Pesto Pizza Pinwheels

Hubbs and I both love pizza.  I mean, who doesn't?  We definitely love the convenience of buying out, and when we lived in Brooklyn, we bought pizza out a lot.  Most of the pizza places we frequented were just small local stores using homemade, good ingredients, so we didn't have to worry about it. I know there are places here in Michigan, but they are not as convenient to get to as we would like.  We have to get in our car and drive to get the pizza (we just walked there on the way to our house from getting off the subway in Brooklyn), and we might as well just make it ourselves - control the ingredients and use exactly what we want.  

We end up making pizza about once every week to week and a half.  This time when I made it, I decided to try something different and fun - pinwheels.  I've seen them for years, but have never made them before.  I had some extra pesto in the freezer from last summer when we had our bountiful basil crop, so decided to use that.  These turned out really good!  We dipped them in hot marinara sauce.  Yum!  My little brother came over when I was making them and hinted that they looked great.  I gave him several of them, which he promptly dipped in ranch!  He literally puts ranch on everything - even in the sauce when he makes his lasagna.  Funny kid!  These could work with any combination.  They would also be great for a party or a get together.  

 

 

 

Freshly baked pesto pizza rolls

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough (I use this recipe.  Use half for these rolls and freeze the remaining half for later.)

Pesto Sauce
Vegan Cheese

Toppings:
 - Green Peppers
 - Onions
 - Baby Spinach
 - Kalamata Olives
 - Pickled or fresh Jalapeno Peppers
 - Pignolis

Filtered water to seal the dough. 


1.  Prepare the dough according to the attached instructions. 
2.  After the dough has risen, punch it down.  Place the half you are not using in a freezer bag, label and freeze for later use. 
3.  Roll the pizza dough out into a large rectangle-ish shape on a floured surface. 

4.  Liberally spread pesto over the surface of the dough - leaving about an inch of space at the top bare.

5.  Sprinkle the vegan cheese over the surface of the pesto, followed by the veggies and other toppings, as desired.

6.  Top with baby spinach.

7.  Slowly roll the pizza into a cigar shape.  Sprinkle a little water onto the top of the pizza to help the dough seal together. 

8.  Use a sharp non-serrated knife to slice the pizza into rounds.

9.  Place the pizza rounds onto an oiled sheet tray.  At this point, you can decide to place a towel over the prepared rolls, place in a warm place and allow them to rise some more, then bake them.  Or you can put them in the oven right away at 375 degrees for about 15-22 minutes - which is what I did.

10.  Let them cool just until you are able to handle them safely.  Dip into warm marinara sauce or whatever else you like to eat with your pizza.  Depending on my mood, I may drizzle some sriracha over the top.  Yum!


Enjoy!

Koko

Homemade Pizza with White Sauce, Tomatoes and Fresh Basil

When Hubbs and I left NY, we had to use up all of the ingredients in our small chest freezer and two refrigerators (yes, two refrigerators in our Brooklyn apartment!).  Once we made it to Michigan and began cooking, we had to start all the way over from scratch.  Oh, there were a few things we couldn't use up and were fortunately able to take with us, like a couple containers of earth balance, a few packages of daiya vegan cheese and several containers of vinegar, etc.  But nothing that was ready to eat.  Once we plugged in our refrigerator and freezer, it was kind of frightening to see how empty everything was.  I mean completely empty.  I should have taken a picture of it, because it was pretty crazy. 

When we were in NY, we always had several meals already cooked and frozen in single or double servings for those days when we just didn't feel like cooking or were just too busy.  We also had homemade pizza dough frozen in ziploc baggies, seasonings frozen in ice cube trays, etc.  So it is definitely time to start using our freezer again.  Hubby decided that he wanted pizza, and instead of having some pizza dough pre-made, I had to make it for his dinner, and took advantage of needing the dough so I quadrupled the recipe.  Yes, I made 4x the recipe, which seems completely crazy, but man did it feel good to put all of those baggies of made pizza dough in that empty freezer!  I'm also planning on filling that freezer with homemade marinara sauce from all of those tomatoes continuously coming out of the garden, plus pesto from our basil, and hopefully more tasty dishes.  But at least if there is nothing that comes to mind food-wise, we'll definitely have pizza to fall back on!


