Rosemary, Leek & Potato Pizza

The idea for this potato pizza was birthed in Edinburgh, Scotland. My son and I stayed there a couple of days while traveling across the UK.

It was cold and rainy one day while we were walking about so we went in a diner to get warm and enjoy a hot meal. I had the most delicious potato and leek soup.

A couple of days before, when we were riding the train to Edinburgh, I saw an article about a pizza made with fennel. I don’t remember the other toppings, but when I tasted the potato and leek soup, I envisioned a potato, leek and fennel pizza.

That combination had been swirling around in my head for months, but when I got ready to make the pizza, I did some research and found Potato Rustica, which is made with rosemary. My potato, leek and fennel pizza transformed into a potato, leek and rosemary pizza mainly because I have fresh rosemary growing in my herb garden.

I used most of the toppings from Potato Rustica, but my version is not made with the typical Potato Rustica dough. My potato pizza dough is made with spelt and semolina which gives it a really crispy texture, almost like a cracker.

 

Potato, Leek & Rosemary Pizza Rustica

Makes: Two medium pizzas

I used these sources as my inspiration for the toppings:

• http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Potato-Pizza
• http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/potato-pizza/

Toppings:

• 3 medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, sliced thinly
• 1 Leek, washed and sliced
• 2 T. fresh rosemary (or more to taste), chopped coarsely
• Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

 

Semolina/Spelt Pizza Dough

Inspired by: Peter Reinhart’s Country Pizza Dough 

Makes: Five 8 ounce pizza balls (I only used 2 pizza balls for this recipe so I froze the other balls)

Dough Ingredients:

• 12.75 oz. all-purpose Spelt flour
• 11.25 oz. semolina flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 T. Olive oil
• 1 1/2 T. Honey
• 1 1/2 cups warm water

Making the Dough:

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl and mix for one minute, using a Danish dough whisk, wooden spoon, or an electric mixer with the paddle (not the dough hook) to form a coarse, sticky dough ball.

Let the dough rest for five minutes, then mix again for one minute to make a smooth, very tacky ball of dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, rub a little oil on your hands, and fold the dough into a smooth ball. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and immediately place in the refrigerator. The dough can be used anywhere from 6 hours to three days after it goes in the fridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the dough out of the refrigerator two hours prior to when you plan to bake the pizzas. Divide the dough into five equal pieces.

Form each piece into a tight dough ball and place on a lightly oiled pan. Mist the dough balls with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap, or place the pan inside a large plastic bag.

Note: Give the dough balls at least 90 minutes to warm up at room temperature before making the pizza.

 

Preparing the Toppings:

I left the peel on my potatoes, but you can peel them if you like.  Then slice them very thinly. I used a sharp knife, but you’ll probably want to use a mandolin if you have one. The thinner you slice them, the better so they cook at the same time as the crust.

Transfer the slices to a large bowl of ice water as you slice them. Soak the potato slices for 30 minutes to remove excess starch, then drain in a colander. Repeat soaking and draining process 2 more times. Place the colander over a large bowl. Toss potatoes with 1/2 tsp. salt and set aside to let drain for 10 minutes.

Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl. Add onions and 1 tbsp. of the oil, toss well, and set aside. I added the rosemary at this point, but you can wait until you top the pizza if you prefer.

 

 

Baking the Pizzas:

Preheat oven to 450° F. and place a baking stone on the middle shelf of the oven.

Take a dough ball and place it on greased parchment paper. Using your hands, gently flatten and spread out the dough into a very thin rectangle. (The dough will shrink back a bit each time you spread it out, so let it rest or "relax" for 5 –10 minutes each time after you've spread the dough out as far as it will go.)

Brush the dough with 2 tbsp. of the oil. Evenly spread half the potato–onion mixture over the surface, leaving a 1" border around edges. Season to taste with salt, drizzle remaining oil over it, and sprinkle with half the rosemary (if you didn’t add the rosemary to the bowl with the potatoes).

 

 

Slide one pizza (on the parchment paper) onto the preheated baking stone. Bake until the crust is crisp and dark golden brown around the edges and potatoes are golden brown, about 20 minutes. I baked the pizzas one at a time and removed the parchment paper part way through baking.

While the first pizza is baking, top the other pizza with the remaining potato mixture. I parbaked the first pizza before adding the toppings, but it was a little too crispy so I didn’t parbake the second pizza.

Transfer pizzas to a cutting board and serve hot or at room temperature.

 

We enjoyed our pizza creation on New Year’s Eve.  My son ate it as an appetizer.  I ate it as a meal.

Edinburgh was one of my favorite places.  Now we have a special pizza/flatbread to bring back those memories.

This is one of the views of the city from Calton Hill.

 

This is a view of the streets of Edinburgh at dusk.

 

Happy New Year!

Cathy

Spelt Pizza on the Grill

Last weekend, I visited a friend who had never tried grilled pizza. It just so happened, that I needed to make some pizza for the Grain Mill Wagon Challenge so he was the lucky recipient of Margherita Spelt Pizza on the grill.

