Lily’s Blog, Dragon Absconded!
Baking Until I Drop

Today, I made the best pizza I ever made. I think it even tops the time I made tomato sauce from scratch or roasted red peppers or used portabello mushroom caps as crusts (these may have been two distinct times and not three).

I was craving pizza and if you remember Chennette’s post on the pizza at Hotel Normandie:

well I was craving that pizza specifically. So, I finally dragged myself off to make pizza.

I needed a quick crust recipe as my pizza book is living in Saudi Arabia. A search of allrecipes.com found me this, which I modified slightly.

So, I made three different pizzas (pictures suck! when, Chennette comes home tonight, maybe she’ll take decent pictures of the slices. I made a grilled chicken and mozzarella pizza, grilled eggplant and feta and mozzarella pizza and a mushroom and cheddar and brie pizza. The crust was awesome and thin and crispy and the pizzas weren’t too heavy. I am amazed! :)

Crust Recipe
Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 cups white flour
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 F
2. Dissolve yeast and warm water in sugar and let it stand til creamy
3. Add flour, salt and oil and stir and knead until it comes together. Feel free to add some water if you need it
4. I let it rest for a half hour because I was doing other things
5. Roll dough out on a cornmeal dusted surface and roll out
6. Put crust onto an olive oil and garlic brushed pan and then brush with more olive oil and garlic if you want
7. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes

Pizzas

For the Chicken and Mozzarella Pizza, I seasoned chunks of chicken breast with garlic, mom’s green seasoning blend and olive oil. Then I grilled them in a pan. I used marinara sauce on the crust and a tablespoon of grated cheddar on top of that. Then I put the chicken and followed it up with a few ounces (maybe an inch cube?) of mozzarella cheese. After it was done baking (a bit too long), I grated some parmesan on it.

For the Grilled Eggplant, Feta and Mozzarella Pizza, I sliced up a baigan, marinated it in olive oil and garlic and then grilled it in a pan. I used about the same amount of cheddar on top of the marinara sauce, then layered the aubergine and then put about the same amount of mozzarella on the pizza on each slice of eggplant. Then I put some seasoned cubed feta on the pizza and baked it! :)

I had a third crust, so I made a Musrhoom, Brie and Cheddar pizza. This time we seasoned prego mushroom pasta sauce so it wouldn’t be…just…you know…kinda sour? I used more cheddar and then put the mushrooms on but mom and I thought it needed some more cheese. I really didn’t use alot. So we considered parmesan but I didn’t think it was right and then I remembered the brie. So, I used two triangles of wee brie.

And then…they came out.
And I cut them.
And…
oh my! Thin and Crispy crust.
Not too much toppings. Not too much cheese. Creamy brie. Feta! Eggplant! Chicken! Mushrooms! Garlic!

I am in heaven.

I think it came out really really great.
I’m shocked and amazed.

Soon, I will make that pizza margherita that I crave and it will be EXCELLENT!