Homemade Pizza with White Sauce, Tomatoes and Basil:



 Super Tasty, Creamy Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil

Pizza Dough:

Yields 2 Pizzas

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon organic sugar
1 envelope yeast

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 1/2- 4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Pizza Toppings I Used:
White Sauce
Daiya Cheese
Fresh Roma Tomatoes
Fresh Chopped Onions
Fresh Basil, Chiffonnaded


1.  In a medium mixing bowl, add the warm water,  organic sugar and yeast.  Whisk together until combined.  Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes, or until it becomes bubbly.  If It does not bubble up, the yeast is most likely dead, so begin again with some fresh yeast.
2.  Add the olive oil and whisk to combine.
3.  Add the 3 1/2 cups of flour in increments of 1/2 cups.  Mix with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to come together and is no longer easy to mix with the spoon.
4.  Liberally flour a clean surface to knead the dough until it becomes elastic and is no longer sticky.  Add more flour as necessary to achieve the right texture.
5.  Place the dough ball back into the same bowl used for mixing, drizzling a couple tablespoons of olive oil into it first.
6.  Cover the bowl with a clean towel or a sheet of plastic and place the bowl in a warm place to double in size.
7.  Once the dough has doubled in size, it is ready to use.  Punch it down and press it into the desired pizza pan.  Place desired toppings on pizza.  I baked ours at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.  (Hubbs and I don't like super crispy crusts - this yields a softer crust.)

Enjoy!

Koko

Spicy Chorizo Calzones

Sometimes when Hubbs and I pass the pizza store on Church Avenue as we do our grocery shopping, he thinks he needs pizza suddenly, but costing $3 a slice (meaning just sauce and cheese - Hubbs is not vegan, remember), it can add up.  And what quality of ingredients to they really use anyway?  I am always telling him that I would much rather make it myself with quality ingredients and have him eat something made with love.  So he got the brilliant idea the other day to make calzones.  I'm not sure if he's even ever had them before, but saw them in the pizza store, got really excited and wanted them. 

I have definitely mastered the pizza thing, but I've never made a calzone before.  So, I of course went online and followed some instructions off of someone's blog (of course I can't remember which blog now).  I really liked how they weighed out the dough to keep things consistent.  They suggested using 4 oz. pieces of dough.  I've made the dough a thousand times before but have never weighed it, so that seemed like a decent number to me.  Now, however, thinking back, that was a HUGE piece of raw dough, because it still had to proof, then bake, which would make it about 2 times the size. 

So, using a double batch of pizza dough, I ended up making 8 incredibly giant calzones, 3 of which I ended up freezing, because once we ate them for several days straight, we didn't want to see them for a long time to come!  So here is the process I went through making them for the first time.  I will definitely make them smaller next time and not fill them as full, because several of them lost their delicious cheesy filling.  We'll just have to wait till next time to see how much better they will be.  They were crazy delicious though, especially when dipped in warm homemade marinara sauce!  Yum!

Spicy Chorizo Calzones:

Yes, I am a GIANT calzone, but made Hubbs happy!


Pizza Dough:
1 cup warm water, not too hot
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups unbleached flour

Toppings:
vegan cheese, shredded
sauteed green peppers and onions
homemade marinara sauce
vegan sausages, cooked and sliced

1.  To prepare the dough: place the water, yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.  Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes until bubbly.  If it does not bubble up, the yeast may be dead, so start over.
2.  Into the bubbled up mixture, add the olive oil and sea salt.  Mix again.  While the stand mixer is working, add the flour in 1/2 cup increments until it is all incorporated.  Mix for a couple minutes, until when the dough is touched, it springs back. 
3.  Place a towel over the dough, place it in a warm place and allow it to double in size, about 45-60 minutes. 
4.  In the meantime, prepare the rest of the ingredients: saute the veggies, prepare the marinara sauce, shred the cheese, saute and slice the sausages.
5.  Punch the dough back down and separate the dough into 2 ounce pieces.  Generously flour the countertop, roll the piece of dough in the flour and roll out into a nice sized circle. 
6.  Place the cheese, veggies, sausages and marinara in the very center of the circle.  Do not overfill.  Carefully place the top of the dough over the center, and using a fork, press the dough together to create a good seal. 
7.  Finish the rest of the calzones as above.  Once the calzones are filled, place on a oiled baking sheet and again cover with a towel.  Allow to rise for about 30 minutes.
8.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
9.  Once the calzones have risen again, place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the dough has cooked all the way through and the top is nice and golden.  Let cool for several minutes before serving.




The uncooked pizza dough with the "cheese" & sauteed veggies
& my flour bin in the background (didn't notice it there before)




Topping with the cooked vegan sausages




Homemade Marinara




Sealed the calzone




After the calzone baked, all the cheesy goodness
seeping out the side.




