Roasted Pepper Pizza n’ More

Its Friday!!!! Normally I would be overly happy but since this is school vacation week,  Friday means that its coming to an end. The school bags, lunch packs and uniforms will be back into existence before I know it. No more lazy mornings with second cups of coffee for this momma!

Well I have a lot to cover so lets get started! Today I decided to make my own pizza dough for a change. A few years ago my SIL, Jane and I took a bread baking class and one of the things we learned  how to make was pizza dough. Super easy, people, it’s simple to make and to work with! One of the things we learned was that when it comes to making any type of dough or bread, most things  get weighed and not measured. So if you have a kitchen scale pull it on out.

Pizza Dough

• 2 oz. warm water
• 1 tbsp. active dry yeast
• 14 oz. bread flour
• 6 oz. cool water
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 oz. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. honey

1. Stir the yeast into the warm water  and let it sit for 5 minutes so it can do its thing and get all bubbly. Next, add the flour.
2. Stir the cool water, salt, olive oil and honey into the flour mixture. Place dough in a stand mixer with dough hook attachment and let it knead for 5 minutes, until the dough comes off the sides and forms a ball.
3. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover. Allow it to rise for 20 minutes in the warmest part of your home. Next, punch the dough down and if desired divide into portions*. Roll out into very thin rounds or you can store it in the fridge for up to 2 days.

* This recipe yields one very large pizza,  2 regular pizzas or 8 individual pizzas

And there you have it! For tonight’s pizza I used one half of this dough recipe which makes 8 good size pieces.

Ready for the pizza recipe? Not so fast! hee hee For this recipe you will need a roasted pepper. I used a yellow pepper, you can use whatever color you want. Here’s a quick way to roast a pepper if you have a gas stove, if not well then you’ll have to roast it in the oven or buy a jar already roasted.

How to Roast a Pepper

Place your pepper directly on the stove over low heat. DO NOT walk away or get distracted in any way, i.e. cell phone. Trust me, I’m speaking from experience. That is all. lol

As the sides get nice and charred, carefully turn until all sides are done. Don’t be alarmed by the smoke or the “camp fire” smell, as Jordyn called it. It’s all good!

Now quickly put the pepper in a bowl and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Let it sit so the steam can do it’s work.

After about 20 minutes uncover and peel the skin off, it should come off very easily and leave you with a delicious sweet, roasted pepper. Mmmmm!

Now that we’ve got the star of our recipe ready lets get this pizza made!

Roasted Pepper Pizza

• 1 roasted pepper
• 1 medium red onion
• 6 cloves of garlic, 3 minced & 3 sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tbsp.  olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 3/4 cup provolone cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• pizza dough ( I used one half from the dough recipe from above)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out your pizza dough into a thin round. Slice roasted pepper, tomatoes and basil, place in a bowl. Slice onion into thin half moon slices and cook in a pan with the minced garlic over medium heat until onions are golden. Add onions and garlic to the bowl with the pepper mixture, add salt and pepper to taste.
2. With the same pan you used to cook the onions, add a touch more olive oil and toss in the sliced garlic for 1 minute. Drizzle the garlic infused olive oil over the pizza dough. Top with the provolone and mozzarella cheese, then add the pepper mixture.
3. Bake in oven until the crust is golden and crisp and the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle some feta cheese before serving.

Yield: 8 slices

This pizza was amazing or as we say in our house, “it’s a keeper”! The dough is thin and crispy, perfect to hold all those veggies. I love that its not all about the cheese with this recipe.  The sweetness from the peppers, onions and tomatoes really stand out and I love the little bit of saltiness you get with the feta!

Want to know what I’m making with the other half of the pizza dough?! I’ll give you a hint, it’s something sweet!

‘Night!