The Veggie

It is 2014, and I am a red-blooded, meat-loving American girl. So Fridays during Lent (the day we're supposed to abstain from meat) are a little bit tricky. Thank goodness, pizza makes those Fridays a bit easier.

Enter: the veggie za.

This was the last pizza of Lent in 2014, and although some sausage or bacon would have made it even more delightful, it was still a stand-alone excellent pie. And with no meat in the picture, the prep is super simple.

Above the crust:

• About 1 cup pizza sauce 
• 1 cup spinach, chopped
• 1 roma tomato, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced and sautéed 
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced and sautéed
• About 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Making it:

• Place a pizza stone into a cold oven and turn the temperature to 500.
• Slice and chop all ingredients as necessary.
• Place the sliced tomatoes on one or two layers of paper towel to absorb some of the moisture out of them. Believe me, this helps keep your pizza from getting heavy, wet, and soggy. 

• Heat a skillet with 1-2 tablespoons of oil, and sauté the sliced onion and bell pepper for about 5 minutes, until soft.

• When the oven has reached 500 and the pizza stone is hot, carefully remove it from the oven so you can begin to assemble the za on top of it. I know, I know...some fancy people use a pizza paddle and can swiftly transfer the beautifully arranged za from paddle to oven in one fell swoop. Call me primitive, but in Gloria's kitchen, that's not how business is done. 
• Anyway, place your prepared pizza dough for the crust on top of the stone. Pop it back in the oven for about 2 minutes now if you want a crispier crust. If you prefer a chewier crust then just continue with the rest of the toppings immediately. 
• Start with the sauce, spreading it evenly all around the pizza. 
• Add the spinach next. Putting it on the bottom "layer" will keep it from getting burned and dried out in the oven. I've heard of kale chips, but I don't think crispy spinach is a thing yet. 
• Add on the tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers next. Top it with the cheese. If you're sad about a pizza that has no meat on it, dry your tears and add more cheese. 
• Back into the oven! Keep an eye on it, but it should take 7-10 minutes to cook this one. You'll notice when the crust is golden brown and the cheese is all melted. That's your cue to take it out of the oven.

Slice it! Serve it! Add some red pepper flakes or balsamic vinegar if you're feeling jazzy! Such fun.

Pesto, ham, roasted red pepper, and tomato pizza

I guess you could say that I felt like favoring the red portion of the color wheel with this pizza. And also, Boar's Head Honey Maple Ham was on sale at the deli counter. Regardless, the reds, pinks, and purples were among my choices for today's pizza pie!

Pizza toppings:

• 1/4 - 1/3 cup pesto sauce
• 1 - 2 cups pizza sauce
• 1 red onion
• 5 or 6 slices of ham
• 6 oz. jar of marinated roasted red bell peppers
• 1 or 2 roma tomatoes
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

Okay, I wasn't planning on it but I added bacon too. While I was attempting my online yoga video in the morning my spouse was over in the kitchen making bacon, eggs and toast. He offered to make some for me, and since I'm "so healthy" I said no and got back to my yoga. Okay hold it right there - have you ever tried to do yoga while smelling bacon? My name should appear in some world record book for achieving that. Trying to find my chi when all I could sense on every deep inhale was sizzling bacon...dear God it was torture.

Well, my husband even made extra bacon thinking that I would cave and come stuff my face with the fatty delightful stuff. Somehow, I actually resisted this one time. He conceded that I wasn't going to succumb to the heavenly scent of cooked pig and put the two deserted leftover pieces of bacon into the fridge. And that's where I found them about 5 minutes later and decided that today would be a great day to take a break from said "healthy" practices.

Instructions:

• Place the pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. I like to let it sit in there for a few minutes after it's reached 500, just to be sure it's thoroughly good and toasty.
• Chop the red onion into medium/small bits, and sauté that in a touch of olive oil in a skillet. 
• Cut the slices of ham into smaller pieces. I prefer ham pieces that are cut into squares about 2"x2" so they're not too tiny. Actually that's sort of big. 
• Slice the tomatoes into rounds.
• When everything in the oven is nice and hot, carefully take the stone out and place it onto your work surface. Place your rolled out dough for the crust on top of that.
• Spread the pesto on first, evenly, all the way to the edge. Okay, I like to spread the toppings out as far as possible, but if you want a little edge to hold onto while eating the za, then leave half an inch or so.
• Spread the sauce on next, evening it out with the back of a spoon. 
• Sprinkle on the rest of the toppings - sautéed onions, bacon, ham, peppers, tomatoes, then cheese on top. 
• Carefully place that all back into the oven, and leave it there for 10-12 minutes. I actually cooked this pie for 13 minutes because the water content was pretty high from all those veggies. 

