Beet-zza

Hello, hello, All!

I was strolling through the grocery store perusing when I saw a bunch of beautiful beets. Believe it or not I’ve never actually cooked with raw beets even though I have always wanted to. So I grabbed them and off I went. I kept thinking I wanted to do something unique and fancy. Keeping their beautiful color in mind I first thought some kind of bread or crêpes (which I still might do, I love a crêpe) then it came to me…PIZZA! Who doesn’t love pizza? I remembered seeing a picture once of a beautiful beet colored pizza and my mind ran wild and I thought I was going to make an all dolled up, colorful, beet pizza crust. Now I will say this recipe takes some prep but once it comes together it is well worth it. It takes longer too, if you make your own basil for the crust like I did.

Here’s the recipe for that…

Now on to the crust! It’s not too much different from any regular pizza crust.

what you need:

• 3 beets peeled and roasted

• 2 1/2 cups flour

• 1 tbsp active dry yeast

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 1 cup warm water

• 1 tsp salt

  what you do:

  For the beets: I roasted mine on 400 degrees for about 30 minutes and then threw them in the food processor.

  Like any other pizza crust, add water, yeast, and sugar to a mixer and let it sit for about five minutes or until it starts to bubble. Then, add salt and slowly your flour. Once that all comes together then you can add in your pureed beets until they are well combined. Knead the dough for a few minutes and then cover and put it somewhere warm to rise for about an hour and a half. At least that’s what I did.

  Then, you’re ready! You can make two pizzas or one with this recipe. I made one big one. Once your dough is on a pizza pan bake for about ten minutes in 350. Pull it out after the ten and top!

For my topping, I used:

• fresh pesto for the base

• colorful cherry tomatoes

• asparagus

• a few saved roasted beets

• thinly sliced red onion

• goat cheese

  (I would have used gorgonzola but happened to have extra goat in my fridge)

• A few hard boiled eggs, I do love a messy egg on a pizza or burger!

• topped with fresh basil

  After you finish topping your pizza put it back in the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes.

Guys, I’m not even exaggerating but this pizza was epic. And honestly the beets are more for show and far less for taste. But wow it was very delicious and quite pleasing to the eye and far, far, from your average pizza.

I hope your Wednesday is just as bright and colorful as this pizza! As always thanks for stopping by!

Pizza Made With Love…

Happy National Pizza Day!

Am I blindingly busy right now? Oh yes. But that isn’t going to stop me from paying homage to PIZZA! This is a photo of the best pizza I have ever eaten in Marselle France. It was hands down the best, too. And I’ve eaten pizza in Naples. I sure do love a fork and knife kind of ‘Za and that is exactly what I’m trying to recreate today. I know I won’t get the crust as good as this was but I’m going to give it a whirl.

While Theo Shane was living his best life at school and enjoying his Valentine’s Day party, I decided to utilize my pizza loving Coco. She. Loves. Pizza. Like in her soul. So, when I asked her if she wanted to have a pizza day, she just about lost her mind. To the store we went…

Now it was time to make the dough! This girl loves to get her hands dirty so she was very ready for all of the flour.

Like I said this is just how I made my dough. I’d love to go back and get a lesson from a chef in Europe but for now here is how we did it…

We were very excited to get all of the fixin’s for our pizza. She wanted cheese and tomatoes on hers. Don’t worry it only takes us twice as long in any kind of store because my social butterfly really needs to talk to…everyone.

what you do:

1. Add flour, salt, and yeast to Kitchen Aid and mix well.

2. Slowly add in water until well combined.

3. Cut dough into six pieces and form into rounds.

4. Drizzle with olive oil and cover for about an hour or so.

5. Sprinkle the counter with flour and keep pressing down until you have about a 10 inch pie.

6. Add your toppings and throw into the oven for about 5-7 minutes. These are small pizzas they don’t take too long.

How about her very satisfied chef’s pose here?

Colette went with a classic fresh mozzarella, parm, tomatoes, and spinach. She was very pleased with the her decision.

To recreate my French pizza, I brushed the crust with olive oil and garlic, then I used greens, cherry tomatoes, assorted olives, fresh parmesan and mozzarella. Was it as good as it was in Marselle? Nothing ever will be, but it was indeed very delicious!

To finish our girl’s pizza day, we of course had a little cheers! We had the best day, and I can’t wait to continue teaching The Kilgore Kids all about good food and their way around the kitchen.

Carbs don’t count today!

I hope you find yourself with a delicious slice in your hand on this fine Thursday!

It's National Deep Dish Pizza Day!

Let's get this straight right now. Myself, like the rest of the world I'm sure does not need any kind of reason to eat pizza. But it's National Deep Dish Pizza Day annnnd Wednesday. So today I'm showing you how to make one in a cast iron skillet.  

What you need:

- Pizza dough. I made mine but you can buy it too

- 1 tbsp oil

- Pizza sauce

-Cheese, I used fresh mozzarella and parmesan

-Anything else you wish to add to you pizza

What you do:

- Preheat your oven to 450

- Coat the cast iron pan with oil

- Push pizza dough into the pan

- Add sauce, cheese and toppings

- Put skillet in oven for about 17 minutes

When you take it out of the oven be so careful. Obviously it's very hot.

So I hope this day finds you wish some delicious pizza in hand!

xoxo