Potato Pesto Pizza: That's Amore Part 2

This is one of our favorite pizza recipes. One winter day, about 2 years ago we raided the pantry and fridge and this pizza recipe was born.

POTATO PESTO PIZZA
1 LARGE potato, or 2 small- any kind will do, the butter potatoes are super good with this. Thinly sliced, as thin as you can get them.

1/4 c of sliced onion

1/4-1/2 c tomatoes - when grape tomatoes are in season we use those, romas are great too as well as whatever you have, canned or otherwise. If you use canned toms make sure to drain off any excess liquid.

1/2 c shredded swiss cheese

1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

crushed red pepper
freshly ground black pepper
maybe some fresh garlic if you are feeling garlicky



I use the bread dough recipe from the That's Amore post* but subbed one cup of Whole Wheat Flour for one cup of Unbleached. Turned out better and was very yummy.

Once the dough is ready to be placed in the oven I lay out the potato slices onto the dough. The potatoes take longer to cook than the other ingredients and we discovered this worked best for us. If you are using a ready-made dough that you just add toppings to, you will want to either saute the potatoes on the stove for about 7 minutes to soften them, or bake them with a little bit of Olive Oil in the oven on 350 for about 10 minutes or so.

Place the dough in the oven with potatoes for about 10 minutes at 425 degrees.

Remove dough from the oven and spread Pesto sauce over potatoes. Sprinkle some Crushed Red Pepper and Fresh Ground Black Pepper, if desired.

Spread cheeses evenly over pizza. Add tomatoes and onions and more crushed red pepper and fresh ground black pepper. Also, you can add fresh slices of garlic, if you like garlic.

Place in oven for 9-11 minutes, at 425 degrees, until crust turns slightly golden and cheese begins to brown a little.

Everyone we have ever made this pizza for, loves it. They say they go home and make it their own with their own special twist. Enjoy! That's Amore!

* I do not know how to create a link to a previous blog post. I have tried google-ing how to do this, but I can't figure it out. I am HTML-handicapped!

That's Amore!

We have perfected many a pizza recipe in our house, but the dough is another story. This is a new pizza dough recipe. I would like to try modifying it with whole wheat flour, rosemary, and flax seed. Stay tuned for the trials...

3 c unbleached flour
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c warm water
2 Tbsp canola oil or olive oil

1. Mix 1 1/4 cups flour with yeast and salt. Add warm water and oil. Beat with a whisk or a fork for 3 minutes. (After you are done beating switch to a large spoon, I used a wooden one) Stir in another 1 1/4 cups flour, or enough so the mixture will hold together. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead in 1/4-1/2 c more flour- stop once it's lump-free. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.


2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a lightly floured surface roll dough into a circle. I just used the same area I previously kneaded the dough on. I used my hands to spread out the dough into a large circle. I attempted to throw it in the air, this was extremely unsuccessful, but very entertaining for my boyfriend to watch. I own a 15" diameter pizza stone. If you don't have one, just use a regular pizza pan and grease it first. You might want to make 2 pizzas if you have a small pizza pan, or freeze half the dough for another time. This dough bakes up nicely and expands quite a bit in the oven. Build up the edges slightly and poke all over with a fork.

3. Bake about 8-10 minutes, then spread sauce and add toppings and bake for another 8-10 minutes or so. For toppings we used chopped fresh garlic, onion, green pepper, red pepper, freshly ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, mozzarella, and romano cheese.


This dough is thick, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.

This is another pizza dough recipe we have used many times. It is completely different than the one listed above.

WHOLE WHEAT PIZZA CRUST

2 c whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1 c warm water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1tsp honey
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Mix yeast, flour, salt, rosemary, basil, and garlic powder. Add water, oil, and honey; mix well. Cover and place in a warm spot for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 425. Punch dough down and roll into a circle with floured hands or floured rolling pin, place on greased pizza pan. For thin crust use 14" pan, for thick crust use a 10" pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove and add sauce and toppings, then bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted to your satisfaction.