Fresh baked calzone sliced in half for the Hubbs

 

How freaking delicious does this look??

Enjoy!

Koko

Leftover Pizza Dough: Snack Pizza

I usually don't have any pizza crust leftover when I make homemade pizza, but I did for some reason this time.  I'm pretty sure it's because the Hubby insisted on having his pizza be super thin-crust, but it actually turned out well.  A couple days later I noticed that I still had a chunk of pizza dough leftover in the fridge and most certainly did not want to throw it away after all the work and time it took to make in the first place.  So, I decided to make it into a snack pizza of sorts.  I also didn't want it to be like "regular" pizza, in that I didn't want it to have marinara - I wanted it super crispy, so that's how I made it.  It hit the spot and was nice and simple.  I dipped it in some leftover marinara sauce and it was darn tasty.  I'm sure I could have chosen to be more creative and make some form of calzone or something, but truth be told, this was much quicker and easier.  Next time though!

Leftover Pizza Dough: Snack Pizza

Yields:  A Snack Pizza!

Prepared Pizza Dough

Toppings of choice:

Chopped Green Peppers

Chopped Onions

Diced Seitan

Sliced Green or Kalamata Olives

Daiya or other vegan cheese

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degree.  Lightly oil a pizza pan or baking tray with spray oil and set aside.

2.  Place the remaining dough onto the prepared baking tray and spread it out as thinly or thickly as you would like. 

3.  Place the crust in the preheated oven and bake for about 5 minutes, or until the crust is partially baked.

4. Top the partially baked crust with your cheese, then with the remaining chopped veggies of your choice.
5.  Place back in the oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is baked all the way through, the cheese is melted and the veggies are softened. 
6.  Let cool for a couple minutes and cut into pieces.  Dip in a prepared marinara sauce if desired.  I usually have some of that leftover as well when I make homemade pizza.

Enjoy!

- Koko

Gluten Free Wednesday: Vegan GF Pizza!

Happy Gluten Free Wednesday!  As you know, Wednesdays are my days at work to cook for our department.  One of my coworkers, who works that day is gluten free, so I am always trying to think of creative things to make for us.  I remembered she said the day before that she was craving pizza.  There is a 99 cent pizza place a block away from our work and a lot of the employees go there to get lunch.  It's sucky walking by it and knowing you can't eat anything there because it's full of cheese, but it's even suckier not to be able to have it because you can't eat the dough.  She's really not able to walk into any old pizza place and order a slice because it has to be both vegan and gluten free, which is not really all that prevalent yet.  So, I was thinking I would find a recipe for the dough and just make in on Wednesday.  She warned me that doughs are generally pretty tough to make gf, but I have been experimenting with gf breads lately and was inspired by the challenge. 

I checked into one of my favorite gf blogs and found a recipe for pizza dough, and true to what my coworker said, it was very complicated and time consuming, so I found a recipe for flatbread and just followed that.  Honestly, the recipe freaked me out for a number of reasons and I was 50% convinced that it wouldn't work.  The recipe didn't contain xanthan gum, and every gf thing I have ever made has contained xanthan gum, even when it has yeast in it.  But, the recipe worked and worked quite well.  We each had two large slices and were very happy with it.  I'm thinking we will definitely be making it again soon!

Gluten Free Pizza:



Cooked Pizza with Melty Cheese

Makes 1 large pizza

Dough:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed rosemary
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon agave
1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup warm water.

Toppings:
pizza sauce
daiya
chopped onions
chopped green peppers
sliced kalamata olives
1 tomato, thickly sliced

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3.  Prepare the crust: in a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: millet flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, crushed rosemary and yeast.  Whisk until all ingredients are combined. 
3.  In the center of the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients: olive oil, agave, vinegar and warm water.  Stir together using a spatula until just combined.
4.  Oil a pizza pan and press out the dough (you can sprinkle the pan with a little bit of cornmeal if desired.) until even all the way around, creating an edge crust if desired.  The dough will feel really funny and pull apart if you stretch it, but once the yeast is given a chance to grow, it will feel like a regular dough. 



This is what the dough looks like before it raises or bakes.

 5.  Cover the pan with the dough on it with a towel and place in a warm place.  Allow the dough to rise for 30-40 minutes.  Bake for about 5-7 minutes or until the dough feels slightly firm.
6.  Remove from the oven and spread the pizza sauce evenly over top.  Sprinkle the daiya on top and spread the toppings over the cheese as desired.  Return to oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the dough is baked all the way through, the daiya is melted and the vegetables look slightly cooked.



