Pizza a la Lederman with Caesar Salad

Pizza is a bi-weekly staple in The Lederman Kitchen.  Lately, we have been working on perfecting a really tasty variation with ricotta, caramelized onions, mushrooms, garlic, prosciutto, and arugula.  Typically, we buy our dough at Whole Foods, but tonight was the second time that we made our own dough at home.  I used the KitchenAid Stand Mixer again which is quickly becoming my favorite new toy.  I know... it's so easy to buy dough, or to order a pizza and have it delivered for that matter.  Still, it's fun to make at home and not too hard at all.

Making the dough only takes a few minutes of actual prep time, but it does have to rise for an hour so you have to plan ahead a bit.  The dough keeps well in the freezer so it's definitely possible to make a big batch and freeze some for later.  

I found a great recipe on Food.com that is super easy.  For the dough:

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

This recipe is great because you just put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl.  To start, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Add the salt, olive oil, and first 2 1/2 cups of flour.  Using the dough hook, turn the mixer to speed 2 and mix for 1 minute.  Continuing at speed 2, add a little flour at a time until dough clings to dough hook and cleans the side of the bowl.  Continue to knead for 2 minutes (I ended up using just over 2 1/2 cups of flour.  

Grease a bowl with olive oil and place the dough in bowl, turning over a couple of times to coat entire dough with oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in warm spot for an hour until dough doubles in size, the top of the stove with the oven on is a great place to warm the dough (good reminder to preheat the oven to 500 degrees for the pizza).  

Since the dough takes an hour to rise, it leaves the perfect amount of time to caramelize the onions.  The key to good caramelized onions is to cook it slow and low.  Just slice and onion, add some olive oil to a pan on medium heat and add the onions.  

After cooking for a few minutes, turn the heat to low, and stir the onions every once in a while.  After a while (maybe 30-45 minutes the onions will have reduced by a lot, probably 90% and they should be golden brown and sweet.   Continue to cook on very low heat for a while longer if preferred.  I usually cook them for about an hour.

After the dough rises, just roll it out to the desired shape.  We have a pizza stone with is a great investment, but not necessary.  You can use a baking sheet just as well and roll out the dough into the appropriate shape.

I'm definitely not an expert pizza tosser, although I am trying to get better.  The key for me is a well floured board and the rolling pin.

I like a crispy pizza, so I usually place the rolled pizza dough on the stone, and bake by itself for a few minutes.  After maybe 5 minutes, take the pizza (just the dough) out of the oven and assemble the toppings.  First, drizzle on some olive oil and spread a couple of tablespoons of ricotta.

Next, add the onions.

Finally, top off with minced garlic and mushrooms.

Bake in a 500 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown and delicious.

Add some prosciutto after the pizza comes out of the oven

Then top the whole thing off with arugula.  I toss the arugula with a drop of olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper.

I also whipped up a quick caesar salad to go with our pizza.  If you don't have any croutons on hand take a few minutes to make some more.  Again, if you are buying croutons, stop...  Homemade are so easy and delicious.  

The caesar salad is just hearts of romaine, croutons, and the dressing.  For the dressing (half recipe since it's just 2 of us), use the food processor and combine:

4 anchovies

1 tablespoon dijon

1-2 garlic cloves (I always use more garlic)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix everything together in the food processor and then slowly drizzle in olive oil (about 1/2 a cup at the most).  

I was really surprised at how easy the dressing is to make and it's really good.  My caesar had a good kick to it from the extra garlic I added.  Top off the salad with some more Parmesan and pepper to taste.

It definitely takes longer than ordering a pizza, but it's always healthier and always delicious.