Passionate About Pizza: Making Great Homemade Pizza (44 page)

Shaping
– Prepare Herman Sourdough Dough as directed. Stretch or roll out the dough into a twelve-inch circle and place it on a prepared pizza peel. This pizza works best when there is a rim on the dough to keep the sauce from sliding off the pizza. If you do not provide a rim around the shaped pizza, you are likely to have toppings that overflow the pizza onto your baking stone and make a smoky, black mess. I know this from experience!

Assembly
– Spread the caramel sauce on the pizza up to one inch from the edge. If the caramel sauce has cooled and is too gummy to easily spread, heat it up slightly to make it spread more easily. Use a pastry brush to smooth out the caramel sauce. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk in a spiral pattern on top of the caramel. Use the amount of condensed milk you prefer. If you prefer a lot of sweet sauce, make the spiral lines very close to each other; if you prefer less, leave more room between spiral lines.

Arrange each banana slice on the pizza with the flat side down. Place the point of one banana slice near the center of the pizza such that the slice points out and away in a spiral pattern. Place the next slice immediately opposite the first slice in a similar fashion. Continue placing the remaining slices while maintaining the pattern.

Baking
– Slide the pizza onto a preheated baking stone and bake at 400˚ for ten to twelve minutes. The caramel sauce should be boiling slightly over the entire surface. The crust should brown lightly. The Herman Sourdough crust will not be as crunchy and chewy as other pizza crusts.

Serving
–
Serve with vanilla ice cream on the side. If you prefer more caramel sauce than made by this recipe, drizzle your favorite caramel sauce over the pizza as you serve it.

Chocolate Heaven Pizza

Makes one fourteen to sixteen inch pizza.

5 ounces high quality semisweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 recipe Herman Sourdough Dough (see recipe
page 106
)
sweetened condensed milk
white chocolate
unbleached all-purpose flour (for kneading and shaping)

Topping
– Chop the chocolate into very small pieces (this will help it melt more quickly). Heat the heavy cream and milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until the liquid simmers slightly around the edges; do not boil or you will scald the milk. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the chopped chocolate to the warm milk mixture and stir until you completely melt the chocolate and the mixture is smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and whisk until well mixed. Beat the eggs in a small bowl until blended and add them to the chocolate mixture. Stir to mix in the eggs completely. Keep warm until ready to use. The chocolate mixture will be very runny but will thicken as it bakes on the pizza.

Shaping
– Prepare Herman Sourdough Dough as directed. Stretch the dough into a twelve inch circle and place it on a prepared pizza screen. Make sure to leave a rim on the dough to keep the chocolate mixture from running off the pizza!

Assembly
– Pour the chocolate mixture evenly over the pizza. Only use enough of the chocolate mixture so that it will not run off the pizza; you may have extra chocolate. Be careful as you move the pizza because the chocolate will flow like water; keep the pizza as level as possible. You may want to assemble this pizza on a pizza screen to make it easier to handle without the chocolate running off the pizza and making a mess.

Baking
– Slide the pizza onto a preheated baking stone and bake at 400˚ for eight to twelve minutes. Bake just until the chocolate is slightly bubbly and the surface is glossy. If you see bubbles in the surface in the chocolate, take it out right away! The crust should brown lightly.

Serving
–
Wait until the chocolate has cooled before serving. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk over the chocolate in a spiral pattern. You can shave some white chocolate curls on top of the pizza before serving, if desired.

Variations
–
You can use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate. You can stir in chopped nuts when you stir in the eggs. You can serve with fresh fruit or fruit compote on the side.
Pizza Recipe Compendium – Chevre, Artichoke, and Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

Chevre, Artichoke, and Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

Makes one fourteen to sixteen inch pizza.

8 ounces Chevre cheese
2 large cloves garlic
1 teaspoon Italian herb blend
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 7-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts
1 12-ounce jar roasted red bell peppers
1 recipe California-style Pizza Dough (see recipe
page 103
)
4 ounces Mozzarella cheese, shredded
unbleached all-purpose flour (for kneading and shaping)

Topping
– Place the Chevre cheese in a bowl. Crush garlic cloves into the bowl with the cheese and add Italian herbs and fresh ground black pepper (adjust the quantity of pepper to taste). Using a fork, mash the garlic, herbs, and cheese together until well blended. Set aside.

Drain the artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers. Chop coarsely and mix together.

Shaping
– Prepare California-style Dough as directed. Stretch the dough into a circle and place it on a prepared pizza peel.

Assembly
– Use your fingers (it will be quite gooey and sticky!) to evenly crumble the Chevre cheese mixture over the pizza. Evenly spread the pepper and artichoke mixture over the cheese. Sprinkle the Mozzarella cheese over the top.

Baking
– Slide the pizza onto a preheated baking stone and bake at 500˚ for ten to twelve minutes. Baking time may vary from eight to fourteen minutes depending on the oven, but be careful not to bake too long; the crust should be crunchy-chewy and very lightly browned.

Chicken Fajitas Pizza

Fajitas are a fantastic Mexican food. What better way is there to enjoy fajitas than on a pizza? This deep-dish pizza is wonderful with chicken fajitas, onions, peppers, and a rich, thick Potato Pizza Dough. You will need to use a knife and fork to eat this taste sensation. Makes one fourteen to sixteen inch pizza.

1 medium onion
1 large green pepper, stem, and seeds removed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 pound thin-sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup fajitas sauce
1 recipe Potato Pizza Dough (see recipe
page 102
)
olive oil
8 ounces jalapeno pepper or Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped (optional)
unbleached all-purpose flour (for kneading and shaping)
guacamole, sour cream, and pico-de-gallo for serving (optional)

Topping
– Cut onion and green pepper into bite-sized pieces and sauté in 2 Tablespoons olive oil until just soft and not yet browned. Set aside in a bowl.

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Brown the chicken in one Tablespoon olive oil in the same pan used for the onions and peppers. Add one-cup fajitas sauce to the pan, bring the sauce to a boil, and cook until chicken is thoroughly cooked and sauce has mostly evaporated down to a thick residue. Return the onions and peppers to the pan and mix together with the chicken. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the pizza.

Shaping
– Prepare Potato Pizza Dough as directed. Coat your hands heavily with olive oil and press the dough into an oiled pizza pan; you will leave a nice coating of olive oil on the dough as you shape it. Press the dough up the edges of the pan all the way to the top of the pan. Cover the pan with a towel and let the dough rise in the pan for up to ten minutes.

Assembly
– Evenly distribute the chicken, peppers, and onions on the pizza right up to the edge of the dough. Sprinkle the jalapeno or Mozzarella cheese on top. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro over the cheese, if desired.

Baking
– Place the pizza pan into the oven on the lowest rack. Bake at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for ten minutes. Move the pizza pan to the middle rack and lower the temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for an additional five to fifteen minutes until the toppings bubble and the crust and cheese brown nicely. The instructions list a range of time because the temperature of different ovens can vary. Just keep an eye on the cheese and the edges of the pizza so they do not burn.

Serving
–
Serve guacamole, sour cream, and pico-de-gallo with the pizza.
Variation
–
You can use Cornmeal Dough to make this pizza.

Chicken Spiedie Pizza