The popchips winner, a new look, and pizza

First of all, the winner of the popchips is Leanne!

Next, as you've probably noticed, the site has a new design. I want to thank my friends Jessica and Kristine for their help with the new photography and layout.

Finally, the pizza. When Kristine came over today to work on the site, we made some pizza for lunch. I made a batch of pizza dough from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and figured we'd come up with toppings based on the contents of my fridge.

We ended up topping the pizza with homemade pesto from the freezer, shredded fontina and parmigiano reggiano cheeses, yellow bell peppers and sliced asparagus. For baking pizza, I usually preheat my oven to 500 degrees - the longer it preheats, the better. When it's time to cook the pizza, I slide it onto a baking stone and lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees. I find that the pizzas are generally ready in about 15 minutes.

This was delicious, although I have to admit, it's hard to go wrong with homemade pizza!

Clean-out-the-fridge pizza

I love homemade pizza - it's so easy and a great way to use up odds and ends that you have on hand. Tonight's pizza was inspired by the contents of my fridge and freezer. I keep balls of pizza dough in the freezer for future use - all they need is to defrost for a day in the fridge and they're ready to go. This was the whole wheat pizza dough from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book. While I stretched out the dough, I preheated the oven to 500 degrees. On the dough, I smeared a few tablespoons of basil pesto and added half a can of drained diced tomatoes. I made sure the tomatoes were really dry so that I didn't end up with soggy pizza. Next up was the cheese - I added a handful of blue cheese, about 1/2 cup of crumbled feta and a very generous grating of parmigiano reggiano. For the toppings, I chose prosciutto, cooked bacon, artichoke hearts and piquillo peppers.

I assembled my pizza on parchment paper atop a cookie sheet. When the oven was ready, I slid the pizza, parchment and all, onto the pizza stone. I lowered the oven temperature to 450 and baked the pizza until the cheese was melted and crust browned, about 15 minutes. I wasn't exactly sure how this would turn out, given the strong, salty nature of the cheeses and toppings, but the ingredients melded nicely to make a delicious dinner!

Lunch for my grandma

My grandma was in town visiting this weekend. It's become a tradition that I cook her a meal each time she comes to visit. This time, I did a lunch that focused on springtime ingredients:

Baby spinach and mache salad with french radishes, peas, chive blossoms and pecorino romano

Pizza with fennel, oyster mushrooms, fresh mozzarella and truffle oil

Barefoot Contessa's coconut cupcakes

Roasted pepper, mushroom, olive and egg pizza

When we went to Pizzeria Mozza in LA, one of the pizzas we ordered had a soft cooked egg on top. At the last minute, I decided to try the same thing on the pizza I made last night. I cracked an egg in the middle of the pizza before I put it in the oven. Next time, I’d add the egg towards the middle of the cooking time, because this egg got a little bit overcooked. It still tasted good though. The pizza was also topped with fontina cheese, olives, sautéed oyster mushrooms, roasted peppers and oregano.

Roasted fall vegetable pizza

As you probably know by now, I make a lot of pizza. I was looking to do something a little different, and I came across this recipe for a roasted fall vegetable pizza. I have to admit, my husband was a little skeptical when I told him I'd be topping our pizza with roasted carrots and butternut squash, but it was really good! Instead of putting rosemary leaves on the pizza, I tucked rosemary sprigs around the vegetables as they roasted. Also, I used mascarpone instead of ricotta because I had it on hand. Aren't the colors of the vegetables pretty together?

Leek, mushroom and prosciutto pizza

My husband and I happen to really like leeks. They're very mild and sweet compared to a standard onion. For this pizza, I paired leeks with mushrooms and prosciutto. I topped the pizza dough with shredded fontina and parmigiano reggiano cheeses, and then added sauteed leeks and mushrooms, along with prosciutto strips. I baked the pizza on a stone at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. The combination of sweet leeks, earthy mushrooms and salty prosciutto was a real winner. I just used regular button mushrooms, if you wanted you could try something a little more exotic.

Pizza with salami, green olives and red onions

This was definitely a "clean out the fridge" pizza, although I will admit that I purchased fresh mozzarella specifically for this purpose. I started with my favorite pizza dough (from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook) and spread it with a layer of homemade tomato sauce from the freezer. Next, I added the fresh mozzarella along with light salami, sauteed red onions and green olives. I preheated the oven to 500 degrees and lowered the heat to 450 degrees after I slid the pizza onto the stone. I baked the pizza for 15 minutes and broiled the top for another minute or so to brown the cheese. The red onions were very sweet, and contrasted nicely with the salty green olives.

Pizza with bacon, oyster mushrooms and piquillo peppers

For this pizza, I started with pizza dough from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I made my own sauce by putting a can of San Marzano tomatoes in the blender with some salt and pepper. I reduced the tomato puree for about 20 minutes until it had a saucy consistency. I spread the sauce over the dough and topped it with shredded mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano cheeses. Next, I rendered some applewood smoked bacon in a pan. When the bacon was browned and crisp, I drained off all the fat except for about 1 teaspoon and added in the oyster mushrooms. The bacon and mushroom mixture went on top of the cheese with some piquillo peppers. I baked the pizza on a stone at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, and topped it with chopped parsley.

