Weekly Recipes: Pizza Night and Spring Pea Pasta

Happy Monday lovely people! I don’t want to spend too much time prefacing my recipe posts because, frankly, I find that super annoying on most blogs. *scrolling* *scrolling* *where’s the &*$# recipe?* You’ll find family story tidbits in the Weekly Meal Plan posts, and garden tidbits in garden posts. If I have something poignant to say, or a cute story to share, I may from time-to-time do that in recipe posts, but I promise to keep it brief.

To that end-here we go! We are big pizza fans in my household. We are under quarantine. While we can order delivery pizza, we all have conflicting feelings for lots of very good reasons ranging from ideological to economical. So, what’s a family to do that’s craving that delivery-style pie? Make it, of course! I love making pizzas and used to make them all the time. They were even a staple and diner-favorite on my old restaurant menu (though those pizzas were decidedly much fancier than these). If you’re missing delivery pizza, then this recipe nails our favorite local place. It makes for a fun Friday family movie or board game night. 🙂

Now, onto the food!

Homemade Delivery-Style Pizza
Yield: 2 large pizzas

Crust-
1/3 C olive oil
1 1/2 t sea salt
1 1/2 T sugar
1 1/2 T active dry yeast
1 1/2 C lukewarm water (about 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit)
about 4 C flour

Garlic Butter-
1/2 C salted butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Sauce-
2 14 ounce cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes (preferred but regular works, as well)
1 14 ounce can tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t dried oregano
2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried ground rosemary
2 T sugar
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 t black pepper
dash crushed red pepper

Toppings-
mozzarella cheese
any other cheese you like
pepperoni
and more!

Instructions:

Crust-
Heat water to 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour into a glass measuring cup and add sugar and yeast. Let set for 5 minutes, or until foamy.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the olive oil and sea salt. When yeast is ready, add to the bowl and mix in half the flour, using a rubber spatula (you can use the paddle, but the rubber spatula is just as simple for a quick mix and is easier to clean). When that’s incorporated, add the remaining flour, a cup at a time (you may need even more, depending on what flour you use), kneading it until the dough comes away from the sides and bottom of the bowl, but is still somewhat tacky to the touch.

Turn into a lightly oiled bowl and let rise, covered, at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Punch down and use a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to shape the dough. I do large ovals to fit into a rectangular baking sheet. You want about 1/4 inch thickness for a pan-style pizza crust, a little less for a thin-style pizza crust. Lightly oil the baking sheet and roll-up the crust onto the rolling pin to easily transfer it to the pan. Roll-up the edges of the crust to form the circular edge and pinch the seam down a little with a thumb or index finder. Prick the inner area of the crust with a fork several times to allow air bubbles to escape. Cover again and let rise slightly again, about 20 minutes.

Garlic Butter-
Melt the butter in a small skillet. Add the minced garlic and let saute 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

Sauce-
Combine everything into a bowl and set aside.

Assembly and Baking-
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the crust until almost done, about 10-15 minutes. If the center is not cooking to your desired crispiness, when it’s well-set you can remove it from the baking sheet and set it directly on the rack for a few minutes.

Remove from the oven and, using a pastry brush, brush the crust all over with the garlic butter. Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt and pepper over the garlic butter after you’ve brushed it on. Add your sauce to your desired level. Top with cheese and toppings of your choice.

Turn the oven onto broil on the high setting. Place the topped pizza into the oven and let broil for 2-3 minutes, then rotate it around and let it go another few minutes. Try not to let the crust burn. If this happens, you can move the pizza to the lower rack and reduce the broiler. You can also turn the oven off at a certain point and let the residual heat finish melting the cheese. You want melty, bubbly cheese and crackling pepperoni without, hopefully, overly burnt edges on your pizza.

Remove pizzas from the oven and use a spatula to take them off their baking sheets. Cut them into desired slices. Enjoy.

This recipe is actually a Throwback Thursday recipe that didn’t make it into a Throwback Thursday blog post. It hails from 2012! I love browned butter pasta recipes (guiltily because, of course, they’re not a bit good for you) and my kids adore peas. So, really, this was a no-brainer to throw together back then, and is just as simple to make and satisfying to eat now.

Spring Pea Pasta
Yield: 6 servings

1 C salted butter
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
1/2 C good balsamic vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t dried ground rosemary
1/2 t dried rubbed sage
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 to 3/4 pound linguini
1 C petite frozen peas
1/2 to 1 C parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated or shredded

Instructions:
Cook the linguini in salted boiling water until it’s just barely underdone – about 6 minutes.  Meanwhile, brown the butter in a wide bottom skillet by melting it until it foams and turns a golden rich brown.  Remove it from the burner and add the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, rosemary, sage, and salt and pepper.  Stir around for 30 seconds. If your skillet is large enough to hold the pasta, add the linguini to the butter pan. Otherwise add the butter to the drained linguini. Add the peas and cover for 3 minutes (off the heat). Add the cheese and a little more salt and pepper and lightly toss to combine.  Serve.