The pesto layer. Careful, that stone is HOT!

Whatever sort of pesto that was that I used (something in a jar from the store) was  pretty good, but not fantastic. Next time I go pesto shopping I'll probably just pass on by that brand and try another one. Still, it added some tasty flavor, but overall it didn't taste super tasty, like you'd normally expect from a pesto sauce.  

Za, are you ready for your close-up?

The mistake I think I made on this pizza was using too many of the roasted red peppers. Actually, I used an entire 12 ounce jar. The flavor they added was great, but since I used jarred ones they were very water-filled and added extra moisture to the pizza. Next time I'll definitely use less if they come from a jar, or I'll just get a fresh bell pepper and roast or sauté it myself.

The tomatoes also added extra moisture to the za. If I hadn't been rushing to slice and toss them on there, I would have let them sit on a paper towel for a few minutes after slicing to wick away some of the water. 

Oh, all these pizza mishaps! It was still very good and will be even better when I re-heat the leftover slices in the toaster oven. Yup, the toaster oven. Or you can use the big oven if you don't have a toaster oven. Pizza re-heated in the microwave is just soggy and the crust turns tough. Keep the crust crispy by heating it back up in the oven.

Spicy Mexican Pizza

Here is one pizza that is hard to get a picture of. One second it's there and the next, well who knows. We could call it Houdini pizza because it can just disappear in the blink of an eye. But if you're lucky enough to grab a slice before the whole thing goes then you will see why this za can't stay around too long. 

We had our friend Matt over to enjoy this za with us. I made the crust in kind of a rush this time, so I was really hoping that it would turn out nearly as good as always. I took a bite and instantly loved what I had created. Matt took his first bite and made some sort of noise - a gasp maybe? I wondered if that was actually a gasp of horror and was expecting him to come up with some half-hearted compliment saying how the pizza was "alright." But to my surprise, he was actually quite impressed with the food, as was my spouse. Phew! It was a gasp of satisfaction. No need to come up with some excuse of my own to try and pardon my shoddy cooking skills. Mexican pizza = success.  

You know you can never go wrong with Mexican. It's always great, or at least good. I mean, you'd have to be really anti-USA if you can say no to chips, salsa, and a cold margarita. It's hard to get tired of Chipotle, Moe's or other burrito joints. And places that host taco Tuesdays? I'll be in line. So why not bring those flavorful delights to a homemade za? And did I mention that this pizza goes very well with a margarita? Can't say that for too many other traditionally Italian dishes. 

I made mine using some rotisserie chicken as a topping. I know, you are thinking that rotisserie chicken has no business being on a Mexican-themed pizza. Well, I cooked the chicken myself using a recipe for a spice blend that is in fact quite spicy. You can find that recipe here. Or you can just be lazy and get some other chicken cooked elsewhere.

I have yet to convince my husband that it is possible to make a rotisserie chicken in the crock pot at home. Just because you see them being cooked on a spinning stick behind the meat counter does not make it a rotisserie chicken...it is the spice blend that makes it taste that way. When we were engaged, he wanted to put a rotisserie cooker on our wedding registry. Knowing that he is a lover of kitchen gadgets that never get used (um, we've currently got 3 crock pots, a rice cooker, a griddle, 2 blenders, 2 George Foreman grills, coffee pot, coffee grinder, toaster oven, I'll stop there) I had to draw the line. But it was not just that easy for him to give up the dream of seeing a chicken "rotiss" in his own kitchen. (Definition of the word rotiss: the act of a chicken cooking on a rotisserie.) Anyway, I cooked the chicken in the crock pot. We still don't have a rotisserie cooker. And we're doing just fine that way. 

The real hero of this pizza just may be the Boar's Head 3-Pepper Colby Jack cheese. It is spicy. It is savory. It is magnificent. Regular Colby cheese won't do and neither will jalapeño cheese. Go to your deli counter and get 6 slices of this for your za right now. And maybe a couple extra to enjoy at another time, because if you like spicy, you will regret it if you don't. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pizza crust
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup hot salsa (mild or medium if you're a wimp)
• 1 cup chopped rotisserie chicken
• 1 large bell pepper
• 6 slices Boar's Head 3-Pepper Colby Jack Cheese, chopped into small pieces

Method:

• Get that za stone into the oven and crank it to 500 degrees. 
• Chop your bell pepper into small pieces and sauté it with a little olive oil until the pieces are soft and beginning to brown. I used a yellow bell pepper because that was the only option that looked good at the store at the time. I would have preferred red if those had looked healthy on the shelf, but I thought I might turn into a zombie upon ingesting that selection of bell peppers.
• When the stone is good and hot, place it on some hot pads on the counter and place the crust on top. 
• Next, spread the salsa on followed by the sauce. You can use a greater salsa to sauce ratio if you please, but I do enjoy the sauciness of pizza sauce, and I don't want the za to taste completely like a taco.
• Top with chicken, peppers, and cheese.
• Back into the oven it goes for 10-12 minutes.
• Take it out, let it cool for 10 minutes more. 
• Eat up until you pop. You earned it, you pizza maker, you.

 

Veggie & Herb Pizza

I've been on a real fruit and veggie kick this week. Now if you know me, you probably know that I eat a lot of these foods a lot of the time. But this week my husband is out of town, off doing military things, so I've really taken the opportunity to up my raw and cooked veggie intake. Not that he doesn't eat these things...he'll eat basically anything I put in front of him, given, most of the things I put in front of him are quite tasty. But a life without meats would not be a life he would enjoy living.

So anyway, I started the week trying to do only fruits and veggies. It was all spinach, avocados, lentils, onions, tomatoes, bananas, grapes, plain almonds, and more. I'm pretty good at making a green smoothie, so that was a staple. Then when it came to beans and dinnertime foods I used spices to make them taste edible. Basically what I cut out was dairy, meat, and alcohol. That was all going surprisingly well, but I had some chicken breast, milk, and homemade bread in the fridge, and I didn't want to ignore those until they became rotten. Hence, my complete fruit and vegetable binge ended after about 2 days. And honestly, I think that was just the perfect time for that sort of thing. 

I'm not one to do those extreme diets. Actually, I'm very against any fad that tells you to eliminate one or more major food group. If you can't maintain eating patterns like that for a lifetime, then chances are it's a fad diet and you should avoid it. 

But no matter what you do, you can't go wrong with more veggies in your diet. They are just so good for you and the greater variety you get (both in type and color), the better. They've got tons of vitamins and minerals - most of which will not be destroyed during cooking - that help with growth, development, and repair. Your mom told you to eat your veggies after all, didn't she? She was onto something. 

So instead of going and bingeing on meats and cheeses at the end of the week to mourn my brief separation from these foods earlier in the week, I made a pizza covered in summer veggies. And some cheese too.

Ingredients needed for the topping:

• 1 shallot
• 1 zucchini 
• 1 yellow squash
• A handful of bell peppers. I used red, yellow, and orange ones.

I was considering doing a cheese-less pizza here, but then I remembered a time when I actually ordered a cheese-less pizza at a restaurant in Atlanta and I remembered that I didn't like it.

Cheeses I used on this one:

• 1/2 cup shredded asiago 
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Now keep in mind, those are some very flavorful (read, strong and pungent-smelling) cheeses. Especially the asiago. Adjust to your taste preferences. 

So here's the prep method:

• Toss about 2 tbsp. olive oil into a skillet. I love my iron skillet. I love it so much, in fact, I never put it away. It's always on my stovetop just waiting to make food yummy. So heat that oil, finely chop your shallot, and sauté it for a few minutes.
• In the meantime, slice the rest of your veggies. You don't have to stick to the ones that I did...I think other delightful picks for this za would include mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, and tomatoes. 
• Now add a few herbs of your choosing to the pan. I used a little thyme, allspice, and cayenne pepper. I'd also suggest rosemary, garlic, sage, cumin, black pepper, and basil - in any amount or quantity that you prefer.
• Top it all onto your dough (which should have sauce on it and be sitting on a hot pizza stone). Add veggies, then sprinkle on the cheeses and bake it for about 10 minutes.

My dough was a little bit thick this time, so it took about 12 minutes in my oven. I could tell it was done when the cheese was bubbly and the veggies were slightly charred. 

The only thing I would have done differently next time is add more veggies! I did put a lot on there, but then again, the pizza itself was quite large. I wanted to "play it safe" because I have prepped too many toppings for pizzas in the past and I did not want to have leftovers...after all, my human garbage-disposer husband is out of town. But I regret that now, because I could have easily chopped up all of both types of squash and added another handful of bell peppers and it would have been great. Oh well, we learn these things as we go!

I sprinkled a little red pepper flakes over the top and then drizzled my slice in balsamic vinegar. Very flavorful. Probably even a little too much with the balsamic, but still really good.

And I was such a rebel while eating it too - I ate in front of the TV!! *Gasp!!*