 

The dough for this pizza is made completely with Spelt flour. I used a mixture of all-purpose Spelt flour and whole grain spelt flour that I milled in my grain mill. I also added some herbs to give the dough a boost in flavor. I had tried this with the Pepperoni Braid I made a few months ago and it really made a difference.

For the toppings, I used fresh tomatoes and basil from my garden, and fresh mozzarella. I also added some pizza sauce and Italian herbs. It was a delightful combination and my friend really enjoyed it. In fact, he liked it so much that he graciously accepted the leftover pizza.

I used his gas grill which is a little bit different from mine but it was really easy to use. He got the grill going and then sat back and watched me do my thing. That was fine by me. When I’m in my zone, I’m all over the place preparing the dough, taking photos, dancing around and you get the picture. It was probably best that he stayed out of the way. 

I brought my pizza stone, but it didn’t fit on his grill (because I brought the round one instead of the rectangular one) so we decided to grill the pizza directly on the grates. This is actually the way you are supposed to do it, but it’s tricky if you don’t have a work space near the grill. He doesn’t so I placed the pizza on parchment paper and transferred it to the grill with my pizza peel. Now if you’re more proficient with a pizza peel than I am, you probably could transfer it directly from the peel to the grates without the parchment paper. I haven’t quite gotten the hang of that (the dough always sticks to the peel) so I grilled the pizza (on the parchment paper) on the grates for a few minutes, then I removed the parchment paper to get the nice grill marks.

If you want to learn more about this grilled pizza, check out my Making Pizza Margherita on the Grill post on the Grain Mill Wagon.  This was my final post in the challenge. I had a lot of fun.

 

 

Happy Grilling!

Cathy

Spelt and Rye Pizza for Company

This month’s Bread Baking Day is hosted by Ninive from Ninivepices - Music, Dreams and more. The theme for BBD #59 is Bread for Company – Brot als Begleitung. What a great theme!  I think almost any bread would be good for company, but one of my favorites is Pizza. It’s an easy, self-contained meal that’s a breeze to make and tastes so good. What’s not to like about that?

Spelt has become one of my favorite grains to work with and pizza is one of my favorite dishes so putting the two together seemed like the natural way to enjoy a tasty and healthy meal.

I made pizza for company twice this month. The first time was on Mother’s Day Weekend when I got together with my mom and sisters to celebrate. For this event, I made a Spelt-only version because my mom enjoys ancient grains.

I brought the dough (along with my pizza peel, cutter and baking stone) to my mom’s house and my sisters brought the toppings and salad ingredients. My oldest sister likes ground beef on her pizza, so we topped one pizza with ground beef and onions and lot’s of mozzarella and feta cheese. The other pizza was topped with green and red peppers, red onions and more cheese.  I didn’t take a photo but we enjoyed them both.

The second time I made this pizza, I changed it up a bit to include some rye flour. My oldest son and I enjoyed this version topped with pepperoni, onions, peppers, mozzarella and feta cheese. I rolled the pizza dough really thin because my first taste testers (mom and sisters), determined that this dough tastes better crispy and thin, sort of like a whole wheat cracker with yummy toppings on it.

 

Spelt and Rye Pizza Dough

Makes: 2 Pizzas

Adapted from: Spelt Healthy! by Marsha Cosentino, M.A.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon instant dry yeast *
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 - 2 1/4 cups Whole Grain Spelt flour, additional for sprinkling
• 3/4 cup Whole Grain Rye flour
• Scant teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Pizza sauce (I used Spicy Pizza Sauce)
• Your choice of toppings

* I used less yeast than the original recipe called for because I let it bulk ferment for a couple of hours instead of the original 30 to 40 minutes to develop the flavor.  1/2 tablespoon may still have been a bit much. I think 2 teaspoons would probably do the trick.

Directions:

1) Mixing the Dough

In a large bowl, whisk together the rye flour and 1/2 the spelt flour and yeast. Add the warm water and mix well using a Danish dough whisk or a large wooden spoon.  Add the oil, salt and the rest of the flour in 1/2 cup increments and work the dough until it is manageable.  You can use a stand mixer to mix the dough, just make sure you use the lowest setting with a dough hook and only mix for about 90 seconds.  With spelt, you want to make sure it’s not over mixed.

 

2) Kneading the Dough

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it gently to form a smooth dough. Sprinkle additional spelt flour over it as necessary.  Form the dough into a ball.  Place it in a clean bowl greased with olive oil.  I just washed out the same bowl and reused it.

 

3) Bulk Fermentation

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place, about 70–75 degrees F., for 2 –3 hours.  Or, if you’re short on time, let it proof in a draft-free place, at 80-85 degrees F. until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready by inserting a finger into to the top of the dough.  If an indentation remains when you remove your finger, the dough is ready to use.

