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round.  Lightly brush perimeter of the dough with olive oil.  Spread the balsamic-strawberry mixture in a thin layer over the crust (You may not use all of it, I didn’t)  Layer with the bacon, strawberries, cheeses, onion and parsley. (I carmalized the onions and totally forgot to put them on the pizza.  I guess I will use them on a burger!  Next time I will add them. The pizza was still awesome!)

3.  Transfer pizza to oven onto stone.  Bake until cheese is melted and crust is lightly browned, about 12-14 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.  Enjoy this simple and delicious pizza!

LOVED it!!  Simple and Delicious.  Give it a try. You will be pleasantly surprised.  🙂

Fruit Pizza

This is a huge hit in our home.  EVERYONE loves this dessert pizza.  I have posted this recipe before but wanted to update.  It’s that time of year with the farmer’s market and all.  A simple and delicious recipe for you to share with  your  family.  Enjoy!

Fruit Pizza

I was going for 4th of July but couldn’t resist more color!!

You start with a sugar cookie dough.  I happen to make my own and roll it out into a huge sugar cookie.  You could also use a premade sugar cookie dough, too.

Sugar Cookie

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1.  Preheat oven 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray with non stick cooking spray).  I use parchment paper all the time.  LOVE it!
2.  Using stand up mixer (or you can do by hand or with electric mixer) cream butter, sugar and brown sugar at medium speed.  Add egg and vanilla, beat at medium speed until combines.  Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, scraping down bowl as needed.
3.  Take out dough and shape into a ball.  Either by hand or using a rolling pin, roll or push out dough into a circular shape (like a pizza) until about 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick.  I push out by hand then I top with a piece of wax paper and use the rolling pin to roll out to a 12-14 inch circular shape.
4.  Rack should be in middle position.  Place cookie sheet in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Edges will be golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

Fruit Pizza

1  8 ounce package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fresh strawberries (sliced), blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, bananas, kiwi, oranges.  Whatever combination of fruit you desire.

Mix the first three ingredients until well combined.

When cookie dough is at room temperature, top with cream cheese mixture.  Arrange your fruit on top as you desire.  I guarantee you will not have any leftovers with this pizza!!

Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream Cake

Paige is back in Green Bay for the summer.  Her birthday was last weekend and we decided to celebrate on Pizza Friday.  Her request was a macaroni and cheese pizza and this cake.  We also had an olive salad and ham pizza, sausage pizza and plain cheese pizza.

Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream Cake

Start with –
Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions

1.  Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2.  Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Ok, now comes the fun part.  I bought a gallon of strawberry ice cream. I took the ice cream out of the freezer to get soft.  I put in a bowl and stirred until it was soft enough to spread on the cake.  I used my springform pan for this part of the process.  I sliced the top of each cake so it was flat. I placed the first layer down and topped with half of the softened ice cream.  I placed the second layer on top of the ice cream and topped that layer with ice cream.

 I then covered loosely with aluminum foil and put in the freezer overnight.

Next morning, I took a pint of strawberry ice cream and 2 cups of cool whip.  I mixed this together and frosted the cake.  I once again loosely covered with foil and put back in the freezer until we were ready to celebrate that evening.

We had a great Pizza Friday celebrating Paige’s Birthday.    There were more people but this was one of the only pictures we took.  Eric holding Scrappy, Rachel, Ryan, Paige and Lily.  Paige loved her cake and so did everyone else!  Happy Birthday Paige!!

Salmon Pizza

I thought I would make finding salmon pizza a bit easier and putting it in it’s own post.  This is a super simple and really delicious pizza.  I don’t even like salmon and I like this pizza.

Salmon Pizza

Ingredients

1-2 tomatoes, thinly sliced (you can also use canned diced tomatoes, drained)
1 small green pepper, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 pound salmon, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 lemon
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1.  In a small bowl put the olive oil, salt, clove garlic, and juice of 1/2 lemon and mix together.  Brush on your pizza dough
2.  Top with mozzarella cheese
3.  Top the cheese with tomatoes, green pepper, onion, salmon 
4.  Bake at 525 degrees for 12-15 minutes

That’s it.  You will love this pizza combination.  Enjoy!!  🙂

Seafood Pizza

Kent suggested a Seafood Pizza a couple of weeks ago.  He rarely suggests anything for me to make so I thought I would take him up on it.  He wanted shrimp and crabmeat.  I checked around online and we ended up agreeing on an alfredo sauce.  So, here is how I put together this Seafood Pizza.

Seafood Pizza

Alfredo Sauce

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Salt and Pepper

1 cup small shrimp (I bought frozen, cooked, deveined, tails removed)
1 cup crabmeat (I bought the fake stuff, sorry!)
2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

1.  Melt butter in medium saucepan with olive oil over medium/low heat
2.  Add garlic & cream and bring to a simmer.  Stir often.
3.  Add the parmesan cheese and simmer sauce for 8-10 minutes or until sauce has thickened and smooth.  (You may want to add salt and pepper to taste.  I know I did.)
4.  When sauce has thickened, add the mozzarella cheese and stir until smooth.  STIR FREQUENTLY.
5.  After the sauce has thickened, remove from heat.
6.  Spread about 1 cup of alfredo sauce on pizza dough.
7.  Top with shrimp and crabmeat, add small amount of mozzarella cheese, top with fresh parsley
8.  Pop in oven at 500 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Kent and Rachel really enjoyed this pizza.  I had left over Alfredo sauce and was able to use that this week for a quick dinner; add spaghetti and shrimp to this sauce.  VOILA, another Simple and Delicious pizza AND left over meal!

Asparagus Pizza

I hated asparagus when I was a kid.  Now, I love it.  I thought since spring is around the corner (YES IT IS!) I should make an asparagus pizza.  I used my bread dough recipe (used my stand up mixer this time) for this one.   I thought this pizza had great flavor and was of course “Simple and Delicious’.

Asparagus Pizza

Ingredients

12-15 ounce pizza dough
3 oz Pancetta (you could use bacon)
1 1/2 cup Monteray Jack
1 1/2  cup Mozzarella
6-10 Asparagus stalks, cut into 1/2-1 inch pieces (depends on the size.  I had thinner stalks and used 10 believe it or not.)
2 green onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
6-8 basil leaves, chopped
Crushed red pepper
Olive Oil

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees. (As a reminder I preheat my oven with the stone inside for at least an hour.)
2.  Heat a non stick pan over medium high heat.  Add the pancetta and cook until browned.  Remove pancetta and place on paper towel lined plate.
3.  Spread cheeses evenly over dough. (you may not use all the cheese, it depends on what you like)
4.  Top with asparagus, pancetta, green onions and basil. Season with salt and pepper and crushed red pepper.
5.  Bake 15 minutes and chow down!

If you love asparagus, you will really enjoy this pizza.  Happy Spring!!