Honey Ham and Fresh Pineapple Pizza

Honey Ham and Fresh Pineapple Pizza

Your Easter dinner was a success!

The guests ate and drank and ate and drank their fill of mimosas, honey glazed ham, twice baked cheesy potatoes, pineapple bread pudding, roasted asparagus, french silk pie and more peanut butter filled chocolate eggs than you can count.

Some of the leftover ham was sent home with your relatives, but there is still 3 pounds of the spiral cut beauty sitting in your refrigerator.  After ham sandwiches, omelets filled with ham, and split pea soup with ham, what will you make with all that ham?

Honey Ham and Fresh Pineapple Pizza is what will be for dinner tonight.  Flour tortillas stand in for the crust and are topped with a spicy marinara sauce, monterey jack cheese, diced ham and pineapple and a sprinkling of herbs.  A few minutes in the oven is all that is need to melt the cheese and crisp up the crust.

Your family will never know you are serving "leftover ham," and there is no need to tell them ;)

Honey Ham and Fresh Pineapple Pizza

serves 4

4 (9-inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup marinara sauce
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1 1/3 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
1 cup diced ham
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
dried oregano
dried basil
chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place tortillas on 2 large baking sheets.  Combine the marinara and barbecue sauces and spread about 2 heaping tablespoons on top of each tortilla.  Sprinkle 1/3 cup of the cheese on top of the sauce followed by 1/4 cup each of the ham and the pineapple.  Sprinkle with a little oregano and basil.

Bake in oven for 6 - 8 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly golden brown and the tortillas are crispy.  Let cool 2 - 3 minutes before cutting in pieces and sprinkle with the parsley.

Bowtie Pasta and Ricotta Pizza

Having grown up in Chicago, there are a couple hometown favorites that I make sure to have on trips back to the Windy City - Chicago-style hotdogs from Portillos and deep dish pizza from Unos. When I moved to New Jersey, I kept hearing how great their pizza was. Nothing compares to a double crust, cheese and sausage filled pie which have made Chicago famous. How could this Jersey pizza stand up to a Chicago institution?

I chuckled when I finally spotted my first oversized, thin crust pizza from my new hometown's local pizza joint. This is pizza?!! I'll have to eat 3 or 4 pieces to equal one deep dish slice. My hope for Jersey pizza was not very high. And then I spotted a pizza topped with ziti, ricotta, and tomato sauce. Now that looks like something I could dig my teeth into. It is a whole meal that could be held in one hand.

I set out to recreate the pasta pizza. My rendition is Bowtie Pasta and Ricotta Pizza which is a favorite of My Oldest. I cheated tonight and picked up premade pizza dough from the pizza joint. You can even find decent dough at the grocery store. I made a quick batch of marinara sauce, boiled up some pasta, and assembled the pizzas. 2 of us had the pasta pizzas while the other 2 ended up with plain pies. A very satisfying dinner. And a snap to make with a little help from you local pizza parlour.

Try it. You'll like it.

Bowtie Pasta and Ricotta Pizza

premade pizza dough or use this recipe
jar marinara sauce or homemade sauce
pasta - I used bowtie, but any shape will do, cooked and drained
mozzarella cheese, grated
ricotta cheese
fresh basil

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. If you don't have a pizza stone, use a heavy baking sheet.

Pinch off a fist sized piece of dough and roll it out very thin. I like to roll out the dough and then put it on a cornmeal dusted cutting board to make transferring the pizza to the oven easier.

Top the dough with a thin layer of the marinara sauce and then a layer of the pasta. Sprinkle with some of the mozzarella cheese. Drop heaping teaspoon-sized globs of the ricotta cheese on top of the pizza.

Bake until crust is nicely browned and the cheeses are bubbly about 7 - 10 minutes. Top with thinly sliced basil leaves.

Let cool slightly before cutting into wedges.

Flat Bread Pizzas ala Trader Joe's

I like shopping at Trader Joe's. If I was single and living by myself, I would love Trader Joe's. The store offers many funky items that are packaged for single people and they are not your run of the mill grocery store items. Where else can you find Mochi green tea ice cream, dark chocolate covered espresso beans, chipolte pistachio nuts, apple stuffed turkey breast and Pirate Booty all in one stop? I like just wandering the aisles multiple times. By the time I leave the store, they are glad to see me go because I look like I am casing the joint for a robbery. I probably read every label during my visit. It is kinda like a field trip for me.

On my last visit, I picked up a new product. I am not sure if it is new to the store, but it was new to me - I originally bought these flat breads to make wrap sandwiches. I made one with turkey, Gruyere, cranberry relish and romaine and had my fill of wraps. Not my favorite.

I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner a couple nights ago when I taped into my childhood memories. while most kids ran home from school to watch Gilligan's Island, I watched Julia Child on PBS. One of her favorite recipes was for Pissaladiere which is really an onion pizza. After all those years of watching Julia make it, I decided it was my turn to try. I don't own a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, so I went to my next best source - The Barefoot Contessa. I have made a few recipes out of her Barefoot in Paris cookbook. I have to say this is not my favorite of all her books. She does have a Pissaladiere recipe that I adapted and I liked the results. The pissa can be served warm or at room temp and would make a great holiday appetizer.

