Pizza with Pizzaz

I havent made pizza in a long while and it's so easy. I like a thin, sturdy crust so I use half white flour and half whole wheat. Just remember to start the dough at least an hour ahead because it has to rise.

Pizza Crust

1 cup warm water
1 TBS yeast ( one package)
1 tsp honey
1 TBS oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2-3 cups flour (1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 white)
cornmeal

Mix water, yeast, honey, oil and salt. Let sit until bubbly. Add 2 1/2 cups flour. Knead until smooth, adding more flour if necessary.

Place dough in medium sized bowl. Cover and let rise 1 hour in a warm place until double in size

Set oven at 450 degrees. Sprinkle corn meal on bottom of pizza pan

Roll out dough on floured board. Stretch dough to fit pan corners, fold edges to form a rim

Bake 5 minutes at 450 degrees. Remove from oven when crust gets firm.

Add toppings.

Bake another 10-15 minutes.

Toppings

Of course you can use a huge variety of veggies, cheeses and meats for toppings. I like The Greens Cookbook (by Deborah Madison) method which does not use tomato sauce. Rather you brush the dough with olive oil and place the toppings on that.

2 small red onions
2 cloves garlic
2 oz mozzarella cheese, grated (I only had cheddar so used that)
4 oz goat cheese
12-18 Nicoise or California green olives, pitted and halved
2 sun dried tomatoes cut in narrow strips (I used a seeded fresh tomato)
fresh herbs if desired after cooking

Saute thinly sliced red onions, adding minced garlic towards the end. Place on oiled pizza crust. Cover with mozzarella and then other ingredients sprinkled on top.

Bake 8-12 minutes or till edges and bottom are browned. Let sit a few minutes before slicing.







I "discovered" this Chinese cabbage salad in The Book of Whole Meals cookbook by Annemarie Colbin. This is my variation of the idea.

1 Chinese Cabbage ( I used Napa cabbage) wash leaves well and hand slice into strips
grated carrots
sliced red onions
tomatoes sliced if desired
I threw in some leftover broccoli from the other day
sprinkle with balsalmic vinegar and olive oil. Salt and pepper.
Easy, different and delicious.