Lesson 81: Pizza Party!

Today was definitely quite the pizza party! Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE pizza (both making it and eating it)?! Well, let's just say today's lessons was one of my favorites!

Remember the pizza dough we made on Friday? Chef Chris helped us out and punched it down for us over the weekend. Here is my group's batch after fermenting for the weekend:

We divided this massive blob of dough into 1 pound rounds and refrigerated them while we made our focaccia dough. The focaccia was fairly simple and took us no time at all to whip it up. We set our doughs aside to rise while we started on our PIZZAS.

Allison and I worked together to make our first pie: Pizza Margherita. Gotta love the simplicity of this pizza. Chef Chris was also kind enough to leave us some tomato sauce that he made (which is unbelievable) so we used this as a base to our pie. Next, we layered on fresh mozzerella and sliced tomatoes. We drizzled the top with a bit of basil/chili pepper olive oil and popped it into the piping hot oven (I'm talking 500 + degrees).

So, naturally I tried to toss my pizza dough in the air.... mmm.... not so good at it (but at least I didn't throw it on the floor... or on my head). I did get a couple of good throws in!

HOWEVER, I was not as good as Miss Emily! This girl should open up a pizzeria with her pizza tossing skills.. I was amazed!

After only 10 minutes, our first pizza was ready to slide out of the oven! I loved how fresh this pizza tasted with the simple ingredients and the crispy crust..yum!

After each group made an assigned classical pizza, we all worked on creating our own pizzas. Naturally, I immediately sauteed some veggies (mushrooms, spinach and onions) and made myself a delicious vegetarian pizza. I used Chef Chris's tomato sauce ...(I want to ask him what he put in this.. we'll see if I work up the guts to actually talk to him! He intimidates me..) I topped the pizza with goat cheese and a light sprinkle of parmesan. Now that's my kind of pizza!

Al made this massive calzone! How crazy good does that look?!

While we were finishing up our pizzas, we put together our focaccias. We also were given some freedom to do what we wanted with these focaccias. I love a simple focaccia with fresh herbs, so we just embedded some rosemary and topped it with a few sundried tomatoes and a sprinkle of salt. This focaccia was SO good! I've had focaccia that gets really dried out, but this one was so moist and flavorful. Here is ours before we put it in the oven:

Today was a great start to the week!!

Lesson 80: Bread & Pizza Dough

Yesterday was a wonderful day for many reasons-- it was another sunny, warm day, it was Friday, it was going to be an easy bread making day in the kitchen, and it's going to be a gorgeous weekend!

We started out the class by making 2 types of dough: soft bread dough and semolina bread dough. After these were done, they had to ferment and rise for about an hour. While our bread was rising, we got to work on our pizza dough (that we're going to use on Monday). Instead of working in pairs, we made huge batches in our table groups.

We had to use the extra large mixers:

We gradually mixed in the flour (very carefully so that it didn't get all over--one group had a little mishap with the flour and it showered all over them and the walls haha)

My favorite girls acting silly trying to scrape out the dough:

By the time the pizza dough was done, our bread doughs were ready to work with. For the soft roll dough, we made a variety of shapes. I made a simple 2-strand twist and a knot roll. I also made a bunch of "onion pockets", but most of them opened up in the oven :(

We formed loaves out of the semolina dough. Here is my loaf that I sprinkled with cornmeal:

After class I took advantage of the nice weather and went for a walk around the city. I sat in the park for a while and read/people watched.. it was wonderful. At 7:00 I headed to wine class to try some West coast wines! Here were my favorites:

Willamette Valley, Pinos Gris, Benton Lane 2008. $15; A great summer wine. Very light & fresh. I tasted fruity apple and green pear. It was a bit acidic, but very pleasant.

Chalk Hill (Russian River), Sauvignon Blanc 2006. $33; A heavier white; rich with a calm acidity

Columbia Valley, Riesling, 'Eroica', Dr. Loosen, Chateau Ste. Michelle 2008. $23; light, sweet, and acidic. This wine goes great with spicy foods.

Napa, Zinfandel, Chateau Montelena 2006. $30; Very round and juicy wine. I tasted wild berries with a hint of earthiness. This was my favorite wine of the night!

Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon, 'Georges de Latour Private Reserve', Beaulieu Vineyard 2006. (I left before he gave the price for this one); Very complex with vanilla and mocha flavors. There were hints of very dark berries and oak.

Time to go out and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Flat Out Pizza

Tonight I was only making dinner for myself, so I made one of my favorite quick and easy, healthy meals: Flat Out Pizza!  I loove flat out wraps, especially the italian flavored and sun dried tomato wraps.  I use them to make turkey wraps and pizza.  Here's the recipe I came up with while in college, and is my ultimate favorite flat out pizza! I make a lot of the spinach topping even if I'm just making one pizza because it's great to make omelets with later on in the week!

1 package of fresh baby spinach, washed OR 1 package of frozen spinach, thawed

1 sweet onion

1 T. coconut oil

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

salt & pepper

a few grates of nutmeg

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

pecorino romano

gorgonzola

italian seasoning

crushed red pepper

1 flat out wrap

Marinara/tomato basil sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large sautee pan, heat up the coconut oil over medium high heat.  Add the onions, salt and pepper, and saute until slightly browned and translucent.  Add the tomatoes and cook for another minute or 2.  Add the spinach and cook.  Add a little more salt and pepper, nutmeg and oregano.  

Place the wrap on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 8 minutes.  Top the wrap with tomato sauce, spinach/onion mixture, pecorino, gorgonzola, and italian seasoning.  Put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Serve and enjoy with some crushed red pepper on top for heat!