Monday, April 5, 2010

Monday: Melt-in-your-mouth Cast Iron Pizza with a tossed Green Salad

Ever since I started making homemade pizza, it's been hard to go back to anything store-bought or from a chain restaurant. Plus I found out, it's not very difficult to make! So, when you have a little more time, like on the weekends, give this recipe a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how yummy it is. Our daughter Hannah asks EVERY day if we are having skillet pizza for dinner. :)


Pizza Dough

2 tsp honey
1 pkg or 2 1/4 tsp of active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water (around 100 degrees)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 tsp salt

Cooking spray 
See Change it up below for more ideas





1. Dissolve honey and yeast in the water, and let stand for a couple minutes or until bubbly (that's how you will know if your yeast is any good)
2. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cups & level with a knife. Add 2 cups of flour and salt to mixture and stir until a soft dough forms.
3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface (I usually put a little flour on a cutting board) and knead about 5-6 minutes, adding 1/4 cup to dough as needed. Put the ball of dough in a bowl, cover with a cloth. Turn on the oven for a couple minutes (enough to heat it up), but don't let the oven get too hot (like over 100 degrees). Turn the oven off, place your bowl covered in a cloth in the oven for 30 minutes. 

BEFORE AND AFTER DOUGH HAS RISEN




4. Roll dough into a 12 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Spray cooking spray or grease a cast-iron skillet or pizza pan and place dough in it. Crimp edges of dough with finger to form a rim.  Put on Pizza Sauce, a light sprinkle of cheese, favorite topping and then add the rest of the cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Delicioso!

Best Pizza Sauce

2 TB chopped fresh basil or 2 tsp of dried basil
1 1/2 TB olive oil

2 TB of fresh oregano or 2 tsp dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp sugar or honey  

1 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 (14.5 oz) can petite-cut diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste 

1. Stir all ingredients in a bowl with a wisk. That's it! Voila!






Suggested Toppings


1-2 cups Monterrey jack or mozarella cheese
Canadian or turkey bacon
Pineapple chunks
favorite veggies


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Who likes to change the dough up?

~Replace 1/4 cup all-purpose flour with toasted wheat germ or flax seed meal.
~
Add 2 tsp of raw sesame seeds.
~Add 2 TB chopped fresh herbs like basil or oregano.

~Add 2 TB finely chopped walnuts or pecans.
~Add 2 TB finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese.
~Add 1 tsp of coarse ground black pepper. 

-------------------------

Try Cast-Iron!


Two of my favorite cookware I use frequently are my cast-iron skillet and dutch oven. They are heavy, solid and provide a great source of iron in your diet. Also, this cookware will last you a lifetime if you take good care of them. Want to know how? Check out this website below. Don't have one? You can buy them on amazon here. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cast-iron_cookware


Lodge Logic 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet 
Lodge Logic Pre-Seasoned Combo Cooker

4 comments:

allisonwardrip said...

The homemade pizza looks so good!! Can you use whole wheat flour for this? If so, would the measurement be the same or different?

Meal Planning Made Simple said...

Most whole wheat pizza dough's that I have seen use 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 all-purpose flour. If you just use whole wheat flour, it usually doesn't rise properly because it doesn't have enough gluten in the dough. For this recipe, I would use 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose flour. Then add 1/4 cup or less all-purpose flour while you are kneading the dough to keep it from sticking.
To give my dough a nutritional boost I usually replace 1/4 cup flour with flaxseed meal or wheat germ.
Let me know how it turns out! This is our family's favorite meal. Hannah, my daughter requests it EVERY DAY! :)

KirstenM said...

I'm going to cheat tonight and use Trader Joe's pizza dough but I'm going to try your pizza sauce! :)

Meal Planning Made Simple said...

Kirsten-Yum! I LOOVE Trader Joe's pizza dough, and it's fairly inexpensive too. Let me know what you think of the sauce!

Tara- Whoops! I forgot to put the temperature and baking time. You cook it at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. I will update the blog as well. Hope that helps! Let me know how yours turns out.

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