As for the reviews, The Husband was working late - no vote from him. Do you think that the three youngest taste testers in my house wanted to try it. "A pizza with no sauce, hardly any cheese, and all those onions? What are we going to eat?" You would think I was trying to starve them. "Have you checked the frig lately? I think you will find plenty in there to eat. Use your imagination." I am not a mean, ogre mom and forced my kids to eat my French pissa. I made them regular, old cheese pizza on the flat bread. My Oldest and My Middle One gave their pizzas the AOKAY. Who would not like crispy crust pizza covered in pizza sauce and mozzarella? Well, No Thank You Boy being the Pizza Connoisseur that he is said; "It tastes funny." I said, "It's just pizza. Eat it." I ended up eating half of his and he ate Honey Nut Cheerios. When he is off on his own, he will be calling me crying for that pizza.

Salute to Julia - Pissaladiere

adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe in her Barefoot in Paris cookbook

serves 1 - ME!

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium Vidalia or other sweet onion, sliced thin
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried
salt
pepper
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
sprinkle of parsley, chopped

One flat bread, mine was from Trader Joe's (you can also use a premade pizza crust or a tortilla)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat a large saute pan to medium high. Heat the olive oil and add the sliced onions.garlic, thyme, and a dash of salt and pepper. cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes or until the onions are soft but only lightly browned.

Spoon the onion topping on to the flat bread and top with the cheeses. Bake for about 6 - 8 minutes in the oven or until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle with parsley and cut in pieces. Enjoy!

If you were a kid, wouldn't you eat this??!!?

Deep Dish Pizza

Deep Dish Pizza

I'm talking about the kind you can only get in Chicago. Thick and gooey with loads of cheese and calories. After a weekend trip with my college roommates to Chicago, I thought it was only fitting to have a tribute to the best pizza in the country. We went to Bacino's and had a great pizza filled with mushrooms and spinach. I will give you my version which I think is pretty darn authentic. The key is a deep dish pizza pan. I have had my pan for about 15 years and it is good and seasoned. It gets better with each use. The recipe I use is an adaption of the one that came with the pan. It includes Parmesan cheese, egg yolks, onions, and melted butter.

Deep Dish Pizza

4 1/2 cups flour
1 TB salt
1 TB sugar
1 egg
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup dehydrated onions
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 package active fast-acting dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water and let sit for about 5 minutes in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add flour and salt and mix thoroughly. Add eggs, melted butter, onions, and cheese and mix for about 7 - 9 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 hour.

Putting it all together....

about 2 cups chunky marinara sauce
risen pizza dough
cornmeal
1 pound grated mozzarella cheese
any fillings you want -- pepperoni, sausage, vegetables, etc.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Divide dough in half. Roll out 1 piece of dough to a circle slightly larger than the pan. My deep dish is about 16 inches across. Sprinkle a little cornmeal in the bottom of the pan and lay rolled out dough in it. Spread about 3/4 of the cheese over the dough and any other fillings you want. It is best to precook and vegetables because it cooks out the water and keeps your pizza from being soggy.

Roll out the remaining dough the same as the first piece and lay it over the cheese and fillings. Roll the edges of the dough together to keep the filling from spilling out. Spread about 1+ cup of the sauce over the top of the pizza and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes until nice and golden brown. Let your masterpiece cool for about 5 minutes before cutting.

Serve with the remaining marinara sauce.

Thin Crust Pizza

I have been making my own pizza crust for as long as I have been making pizza. Growing up, my Dad would buy a pizza dough mix that was basically flour, yeast and salt and we would add oil and water. Once I figured out how easy it was to make, I have been working on perfecting my recipe.

I make thick crust, double crust and thin crust pizzas. Tonight's dinner was Thin Crust Pizza and I think it the best recipe to date.

chef tips for making thin crust pizza

The key was baking the pizza on parchment paper on a baking stone. It made it easy to roll the dough, get the pizza in and out of the oven, and there was no mess. I also made a quick sauce with canned crushed tomatoes, basil, and sauteed onions. I topped some of the pizzas with just mozzarella and the others with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. I also brushed the edge of the crust with olive oil and sprinkled it with some bread dipping spices. Here are the recipes I used:

Thin Crust Pizza -- makes about 6 (12-inch) pizzas

serves 6 generously

6 cups flour
3 1/2 teaspoons fast-acting yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/4 cups warm water

Mix flour, yeast, and salt in a standing mixer. Add in honey, olive oil, and water and mix until dough starts to come together. Remove from bowl and knead for about a minute or two. Add more flour if dough is too sticky. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover in plastic wrap and a towel. Let rise for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place a baking stone on a rack in the lower third or the oven. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Work with one piece at a time and form into a disk. Place dough onto a piece of parchment paper and roll out into a 12 inch circle. The dough should be really thin. Spread with a thin layer of sauce and top with mozzarella cheese or the toppings of your choice. Slide the parchment and pizza onto baking stone. Bake for about 8 - 10 minutes until lightly browned. Remove parchment and pizza from oven. I like to slice my pizzas in squares. Enjoy!!!!

Fresh Marinara or Pizza Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 can (28 ounces) Italian plum tomatoes

8 - 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onions in the olive oil until transparent, about 8 - 10 minutes. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or crush the with your hands.  Add the tomatoes and the remaining ingredients and simmer sauce for about 20 - 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.