So the day was filled with watching football, more football and we love to munch while we watch football.  So I thought lets make a margarita pizza!  I had never made one of these before; but used to order it all the time when I frequented an Italian restaurant back in the Midwest.

So I started with my old standby thin pizza crust recipe.

1 pkg.  yeast

1/4 tsp. sugar

3/4 cup water

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix the sugar, yeast and water (make sure this is warm enough so the yeast starts) let set for 10 minutes.  Then mix in the flour and salt.  Knead for 5 minutes and spread out on a pizza pan that has been lightly oiled.  Let the crust rest for 10 minutes before piling on the toppings!

I then took the tomatoes about 8 and sliced them really thin.  I gave them a sprinkle of kosher salt so they would “sweat” out some of their juice!  I don’t like a soggy crust!  I then took the tomato slices and placed them in a colander to drain off the liquid.

While the tomatoes were sweating, I lightly rubbed the crust with olive oil and then minced 3 cloves of garlic on top.

The next step was carefully placing the sliced tomatoes on top of the crust.  Go ahead and place them all the way to the edge of the crust.

Then I took a 1/2# of fresh mozzarella chesse that I bought with the intensions of making caprese salad and placed that on top of the tomatoes.  If you can buy the fresh mozzarella, it really is best for this pizza!

The final step is taking a lot of leaves of fresh basil and slicing them into ribbons and sprinkling over top.  Then I didn’t think I had enough cheese so I took a handful of fresh Parmesan and topped it off!

The trick to a good thin crust pizza is:  Move your oven rack to the lowest shelf and preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Bake the pizza for about 10 minutes on the bottom rack then move it to the top rack and broil for about 2-3 minutes or until the desired amount of browning is done!

Let the pizza rest for 5 minutes before slicing!  Pour yourself a glass of vino and enjoy!

I am still deChristmastising the refrigerator after the holiday get togethers; trying to use up those odds and ends of things.  This is what I came up with ~  had one too many slices; but don’t feel guilty about eating it as it was loaded with veggies, lean chicken and not a lot of cheese!

If you look back on a recent post called “now that’s a pizza pie“  you can find the quick and easy recipe for a great thin and crispy pizza crust.

Then I took the lonely butternut squash that has been sitting in the pantry for quite sometime, cut it in half lengthwise, left the seeds in, put it flesh side down on a aluminum foiled jelly roll pan and roasted it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.  Pulled it out, carefully removed the skin and seeds, let it cool for 15 min.  then thinly slice.  I think that butternut squash is one of the best winter squash you can eat!  I would describe it on the same order as a sweet potato, just a little firmer!

I’ve got my crust spread out on the pan, I brushed a little olive oil on top of the dough.

Next, I had some tomatoes that were looking a little shriveled…so I sliced them up placed them on the crust. If you don’t want to use fresh tomatoes, I would suggest just taking a can of tomato sauce as store bought pizza sauce has quite a bit of sugar!

Next, I had some Grilled Lemon Chicken Breasts left over from Sunday night.  I took and shredded one of those put that on top of the tomatoes.

Then I placed all of that sweet, roasted squash on top.

Then I found a half of container of pre made basil pesto….  I just dolloped that all over the squash.  This made the pizza!

No pizza would be complete without cheese; but then I remembered that I was on a diet so I just took about 1 cup of low fat shredded mozzarella cheese and sprinkled on top. ( I also added some left over Brie just to use it up)

Then baked it at 500 degrees on the bottom rack of the oven for about 10 minutes.  If you think that the top should be a little more golden, just move the pie to the top rack and med. broil for 2-3 minutes!

It was delish!

Here is the recipe…I always make a homemade crust; I think for this recipe it is imperative to use a thin crust!

THIN & CRISPY PIZZA DOUGH:

.25 packet active dry yeast

1/4 tsp. sugar

3/4 cup 110 degree water(if you’re not sure about how yeast works, see the “there’s nothing like a ham sandwich post”)

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine the yeast, sugar and water in mixing bowl.  Let rest for 8 minutes to let the yeast start working.  Add the flour and salt.  Mix well by hand or use a stand mixer w/dough hook.  Let set for 10 minutes covered with a towel.  Lightly spray with cooking spray a 12 inch pizza pan, stretch the dough out and top as desired.   Preheat oven to 500 degrees and move oven rack to the lowest possible rack.  Place pizza in oven and bake 8-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

First of all, take a julienne peeler or a potato peeler and “peel” your asparagus (about a 1/2 #).  Place on a sheet pan and toss with 1 T. of olive oil.  Bake at 450 degrees for 5 minutes or just until slightly brown.  Set aside.

Then prepare red bell peppers and onions for carmelization.. (I always make a large batch to make it worth the while.  On this pizza, I only use about 1 1/2 cups.

