cooking @ home

Whew! The last three recipes were each a bit complicated and time-consuming in terms of preparation and cooking … got to do plenty of interesting cooking things though: turned a slab of beef into steaks, pounded meat thin, made a meat stuffing, created a custard in a pot, made a ganache, took a squash apart, made a puree with the food processor, oven-roasted vegetables, got to cook some chorizo…

Time then to switch things up and do something quick and a bit more whimsical. So for today, it’s pizza for kids. Yes, I know, kids like any kind of pizza; but that said, they’ll like these even more. Moreover, you don’t have to have kids, these are definitely pizzas for the kids in us all!

Before diving in, be sure to check out my previous pizza foray, where I made the more convention Pepperoni Pizza as well as a Ham and Pineapple one. There are more basic tips in that one. Think of this as a continuation. As said, last time was somewhat more traditional. This time, I went and let my inner child run wild, hmm, maybe even a tad amok. hehe

And this is one of the best things about doing pizza at home: you can create pizzas you will not find at your average around-the-corner, down-the-street pizzaria. One element I kept running up against doing this — can’t recall if I complained about this in my other recipe or not — but that was that my dough wants to basically stay round, and my baking sheets are rectangular. What happened each time then, in my personal experience, was I would end up with one large rectangular pizza and one smaller rectangular one. You see I had to go the width of the baking sheets and that would have made too doughy a pizza. Following the outline or dimensions of the sheets though made for thin, crispy crusts. While nothing wrong with that, I do personally like a bit of more medium dough. I’d also like to make a “real” round pizza too.

So, realizing I am definitely going to make more of these in the future, I went out and got a round pizza pan. I measured my oven first to ensure I could get the largest that fit, and found a 16″ would do it. Next stop at K-Mart and I grabbed one for about 10 bucks. So I’m looking forward to — if not tossing it in the air — at least letting my dough make a nice big round one. If you follow my recipes and get some ideas of my philosophy when cooking I tend to like to go zen and let my food tell me what it wants. (Asparagus tells you where to cut it; frying pans tell you when you can have your browning meat…) Since pizza dough wants to stay round,

Ok, the cheeseburger pizza is fairly explanatory. Actually, so is this particular dessert pizza too. However, just so you can get into the mood of it, let me say all you have to do is think what would each particular ingredient be for a dessert pizza as compared to a standard pizza? Mozarella cheese … then you need a sweet cheese … ricotta or perhaps a mascapone if you can get a hold of some. Ok, what replaces the pizza sauce? At first you go “huh”, and then you start getting into the swing of things and go “ah, jelly!”. Ok, pepperoni or whatever topping becomes some kind of fruit. Garlic powder? Maybe it becomes cinnamon. Basil? Maybe (or not) it becomes sprigs of mint. Maybe jimmies. Who knows? You tell me.

Play with it, think it out, give whatever comes to mind a try. Now you’re getting the idea. So let that inner kid go run wild — better yet, do it with your children — have some fun, and enjoy!

Cheeseburger Pizza
©2007 Harry Kenney

pizza dough
tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce with meat works nicely
shredded mozzarella
American cheese
ground beef
ketchup

salt
pepper
garlic powder
dried oregano
dried basil

Too many variables (plus this is supposed to be fun) to list actual amounts. Just go free-for-all.

Make dough into pizza form you want. Place sauce on dough and spread with tablespoon or larger spoon. Don’t over do it. Spread some mozzarella, light, not as much as a regular pizza. Rip slices of American cheese and place on top. In frying pan, pinch off pieces of ground meat, make small, larger than a pea, smaller than a lima bean. Pinch, roll between thumb and forefinger, place in pan and cook. Do not overcook, keep moist, this is going to cook further on the pizza remember. Add tiny bits of American cheese on top a minute before done. Place atop pizza. Add spices to taste. Squirt small streaks of ketchup here and there. 350°F for 14-16 minutes.

Peach Ricotta Dessert Pizza
©2007 Harry Kenney

pizza dough
can of peach halves
Ricotta cheese
Apricot preserves
cinnamon

Make dough into pizza form you want. Spread out ricotta cheese, then preserves, put on peach halves, dust with cinnamon. This cooks a bit faster than a traditional meat pizza. Keep and eye on it. 350°F for 10-12 minutes.

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