Cheese and Tomato Pita Pizza

Everyone loves homemade pizza but whether you make the pizza base from commercial yeast or sourdough/natural yeast it takes hours to get the pizza dough ready for use. And if you are a college student who wants home cooked food but are always short on time then you are looking for shortcuts. One option is to buy the dough from organic food grocery stores. The other is to use alternatives for a pizza base as I have here. I used Pita bread for a base. You can use English muffins or pretty much anything that is relatively flat and will hold its shape in the oven.

My daughter and I made this pizza so she could try it in her apartment at college. The plan is for me to help her make the sauce whenever I visit her. My pizza sauce recipe can be stored for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.

You will need
3 8" Pita bread
Pizza Sauce
Handful cherry tomatoes, sliced
Goat and cheddar cheese to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare the toppings. Slice the tomatoes. Crumble the goat cheese and slice the cheddar cheese. Place the pita bread on a baking sheet. I baked two at a time.

Add a ladle of pizza sauce to the pita bread.

Add the cheddar cheese and tomatoes.

Sprinkle the goat cheese over the top.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes until heated through and the cheese melts.

If the pita bread is thin like the one I used it will turn crispy. The taste is very different from pizza made with real pizza dough but is is delicious and you can put it all together very quickly. Enjoy!

This is my entry for week one, day three of BM #79 for the theme Pizza my way. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#79.

Three Cheese Pizza

My daughter is home for the summer. I am back to trying new things in the kitchen as she is willing to try anything I make. Unfortunately, not much has made it to the blog. Clicking pictures and making time to post to the blog has been an issue for me for the past year. After making several attempts I am back with some simple recipes. My goal is to keep posting recipes on 3 days at least 2 weeks of the month with a group of blogger friends. Two weeks back I posted trail mix and this week it is pizza.

Cheese pizza is an old favorite. This time I tried it with a new combination of cheese. This three cheese pizza brings together our new favorite goat cheese with mozzarella and cheddar. It is a very simple recipe and cooks in about 7 minutes on very high heat.

You will need
Pizza dough with my classic pizza recipe
Pizza sauce
Mozzarella, goat and cheddar cheese to taste

Follow instructions on my classic pizza recipe for the pizza dough.  Prepare the pizza sauce using my pizza sauce recipe.

When you are ready to make the pizza preheat the oven to 525 F. Slice the mozzarella, crumble the goat cheese and shred the cheddar. Once you transfer the pizza to the heated pizza pan, add the pizza sauce as the base.

Add the cheese - all of it. Place the pizza in the preheated oven for 5 minutes followed by two minuted under the broiler. 

Enjoy!

This is my entry for week one, day two of BM #79 for the theme Pizza my way. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#79.

Mediterranean Sourdough Pizza

Several months back we tried a new pizza place in town. We loved the toppings they used on their Mediterranean pizza and went back for more over the next few months. The last time we visited I noted down the toppings so I could try it at home. My goal was not to create a copy cat recipe but to use the same toppings with my classic sourdough pizza recipe. My family loves the taste of sourdough pizza and I am always looking for new ways to top it.

A close up of the toppings. Chopping up the olives into small pieces instead of slices gives it a whole new flavor. Use fresh olives instead of the canned ones. Adding garlic to this mix enhances the flavor. This is our new favorite.

During the week I fed the sourdough and mixed the pizza dough. By the time the weekend rolled around the dough was ready after a long rise in the refrigerator. We got fresh groceries from Whole Foods and were ready to go. I followed my classic recipe except for the addition of toppings. The end result was delicious.

You will need
Pizza dough
Follow my classic pizza recipe
Pizza sauce

Toppings
A handful Black olives
1 large tomato sliced to 1 inch pieces
~15 leaves of spinach, chopped
2 pods garlic minced
Sliced mozzarella, crumbled goat cheese and crumbled feta cheese to taste

Follow instructions on my classic pizza recipe for the pizza dough.  Prepare the pizza sauce using my pizza sauce recipe.

When you are ready to make the pizza preheat the oven to 525 F. Get all the toppings ready.

Once you transfer the pizza to the heated pizza pan, add the pizza sauce as the base.

Add the tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

Place the pizza in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.

Take the pan out and add the remaining toppings. Put it back int he oven for 2 more minutes followed by two minuted under the broiler. The pizza is done.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for week one, day one of BM #79 for the theme Pizza my way. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#79.

Raisin Chocolate Chip Granola

This was one of the trail mixes we took with us on our Alaska trip this summer. It was very handy when we went hiking. But it was also great after we went exploring around Anchorage downtown. I wanted to visit the Ulu knife factory about a mile away from our hotel and get an Alaskan Ulu knife for my kitchen. My experiments in the kitchen with that knife will be a separate post. My husband and daughter willingly walked through the light rain to get to the factory. It was a beautiful walk down the hillside, a river flowing at the foot of the hill and the factory close by. When we walked back to the hotel we enjoyed some hot chocolate/tea/coffee and this trail mix.

I made the Raisin Chocolate chip granola mix to try the new hemp oatmeal granola I found in the bulk bin at Whole Foods. It has a very light texture and I thought it would taste great when paired with something sweet or tart. Dried cranberries were an option but since this was to be taken on a trip I could not have anything sticky. I chose raisins instead and that was a great choice. I added the chocolate chips as I had some left over. You can leave them out and add some nuts instead.

You will need
1 cup granola
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients together.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for week one, day three of BM #79 for the theme Granola, Trail Mix & Bars for Travel. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#79.