CARAMELIZED ONIONS & PEPPERS (this will make a large batch; but I make the whole batch as they are great on burgers, in stews and soups)

Heat in a very large skillet over medium heat until the butter is melted:

3T. real butter

3T. olive oil

Add:

3 #’s of very thinly sliced onions (can be red, white or yellow)

4 very thinly sliced red bell peppers (can be red, yellow, orange or green)

Sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsp. salt

Cook, stirring constantly, 15 minutes.  Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are soft and brown, about 45 minutes.  If the residue from the juices has built up in the pan, add:  1/2 cup white wine or water (wine is best).  Stir to scrape the pan to dissolve the browned bits.  They will immediately mix into the veggies, darkening them further.  Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Now you are ready to assemble the pizza!

On your pizza crust, brush 2 T. or so of olive oil.  Crush 1 clove of fresh garlic over olive oil and spread out evenly.  Now sprinkle 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese and 2 oz. of goat cheese over dough.  If you are unfamiliar with goat cheese, it is really good!  Click on the link and that particular site will give you great ideas on how to use goat cheese!

Now you can place your browned sausage, carmelized onions/peppers, sun dried tomatoes** and top with asparagus.  Sprinkle another cup of mozzarella cheese over that and bake at 500 degrees on the lowest oven rack for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

**I get these dandy sun dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil at Costco.  They are a staple at our house!  We put them on salad, mix them with a block of cream cheese for a great cracker spread, throw them on pizza, put them on top of a burger or sandwich or just eat them out of the jar!  Check them out!!  You won’t be disappointed!

I love pizza!  I think it should be a separate food group.  Growing up with my parents owning a grocery store; on Friday nights after they closed the store my brothers and I could each pick out our own frozen pizza and my dad would bake a whole pizza for each of us in his big convection oven.  He could bake 5 pizzas in 12 minutes!  I guess we were a little spoiled…

As I got older;  those “cardboard” frozen pizzas just weren’t cutting it anymore.  I tried the canned pizza dough that you roll out, really didn’t like that.  I then tried the packet of flour that all you had to do is add water – didn’t like that because I would load up the pizza with so many toppings that the crust was always soggy.  I then tried making whole wheat pizza dough…that almost broke a tooth.  Then I found this wonderful crispy, thin crust recipe at Robbie’s Recipe Collection  I am not a food scientist; but I think that the reason this crust works so well is that you are baking it at 500 degrees and baking it on the lowest rack in your oven.

THIN & CRISPY PIZZA DOUGH:

.25 packet active dry yeast

1/4 tsp. sugar

3/4 cup 110 degree water(if you’re not sure about how yeast works, see the “there’s nothing like a ham sandwich post”)

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine the yeast, sugar and water in mixing bowl.  Let rest for 8 minutes to let the yeast start working.  Add the flour and salt.  Mix well by hand or use a stand mixer w/dough hook.  Let set for 10 minutes covered with a towel.  Lightly spray with cooking spray a 12 inch pizza pan, stretch the dough out and top as desired.   Preheat oven to 500 degrees and move oven rack to the lowest possible rack.  Place pizza in oven and bake 8-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

NOW FOR THE SAUCE:

I always used a jarred, store bought sauce; but a few years back when I had tomatoes ripening every day in my garden, I discovered this wonderful, wonderful sauce mix.

It is hard to grow tomatoes in Arizona, so I just go to the farmer’s market’s and buy vine ripened tomatoes and I get the same results.

This is a good project as it takes most of the day; but it is so worth it!  Makes your pizza taste divine!

The mix is made by Mrs. Wages, you can click here and you can order some to try out for yourself. 

All you need to make 5 pints is:

1 packet of Mrs. Wages pizza sauce mix

5 T. granulated sugar

6 #’s fresh tomatoes

You can find the directions by clicking the link.  What I found is that I put the prepared sauce in 1/2 pint jars, this is just enough for one 12″ pizza.

NOW FOR THE TOPPINGS:

My philosophy is the more the better…even if you are using this thin crust, it will still stay crispy!

At our house, we like to caramelize our onions and red bell peppers before placing them on the pizza.  Trust me you will never want to eat plain onions and peppers again.

CARAMELIZED ONIONS & PEPPERS (this will make a large batch; but I make the whole batch as they are great on burgers, in stews and soups)

Heat in a very large skillet over medium heat until the butter is melted:

3T. real butter

3T. olive oil

Add:

3 #’s of very thinly sliced onions (can be red, white or yellow)

4 very thinly sliced red bell peppers (can be red, yellow, orange or green)

Sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsp. salt

Cook, stirring constantly, 15 minutes.  Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are soft and brown, about 45 minutes.  If the residue from the juices has built up in the pan, add:  1/2 cup white wine or water (wine is best).  Stir to scrape the pan to dissolve the browned bits.  They will immediately mix into the veggies, darkening them further.  Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

We like to put lots of different toppings on our pizza:  sausage, Canadian bacon, jalapenos, mushrooms, olives, pineapple and of course lots of cheese!

Well now that you’ve read this whole post, I hope I have made you hungry for homemade pizza…I know I am!

Cheers!!!