So we’re going away from 365 this week a bit. Being a work at home mom, I get to watch the Rachael Ray daytime talk show every day and get great ideas for meals.
Last week she made this fantastic stuffed pizza. Now, I did take the liberty of changing a few things here. First, I don’t like olives much, let alone an olive tapenade, so I took out that whole section and replaced it with a jar of pesto. I think next time I’d still use the pesto, but maybe only half a jar.
I was also in fridge clean out mode, so I used whatever toppings I had on hand. I think I used pepperoni, genoa salami, and pancetta. For the cheese I used a mix of mozzarella and Colby jack. The hubby gets made that I always seem to buy cheese every week and our cheese drawer is overflowing. I caved this week and decided to use up what I had. For the record, there was only one partially used bag that was expired.
I’ll say that in the end this pizza was OK. I think ours cooked a little too long and was a little too brown. I used a thin crust pizza, so I think next time I’d use a thicker dough. It ended up being a lot of greasy, salty meat, cheese and pesto … with just a little bit of dough. I think thicker dough would balance out the the toppings much better.
I’ve got the recipe below with my own edits as to what I changed, but give the original a try if you want!
What do you need?
For the olive salad: **I skipped this whole section and used a jar of pesto**
About 1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed olives or pitted Sicilian olives About 1/4 cup pitted black olives
1 cup drained giardiniera (hot pickled vegetable salad)
1 tablespoon anchovy paste, optional
1 roasted red pepper, homemade or store-bought, chopped
2 large clove garlic, finely chopped or grated
A few leaves of basil
A scant handful of flat-leaf parsley
For the pizza:
2 1-pound balls pizza dough, homemade or store-bought
Flour, for rolling out dough
1/2 pound thinly sliced mozzarella or smoked mozzarella
1/3 pound sweet sopressata, thinly sliced
1/3 pound sliced hot ham, coppa or cappacolo
1/2 pound mortadella, thinly sliced
1/2 pound deli-sliced provolone cheese
EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for brushing
Sesame seeds
Yields: Serves 6-8
Now what?
Preheat oven to 450°F.
In the bowl of a food processor, add olives, giardiniera, anchovy paste, roasted pepper, garlic, basil and parsley. Pulse to form a finely chopped relish.
On a floured surface, roll out doughs into 2 thin rounds. Transfer the first to an oil-brushed baking sheet. Top with a layer of olive salad **or pesto**
then even layers of cheeses and meats, leaving a 1-inch edge.
Brush edges with water and top with remaining dough. Pinch all around to seal.
Brush with EVOO and sprinkle with sesame seeds. (Tip: Brush with egg wash for sesame seeds to really stick to the top!) Bake 20-25 minutes to deep golden. Let cool 10 minutes then cut into 8 wedges and serve with a green salad alongside.
How did yours turn out??
Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama
4 comments:
That looks wonderful! Where do you find pesto (what section of the grocery store)? I tried just a straight pesto pizza someone made, and I loved it, but I've never seen pesto in the grocery store.
It should be near the spaghetti sauce. Just past the sauce our store has kind of a "fancy Italian" section that has olives, pickled veggies, roasted peppers and the sort. I've also seen it in the refrigerator section with the refrigerated pasta. I live in a small town, so if we have it I bet you do too!
Thanks! I'll look for it today. I'm in a very rural "meat & potatoes" area, so there's lots of "fancy" things we don't have, but they just started carrying tortellini, so maybe.... :)
If you can't find it, let me know! When I'm really ambitious I make my own. If you can find fresh herbs and pine nuts you'll be in business :)
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