Chocolate Chip Pistachios Granola

Hiking trails is something my family loves. When we visited Alaska this summer it was on the top of our list of things to do. Healthy snacks and water is always a part of a hikers day pack. Our pack was no different. Chocolate chip, Pistachios Granola was one of the mixes we took along. This mix was made to order for my daughter. The Granola is has a apple cinnamon flavor. The pistachios are roasted and unsalted.

On the way to Alaska we had a stopover in Phoenix. Our flight was delayed and we were stuck at the airport worried we would miss our connection. This trail mix was a good distraction. Most of it never made it to Alaska.

You could add other nuts or seeds to this mixture or add white chocolate chips. Make sure you use mini chocolate chips so they are the same size as the rest of the mix. My daughter loves malt balls in the mix but they are usually stocked in the low bins. We have seen kids reaching into the bins with their hands while their doting parents watch so we only get stuff from the high bins.

You will need
1 cup Apple Cinnamon Granola (Whole Foods bulk bins)
1/2 cup roasted unsalted pistachios
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients together and store until ready to use. You can change the proportion as per your taste.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for week one, day two of BM #79 for the theme Granola, Trail Mix & Bars for Travel. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#79.

Dates, Nuts and Seeds Trail Mix

When I began planning our family vacation to Alaska, I knew I would not have to worry about food on the cruise. But then we decided to spend some time in mainland Alaska and visit Denali, the tallest peak in the US. Bars and granola went on the list of things to take along. My daughter is very picky about these so we decided we would pick up whatever we liked the day before we left.

We made our way to the bulk bins in Whole Foods and put together ingredients for 3 trail mixes. This dates, nuts and seeds trail mix was the first. Sliced dates rolled in oatmeal flour, roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, roasted chopped almonds and pecans went into this mix. It was super tasty and made a great snack while we walked along the Nenana river near our lodge at Denali, outside the Denali National Park.

Denali National park is a wilderness area with a lot of wildlife. We had planned on walking the trails and expected to carry something to munch every time we stopped to rest. But then we were told that food attracts bears and some had been sighted close to the trails we were walking. We willingly left the food behind and used it instead when we walked the trails around our lodge.

You will need
1/2 cup roasted chopped unsalted almonds
1/2 cup roasted chopped unsalted pecans
1/2 cup slices dates rolled in oat flour (prevents sticky dates)
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
2 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

The recipe is really simple. Make sure all the ingredients except the dates are crunchy. If not roast them for a couple minutes on low heat and cool completely. Mix everything together.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for week one, day one of BM #79 for the theme Granola, Trail Mix & Bars for Travel. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#79.

Apple Challah

Last year I was on a long break from baking. It was not intentional. With my daughter off to college there is no one at home to eat my experiments. During one of her visits from college I broke the baking drought with this Apple Challah, a recipe I have wanted to bake ever since I saw it in a Facebook baking group.

Partially cooked apples are added to challah dough to make Apple Challah. The apples with a little apricot jam add a lovely flavor to the bread. You can make the dough as rich as you want with the addition of eggs and honey. Or you can keep it simple with a water challah recipe as I did.

I tried a cornstarch glaze but it did not give me the deep golden color I was looking for. After the bread was almost done I added a glaze of watered down apricot jam and that gave the bread the shine and the deep color I was looking for.

You will need
For the filling
1 apple
1/2 lime
1 tsp. apricot jam/preserve
1 scant tsp. cinnamon powder

For the dough
1 1/2 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. instant yeast granules
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. oil
1 1/4 cup warm water

For the glaze
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. apricot jam

First you want to make the dough. In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients for the dough followed by the wet ingredients. Combine to form a soft sticky dough. Knead well until the dough is soft and smooth. Cover and keep aside for an hour or until it doubles in volume.

During the last 10 minutes, Cut the apple in quarters. Remove the seeds and then cut into thin slices. In a small bowl add a cup of water and the juice of a 1/2 a lime. Add the slices and microwave for 3 minutes. Drain the water and keep aside. In a small bowl add 1 tbsp. of water and 1 tsp. of apricot jam. Mix well and keep aside.

Flour a working surface and transfer the risen dough on to it. Divide into two equal portions. Keep one of them aside.

With one of the portions: divide into two such that the small part is a forth of the whole portion. Roll the larger of the two parts into a disc the width of your palm and keep aside. Divide the smaller part into two again. Roll each of the parts into a long rope about 8 inches. Using a roller flatten the rope. Repeat with the second rope.

Brush half the apricot mixture on one of the flattened ropes. Place the apple slices on it and sprinkle with cinnamon powder.

Fold the lower half of the dough over the apple slices.

Starting from one side roll the dough and apple to form a flower. Secure with a toothpick if needed and let it stand. Repeat with the other flattened rope. Starting where you left off roll the second rope and apples around the first to form a large flower. Place this on the center of the disc and keep aside.

Now work with half portion of dough you had put aside. Divide it into 3 portions and roll each into a long rope of about 10-12 inches. Pinch one end of all three strands together. Braid the 3 strands like you would braid hair. Do not pull on the ropes or braid too tight. When done place the rope around the apple flower on the dough disc. Secure the ends by tucking one end under the other.

In a small bowl mix the cornstarch with water and brush on the bread. Keep aside for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 F while the bread proofs. Bake for 35 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. In a small bowl mix the apricot jam for the glaze with a 1 tsp of water. Remove bread from the oven and brush with the apricot mixture. Return to the oven for 5 more minutes to allow the bread to turn a deep golden brown.

Remove from oven an let it cool. Enjoy!

This is my entry for week one, day three of BM #76 for the theme Mother's day sweets. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#66.