Pepperoni, Zucchini and Gorgonzola Pizza

Have you ever cooked with gorgonzola cheese? Using it on this pizza was my inaugural use of this delicacy. Calling it's flavor "sharp" would be a euphemism. "Pungent" may in fact be more accurate. I would say that you should know that you like it before you start using it. Or at the very least, use it sparingly.

Now I'm not trying to cyber-bully a particular cheese here. I'm not saying it was bad - far from it really. I very much liked the za I created with it. The other ingredients were particularly appetizing, however, because of the amount of gorgonzola I used, their flavors were more masked than I would have cared for. I would easily use gorgonzola in cooking again, but I would be more conservative with it in the future.

If you really think or know you're going to hate it and refuse to read further if I mention the word "gorgonzola" again, then by all means, omit it. You could use feta or goat cheese in its place, or you could even go with a sprinkling of parmesan if that's more your style.

Regardless, I will share with you the pizza making process for this delightful meal.

Ingredients needed:

• Pizza dough or prepared crust
• 1-2 cups pizza sauce
• 2 small zucchinis
• 10 thinly-sliced deli pepperonis
• 1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese (more or less, to taste)
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• About 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

So, the preparation begins.

• Place a pizza stone into a cold oven, then crank the oven to 500. 
• Heat a skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat with a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Get your zucchinis cleaned. Slice them into "coins." Toss them into the heated skillet and sauté them until they are golden-brown on each side. 

Cleaned.

Coined.

Sautéed. 

• While the zucchini is browning, prepare your pepperonis. The ones I got at the deli counter were rather large (perhaps 3 inches in diameter), so I cut them into quarters to make them more bite-sized. These things should be fully-cooked when you buy them, and I couldn't help myself from taking a little sample of a bite of one before I assembled the za. Oh my. Yum. It was definitely a good choice to go with the deli pepperoni rather than ones that come pre-packaged from elsewhere in the grocery store. And since I only bought 10 thin slices, this was actually the more money-saving option as well.

• Once the pizza stone is thoroughly heated, remove it from the oven. Place your prepared pizza dough or crust on it and spread as much pizza sauce on top of that as you'd like. 
• Next, pile on all those tasty ingredients that you just prepared. Start with the zucchinis, evenly spacing them all around. Pepperonis go all over next, then sprinkle on your gorgonzola, black pepper, and finally, mozzarella. If you're a true gorgonzola fanatic, you may like to sprinkle some more on the very top of the za. But I'll leave that up to you.

• Pop the stone with all that delightfulness on top back into the oven and keep it in there until everything is hot, melty, and the cheese is slightly golden on top. This time it only took my za about 8 minutes to cook, but typically I expect to wait around 10 minutes for a completed pizza. 

See? Beautifully golden and melty in all of 8 minutes. Careful though. This thing is hella hot. Seeing how the crust is even a bit burned on the front edge tells me that I could have taken it out of the oven even sooner. But it was still delish, and that one little burt section of crust didn't take away from the delightful toppings at all. Or maybe it was my husband that ate the slice from that side. Hm. Either way, no trouble here at all!

Lastly, I did a wee little change-up for the crust of this za. I did everything as usual when I make my normal crust, but instead of using warm water I used warm beer. This was not the same as another crust I did involving beer (a personal favorite of mine right there), but it was still delicious - crispy and classic yet it had a slightly deeper and more complex flavor.

Any beer will do (I used Coors Light); just try not to be too repulsed after warming it up in the microwave, adding honey and yeast to it, and waiting for it to froth up. It's all part of a much bigger and more important process. And an added bonus - you only use 3/4 cup of beer, so you'll have a few swigs left over to enjoy while you prepare the rest of the recipe. You are welcome.

Chicken, Artichoke, Feta, and Tomato Pizza with a Beer Crust

Let me guess, the "beer crust" got your attention? No doubt you've seen recipes for a crust made of cauliflower, zucchini, cheese, ground meats, egg whites, twigs, dirt, and other low-carb edibles. But beer? How is that even possible?

Well friends, thanks to the interwebs, I have found one recipe for a beer-infused pizza crust. And thanks to the current beer graveyard that is our vegetable crisper, this pizza was made possible. First and foremost regarding the flavors of this za, I must say, you must try this crust. I'm not one to divert from my go-to pizza crust recipe all that often, but this was well worth it. And also, it was super easy to make. I didn't use any rosemary because I didn't have any on hand, but I did use garlic powder and Blue Moon Agave Nectar Ale. Off da chain delish. Like, whoa. Click up on that recipe link and see for yourself.

For the pizza you will need:

• 1-2 cups pizza sauce
• 6 oz. jar of artichoke hearts, chopped (I like Progresso because they're already marinated)
• 1/2 onion, chopped and sautéed
• 1 chicken breast, chopped, seasoned and cooked
• 1/2 cup chopped grape tomatoes
• 3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• Ground black pepper, to taste (optional)

Directions:

• Prep all toppings. Heat a skillet on the stovetop with a little olive oil. Chop the onions and sauté them until they're soft and slightly golden. Place them on a plate when done and then you can add your chopped artichoke hearts to that same plate. Chop your chicken, season it and cook however you like. My chicken was actually leftover from a Mexican meal earlier in the week. I had baked it in the oven with some garlic powder and ancho chile powder. The bit of warm spiciness went perfectly with this pizza though. 
• Slice up the grape tomatoes and crumble the feta cheese if you have not bought the pre-crumbled cheese. (I never buy the crumbled kind unless there's some great sale on it...more bang for your buck to buy a larger block and cut it yourself!)
• Place a pizza stone in the oven and heat that baby to 500 degrees. When it's all hot, take it out, place it on your work surface, and carefully place your prepared dough for the crust on top of that. 
• Spread as much sauce as you'd like on top of the crust, working it all the way out to the edges. 
• Topping time. Onions, artichokes, and chicken go on next. I topped mine with mozzarella at this point, then saved the feta and tomatoes for last. And then a sprinkle of pepper after that.
• Place that all back into the oven and keep an eye on it for about 10 minutes, making sure the cheese on top turns a little bit golden but doesn't burn. For me this cooked up in about 12. 

Re-purposing my leftovers

Now that is fresh. Phresh.

Not only was this pizza the highlight to our weekend eating events, but also, our friend Matt joined us for it with some professional-grade pizza supplies in hand.

Casting my once-adored Kitchen Aid pizza cutter aside, Matt swooped in with his recent haul from a Kitchen Collection outlet shopping spree: a wooden pizza paddle and a fancy pizza cutter similar to this one from Williams-Sonoma. Like a boss. That pizza was sliced and plated effortlessly in mere seconds. I'm thinking these fancy pizza supplies are worth the investment.

I hesitate to say that this has been my favorite homemade pizza so far. But then again, that's probably how parents feel when telling you which child is their favorite. So I'll go ahead and say it - this za was top-notch. Definitely in the top 3 of my pizza children, and of course it made the honor roll. The crust - usually not so noticeable compared to the toppings - was outstanding. The feta always adds just the right amount of saltiness and the marinated artichokes were the perfect compliment. I don't like the idea of being a pizza-repeater, but for a za like this I just have a feeling it's going to happen.