Bacon, corn and basil pizza

For this pizza, I layered monterey jack cheese, cooked bacon and white corn on pizza dough. Normally I bake my pizzas on a baking stone at 450 degrees. This time, I preheated the oven and pizza stone at 500 degrees, and when I put the pizza in the oven, I lowered the temperature to 450. It resulted in a lighter crust, I will bake my pizzas this way from now on. After the pizza came out of the oven, I sprinkled the top with fresh basil. The flavors were fairly mild, but the topping combination was unique and it was a nice change of pace.

Barbecue chicken pizza

For this pizza, I spread barbecue sauce over the dough and topped it with fontina cheese, shredded cooked chicken, roasted red peppers and corn. I baked it on a pizza stone at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. After it came out of the oven, I topped it with chopped fresh cilantro. My husband says that this is one of the best pizzas that I've made to date.

Pizza with pepperoni, pimentos and kalamata olives

Pizza is a favorite Friday night meal in our house. It comes together quickly and it's a good way to use odds and ends of meat, cheese and vegetables from earlier in the week. Tonight it was my favorite pizza dough (from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook) topped with leftover homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, turkey pepperoni, spanish pimentos and kalamata olives. I baked the pizza at 450 degrees on a pizza stone for about 15 minutes. I garnished with chives to add a mild onion flavor.

Pizza with sausage, artichokes and kalamata olives

I recently discovered that my local grocery store (Lunardis) makes their own turkey sausage. It's very good, and not at all greasy. I used it to top this pizza I made last night. I started with my favorite pizza dough (from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook) and topped it with shredded mozzarella, parmigianio reggiano, sauteed italian turkey sausage, artichoke hearts, and kalamata olives. I baked it at 450 on a pizza stone for 15 minutes. After it came out of the oven, I topped it with chopped parsley.

Pizza with broccolini, ricotta, bacon and caramelized onions

For this pizza, I started with dough from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. After I rolled out the dough, I topped it with ricotta cheese and parmigiano reggiano. On top on the cheese went a layer of broccolini (I blanched it first for about 3 minutes). The pizza was finished with cooked bacon and caramelized onions. I baked the pizza on a stone at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Meatball, caramelized onion and olive pizza

I always keep cooked meatballs in the freezer to have on hand. Tonight, I pulled some meatballs and pizza dough out of the freezer to make a quick dinner. I spread the pizza dough with plain tomato sauce (again, from the freezer) and topped it with shredded mozzarella, halved cooked meatballs, caramelized onions and black olives. I tried a new brand of mozzarella tonight made by Rumianos and it was really good! Much creamier than some of those rubbery balls of mozzarella that you normally find. I highly recommend it if your grocery store carries it. I baked the pizza at 450 degrees on a stone for about 15 minutes.

Pizza, two ways

My husband and I couldn't agree on pizza toppings tonight, so we each took a ball of dough and made our own pizzas.

Mine:

Pesto, feta, sauteed trumpet mushrooms and chicken apple sausage

Dan's:

Tomato sauce, colby jack, salami, chicken apple sausage, black olives, onions

Wild mushroom and prosciutto pizza

For this pizza, I sprinkled shredded fontina cheese on top of pizza dough, then I layered on sliced prosciutto and sauteed wild mushrooms. I used hen of the woods, oyster and yellow footed mushrooms, but other types would work just as well. After the pizza came out of the oven, I drizzled some black truffle oil over the top and garnished with sliced green onions.

Leek, bacon and ricotta pizza

I had a few kinds of cheese left over from last night's baked rice casserole, so I made pizza. I spread ricotta cheese over pizza dough and topped it with diced fresh mozzarella. Next, I layered on sauteed leeks and cooked bacon. I baked it on a pizza stone at 450 for about 15 minutes, and topped it off with parsley.

Mediterranean pizza

The sauce on this pizza is actually an eggplant puree. I roasted cubes of eggplant with some olive oil, salt and pepper at 425 for about 30 minutes. I pureed the eggplant with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar - you can add a little water to thin it out if you need to. I spread the eggplant puree on pizza dough and topped it with feta, roasted red and yellow peppers and olives. I baked it at 450 on a pizza stone for about 15 minutes. After it came out of the oven, I finished it off with some sliced green onions.
I pressed my eggplant puree through a sieve to remove the seeds before I put it on the pizza dough. It's optional, but it makes for a better consistency.

Meatball and pepperoni pizza

I assembled tonight's pizza based on the contents of my freezer. The pizza consisted of the following items from the freezer:

Pizza dough for a 12" pizza - I used the recipe in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. It makes enough for two pizzas, so I used half a few weeks ago and froze the other half. I defrosted the frozen dough and left it out for a few hours to come to room temperature. It baked up perfectly.

Roasted tomato sauce - my tomato sauce is loosely based on this recipe. I made a few batches at once and froze it in smaller portions.

Meatballs - loosely based on this recipe. I broiled the meatballs then froze them.

I also topped the pizza with mozzarella cheese, turkey pepperoni and chopped parsley.

Prosciutto and pesto pizza

I had a few small pieces of cheese in the fridge to use up, so I made a pizza. The pizza dough recipe I use is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. This recipe is very similar.

I spread 2 tablespoons of basil pesto onto the dough. I topped the layer of pesto with feta, asiago and fontina cheeses, as well as sliced prosciutto and roasted peppers.

I baked the pizza on a stone at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes. After the pizza came out of the oven, I sprinkled it with a chiffonade of basil.