Pizza with all the toppings on the partially baked crust.

 7.  Allow to cool for a few minutes, sprinkle with your desired toppings (lots of red pepper flakes please!) and eat.  This is best eaten the same day, as the dough does not stay fresh for more than a day.

Enjoy!

-K

Homemade Pizza!

There is nothing better than pizza.  Homemade pizza that is!  The stuff you buy out is just so disgusting and so bad for you and you have no idea what the ingredients really are or where they come from.  My family has made homemade pizza for as long as I can remember.  Don't get me wrong, they definitely still go out for pizza, but as a bonding family activity, they make pizza once in a while.  One of my older brothers initially came up with our recipe for the crust.  You see, all my brothers are great cooks, with the exception of the baby, who is more interested in cars and car parts than food.  Seriously.  Anyway, when it's time for pizza night, my mom, like usual, overdoes it and we end up with like 6 pizzas for 8 people.  So, we eat cold pizza everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner for like a full week.  At least, that's what it was like when I was growing up.  She would always say that she cooks enough for an army, and she's right.  It is just the Hubby and I, and yet I cook like there are 4 of us- it's hard to get that quantity cooking out of my mind. 

Generally, when we make pizza night, we like to invite a couple people over for beer and movies.  It's lots of fun and we try as hard as possible to consume both pizzas, but even with 4 or so people over, it's not easy.  So, as in the days when I was a kid, we spend the next several days eating pizza for every meal.  Pizza for breakfast!  This recipe makes enough dough for 2 large pizzas and the sauce makes enough for 3.  You can store the rest of the sauce in the refrigerator and add it to pasta or other dishes.  The sauce will be a touch salty, but that is what we want, because it needs to season the entire pizza.

Homemade Pizza

Yields 2 large Pizzas

Pizza Crust:
4 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons raw sugar
2 cups warm filtered water

1 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cups unbleached flour
coat in 2 tablespoons olive oil.  place towel over bowl and let rise for 1 1/2 hours

Pizza Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
32 oz. canned tomatoes
1 cup small diced onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with fingers
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed with fingers
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Toppings, as desired
Daiya or Follow Your Heart, shredded
Chopped:
Onions, Green Peppers
Sliced Roma Tomatoes, Olives, Mushrooms
Fresh Garlic
Mock Pepperoni or other protein

1.  To prepare the pizza dough, in the the bowl of a stand mixer, place the warm water, yeast and sugar and stir to combine.  Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbly.
2.  Add the sea salt and olive oil and stir to combine. 
3.  In 1 cup increments, add the flour until all 6 cups are incorporated and the dough is extremely thick.  Continue mixing until the dough becomes a round smooth ball and bounces back lightly when touched.  Alternatively, if you do not have a stand mixer, mix the dough by hand, and knead dough on a floured surface until it springs back lightly when touched.
4.  Oil a large bowl with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and place the dough in the center.  Roll the dough around in the oil until it has been coated on all sides.  Place a clean towel on top and place in a warm place.  Allow to sit for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.
5.  In the meantime, prepare the sauce:  In a medium saucepan over medium heat, place the olive oil.  Once the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic, sauteing until golden brown and fragrant. 
6.  Crush the tomatoes with your hands and place them in the pan with the onions and garlic.  Stir to coat.  Add the spices - the onion and garlic powder, basil, oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, sea salt and black pepper.  Stir to coat.  Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until well seasoned.
7.  In the meantime, prepare your pizza toppings.
8.  Once the dough has risen, use your hands to punch it back down.  Separate the dough equally into two portions.
9.  Preheat oil to 425 degrees.  Oil a pizza round and sprinkle with cornmeal if desired.  Press dough onto pizza round, being sure to cover the entire surface.  Repeat with the second ball of dough. 
10.  Poke the dough all over with a fork and place in the oven.  Bake for about 10 minutes, or until dough has puffed up and is slightly baked.  Remove from oven. 
11.  Spread the sauce evenly over the pizzas.  Top with shredded cheese and sprinkle on the toppings evenly. 
12.  Return to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is browned, the sauce is bubbling and the crust is cooked. 
13.  Allow pizza to cool for approximately 10 minutes before slicing. 

Serve sprinkled with a Vegan Parmesan Cheese and tons of red pepper flakes.

Enjoy!

-K