There has been a lot of pizza making and A LOT of pizza eating going on in our small Brooklyn kitchen these days! Two more traditional pies and one…well…we’ll get to it. (I know a couple of you were shaking your head at the title…but just you wait!) After our most recent pizza dinner out at Co a while back, I knew I had to re-create that pizza experience. I’ve had success with Jim Lahey’s no knead bread before (the owner of Co), so why should the pizza dough be any different? Well, it wasn’t! I substituted half whole wheat flour for half of the regular flour and it turned out perfectly. Before we venture into red sauce territory, let’s talk about the white pizza. Something that has become very popular on pizza menus and has also become near and dear to my heart. Never having created a white pizza at home, I used the new stove-top to oven method (found here) and pizza perfection was reached.
Pizza in the skillet pre-broiler
White Pizza Topped with Swiss Chard (Adapted from this recipe)
Crust: This recipe using half whole wheat flour for the regular flour
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
mix these ingredients together and set aside
1 bunch swiss chard, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Fresh buffalo mozzarella and goat cheese (as much or as little as you like…but let’s be serious…more is better!)
Preheat skillet over medium high heat and add oil. Saute garlic for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add chard and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Stretch dough out into a thin circle. Preheat an oven-proof skillet over high heat with some oil in it. (if you don’t have an oven proof skillet, just wrap the handles in aluminum foil). When smoking, add crust to skillet and cook until bottom starts to get nice and chard. Add mozz, swiss chard, and top with goat cheese. Brush crust with some of your flavored oil. Place under broiler until dough is cooked and cheese is melted.
Pizza post-broiler served with remaining seasoned oil for more brushing and dipping
Onto the red…the sauce. The second most important part of any good pizza (the crust being the first). I used this recipe for a traditional NY style pizza sauce…and man oh man was it ever good! Just the smell of the butter and garlic, simmering with the basil, onions, and tomatoes. Honestly, as good as any pizza parlor sauce.
Topping the red pizza
Once the crust was spread out onto the baking sheet, topped with sauce, toppings, and mozz, it went into a screaming hot 500 degree oven and literally took no more than 10 minutes to get a charred crust and bubbly cheese.
Half roasted red pepper, olives, and artichokes, and half sauteed mushrooms and shaved brussels sprouts. All topped with basil
So the last pizza…let me rephrase…I think it’s important not to look at this as a pizza but more of a vegetable pie with pizza like qualities. It can not be picked up with your hands and folded into your mouth like a traditional NY style slice, but when cut with a fork and knife, it really is quite delicious. Both Adam and I were surprised with how good it actually was. Well…we really shouldn’t have been that shocked considering the amount of cheese that went into it!
Cauliflower pizza crust pre-baking
So for this “cauliflower pizza”, I used this recipe as a guide, but there are actually so many variations floating around the blog world to try…this should show you that it actually is worth trying!
You're going to tell me this doesn't look like pizza??
You can really top it with anything you like…I went with my new favorite sauce recipe, artichokes, tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, spinach, and lots of mozz and goat cheese. I would say I maybe went a bit too heavy on the toppings for the delicate crust…I think this is a case of less is better.
One pie feeds two people and we were actually surprised at how filling it was. Perfect for anyone following a gluten free diet or just looking for a new vegetarian recipe…give it a try and let me know what you think!
