Evening folks,
it was an absolutely beautiful day here. Perfect, skies blue as cornflowers ( which was the color of my Grandmother Laura's eyes - RIP) and temps in the mid 70's. The only annoyance were the bugs which have come out early and in force but a couple pf spritz's of bug spray dealt with that. On top of continuing Spring cleanup chores, I tried to do something to contribute more than just extra pounds to the forum readers here and did an in depth test of my new lightweight 100w flexible panels and 299 ah power pack. I'll post that tomorrow - too pooped to do two posts tonight.
I've been eating way too much fatty stuff for a couple weeks now (perhaps to compensate for a lot of additional physical activity with Spring in the air) this is in addition to the regular hour of exercise I do every day. I really needed to come up w something a little lighter than FRIED POKECHOPS! So, I went through my refer (it's Sun anyway - time to cleanout everything) and found lots of bits and pieces of leftover fresh veggies that needed to be used. Tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, peppers, etc. I decided that this called for a roasted veggie pizza (no meat) with a fresh tomatoe sauce on a whole wheat crust.
Making pizza is something I learned while helping out at my first wife's dad's pizza restaurants. He co owned a number of them along with 1 flagship store that was his. He made a LOT of pizza's (and money) and I often pinch hit as a manager while going to the University of Arkansas after I retired (Razorbacks!). In fact, the pans I use today were uhhhhhh - "borrowed" from him at that time (OK... I stole em - fair and SQUARE). They are like well seasoned cast iron pans and nothing sticks to them. I treasure them and will pass them on to my son when he settles down.
Pizza is really simple to make, folks get the feeling that they're some alien food that needs to made by specialists. Au contraire mon fryerr (that's FRENCH). All pizza is is a bread crust underneath a few toppings - which can be pretty much anything. Think of it as Hotdish casserole on a crust. Total time elapsed to make a gem of a pie that would run 25 bucks in a store is about min hands-on. First you get the crust started. For this pizza I wanted a hearty crust to compete with the highly flavored roasted veggies so I went with a combo unbleached white and whole wheat (2 cups w, 1 of ww). Add 1.5 tsp kosher salt, 1.5 tsp sugar (to start the yeast), a glug of EVOO, knead for 5 min, ball up, oil it, let stand in a warm place to double ~ 1.5 hours. A stand mixer really helps but you can totally do this by hand on a baking sheet (which is what I use to simulate the space Van Dwellers have in their rigs). When risen, punch down and let rise another 45 min. I save half for the next day to use in something else.
Next, roughly chop all your leftover veggies, and toss with salt, pepper, and some EVOO. Put in a 300 degree oven and let roast for ~ 1.5 hours. Toss a couple of times while in the oven. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees when the veggis are done. Yank out your dough, and form it in a rough circle - does NOT need to be perfect. Use a handful of flour to keep from sticking, or, as in my case, cornmeal baking mix to give the crust extra texture and crunch. Toss it on a pan (The $3 pizza pan at WM works great). cover it w your cheese (do this first, most home type ovens - especially RV type - don't get hot enough so this compensates for the wet sauce on the dough and keeps it from getting soggy. Dollop on your sauce. Nothing special, a good quality can of crushed maters w some EVOO, S&P, basil, oregano,and garlic powder. Hint: If you have that True Lemon dehydrated lemon juice - add a 1/4 tsp to the sauce to replace the acid lost during canning - punches it up
Dollop tablespoons of the sauce on top and then add the ingredients - in this case, roasted veggies, briny Kalamatas to contrast w the richness of the veggies, dust w oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and parm. Stick it in the oven for 5 min, then turn the pie and let it go another 5 min. Check the bottom of the crust and if it's not a golden brown, leave another 2 min. Turn on your broiler and broil the top till golden and bubbling (keep your eye on it!) - about another 2 min. Times may vary due to different ovens, you'll have to SWAG it. This is where the artisanship comes in. Pull it out, let cool for 3-4 min before slicing. There ya go! Hot, healthy, and cheap! Way better than that Domino's and PH stuff (yuck). Did I mention the cheap again? This pie cost maybe $1.50 in ingredients and overhead. Try to match THAT at "Alfredo's Pizzeria"!
I hope all of you are setting down to a nice supper with great company - even if it's just your best buddy the dog (like me)!
Cheers!
(P.S. The site is doing that non secure thing again so I'll post the pix from another browser.
Hope you feel better today. First or 2nd ***?