 

4) Shaping the Pizzas

Gently deflate, then remove the dough from the bowl using a rubber spatula. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured or oiled surface and divide it into two pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball and place them onto separate pieces of parchment paper sprayed with olive oil. Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and let them rest for 15 minutes while you get the toppings together.

 

5) Preparing the Pizzas for Baking

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. with a baking stone on the bottom rack. Let the stone preheat in the oven for at least 30 minutes.

Using greased fingers, spread out the dough into a round, oval or rectangular shape, depending on the size of your parchment paper and baking stone. I used my rectangular baking stone so I shaped my pizzas to fit it.

 

6) Baking the Pizzas

Brush the dough with olive oil and parbake each pizza for a minute or so before adding the toppings. This will keep it from getting soggy on the bottom. Add your favorite sauce and toppings, then bake the pizza until the cheese is melted.  I rolled my dough really thin so it burned in a couple of places, but it still tasted great.  We just broke off the burned spots.

 

7) Cool the Pizza, Slice and Enjoy!

Let the pizza cool for a few minutes, then slice and enjoy.

 

I enjoyed participating in Bread Baking Day #59 – Bread for Company.  Thanks to Ninive for hosting the event and for Zorro for creating this monthly baking

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Spelt Bread and Pizza: HBinFive

The second bread in the HBinFive April 1st Bread Braid, is Olive Spelt Bread. I don’t particularly like olives so I omitted them.

I made a free-form artisan loaf.  However, once I tasted it, I realized this dough would make great sandwich bread.  The addition of yogurt makes it very moist and delicious! I also like that it’s made with mostly spelt flour. 

 

Spelt Bread with Yogurt

Adapted from: Healthy Bread In Five Minutes Olive Spelt Bread by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

This recipe is easily doubled or halved.

 

I used a mixture of KAF all-purpose flour and spelt flour that I got from the farmer’s market.  I couldn’t find plain yogurt the day I went shopping so I ended up using low-fat vanilla yogurt.  It added a little sweetness.  I liked it!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups spelt flour
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 2 cups plain whole milk yogurt (or nonfat)

 

Directions:

1. To make the dough, whisk together the flours, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a large bowl. 
2. Combine the water and yogurt and mix them with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon or Danish Dough Whisk. 
3. Cover and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours. 
4. Refrigerate in a lidded container and use over the next 7 days.
5. On baking day, dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound piece.  Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.
6. Allow the dough to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, on a pizza peel prepared with cornmeal or lined with parchment paper for 90 minutes.
7. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, with a baking stone on the middle rack and an empty steam pan underneath.
8. Just before baking, dust the top with flour and slash the loaf diagonally with 1/4-inch-deep parallel cuts, using a serrated knife or lame.
9. Slide the loaf directly onto the baking stone.  Pour 1 cup of hot water into the steam pan, and quickly close the oven door.  Bake the loaf for about 35 minutes, until richly browned and firm.  Remove the parchment paper about two-thirds of the way through the bake to ensure the bottom is browned evenly.
10. Allow the bread to cool on a rack before slicing or serving.

 

I really liked the flavor of this loaf.  I tested it with my trusty peanut butter test and it passed with flying colors.  I didn’t take a photo of the slice with peanut butter on it.  I just ate it!

 

This bread also tastes good toasted and spread with Carrot Marmalade.   

 

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Spelt Pizza with Pesto and Pine Nuts 

I also made pizza using the Spelt Bread dough.  I wasn’t sure how this dough would work for pizza, but necessity is the mother of invention as they say.  The evening I decided to make this, my son had a track meet and when we got back, I wasn’t up to making anything time consuming for dinner.  I already had this dough fermenting in the refrigerator so I decided to use it for pizza.

 

To make the pizza, I spread the dough out as thin as I could with my hands and shaped it into a round pizza.  Then, I parbaked it on the baking stone for about 7 – 10 minutes.

 

 

Then, I added some pesto and pine nuts.  I didn’t have much in the way of toppings in my refrigerator except pizza sauce and pepperoni and I wasn’t sure if that combination would taste right with this dough.  So I opted for the pesto and pine nuts instead.

 

Then, I sprinkled shaved parmesan cheese over the top.

 

 

And baked it until the cheese was melted.

 

Then I ate it!  It had an interesting flavor but I enjoyed it.

 

I think some grilled chicken would be good with this, but the pizza was good as is. My taste tester liked it as well.  I sent some home with him for lunch, but he ate it for breakfast instead. ;)

I definitely think the spelt dough is a keeper.  I have some spelt grains that I plan to mill into flour. I think this is the perfect bread to experiment on. This one and the Pesto Pine Nut Bread.

 

This Spelt Bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the roundup.

 

Thanks for joining me in the bread-baking blog.  Check out the blog BigBlackDog to see the April 1st Bread Braid roundup.

Happy Baking!
Cathy

 

About the HBinFive Baking Group

The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, is baking through all of the breads in the  Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book. For more information on the new HBinFive baking group, check out Michelle's blog.