Grilled Pizza with Carmelized Spring Onion, Tomato and Feta

Earlier in the week, I was all set to make pizza for dinner, only to discover just before starting that I was out of the instant yeast I use in my favorite dough recipe. I didn't have the time to use regular yeast, so we wound up having something else. But pizza must have been on my mind, because when I came across large spring onions this weekend, I just kept seeing them caramelized on top of a pizza.

For the past two months, we've made all of our pizzas on the grill. Sage declared tonight we are never going back to making them in the oven. Barring a hurricane, I agree completely-the crust just comes out so perfect. It's a very good thing we live in Florida and can grill year round.

This was a tasty combination of toppings. Ideally, I would've prefered goat cheese, but since Sage favors feta, that's what I most often have on hand. He agreed goat cheese would've given it a little extra tang, but it was still delicous with reduced fat feta. Regardless of which you chose, or even if you go the route of traditional pizza toppings, I highly suggest cooking your next pizza on the grill. Like us, you won't want to ever go back to making them in the oven.

Grilled Pizza with Caramelized Spring Onion, Tomato and Feta
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 large spring onion, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced (about 4 1/2 cups)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 ball of pizza dough (recipe follows)
1/2 cup marinara sauce (I used a zesty homemade one, but store-bought would be fine)
1 medium vine-ripe tomato, sliced thin
1 1/2 oz feta or goat cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup part skim shredded mozzarella

Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add seperated onion slices to pan, season with salt and pepper, and stir to coat. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently until onions began to caramelize and turn golden brown, reducing heat if neccessary. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Brush top of dough with olive oil. Lay parchment or wax paper on top and flip over. Brush other side with oil.

Place dough on grate of a pre-heated grill, paper side up. Peel paper off and grill over medium direct heat for about 5 minutes. Transfer to cutting board or platter, with the grill marks facing up.

Spread sauce over crust. Layer with tomato slices, feta, mozzarella and caramelized onions. Return to grill. Reduce heat and grill for an additional 10 minutes, or until crust is crisp and cheeses are melted.

Honey Wheat Pizza Dough, adapted from about.com

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 packet Rapid-Rise yeast

1 1 1/2 cups warm water (120 degrees)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour and yeast, using the paddle attachment.

Meanwhile, add olive oil, honey and salt to measuring cup of warm water. (Tip: if you measure the honey after measuring out the oil, the honey will glide right out of the measuring spoon.) Stir to disolve salt.

With the motor running at lowest speed, slowly pour water into flour. Mix until dough comes together. Change to dough hook attachment, and kneed dough at medium speed for about 2 minues or until dough is smooth and elastic.

Pour ball off of hook, spray bottom of bowl with cooking spray and return place ball of dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place. Allow to rise for 20-30 minutes. (Can left up to an hour.)

Divide unto 2 balls. Freeze or refrigerate one ball for for another use. If not using the grill, roll out dough and place on pizza pan. Bake at at 400 degrees, untopped for 8 minutes. Top and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until crust is crisp and cheese is melted.

My 100th Post with a Recap of Favorites

So, I actually wrote this a few days ago, before catching up on several days worth of posts in my reader, only to discover that lots of the blogs I follow do a year end review of favorites. That makes mine seem rather unoriginal, but since it took me a while to write it, I'm going to post it anyhow.

For my 100th post, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the recipes I've tried out over the past six months or so that I've had this blog. Okay, maybe I'm the only who will have fun with this post, but then the reason I started blogging was for myself- to have a place to record my recipes, as well as to push myself to try new things and to be more creative in the kitchen. However, as a bonus, it's made me really happy to know that others have enjoyed it as well. I've really appreciated having family and friends tell that they've tried and loved recipes from my blog. So, thanks for being a reader of The Brick Kitchen. Here are some of our family's favorites from along the way.

Soups

Lentil Sausage Soup with Leeks and Carrots

Turkey Bean Soup

Slowcooker Chicken and Rice Soup

Split Pea Soup

Sweet Potato Lentil Stew

Salads/Side Dishes

Warm Couscous and Chickpea Salad

Cucumber Pasta Salad with Goat Cheese

Apple-Walnut Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

Grilled Dijon Chicken Salad with Parmesan Dressing (especially the dressing!)

Baked Buffalo Chicken Strips Salad

Vegetarian Main Dishes
Moroccan Style Stuffed Accorn Squash
Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Polenta Lasagna with Vegetable Bolognese
Lentil Walnut Burgers
Black Bean Sliders & Sweet Potato Fries

Main Dishes with Meat
Peanut Butter Chicken
Chicken Parmesan
Sausage and Peppers Pasta
Healthier Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken Paprikash


Pizzas
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Roasted Butternut, Carmelized Onion and Apple Maple Chicken Sausage Pizza
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Black and White Pizza
Sundried Tomato, Goat Cheese and Chicken Sausage Calzone

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I know that BBQ Chicken Pizza is nothing new, but we've never had it before. Until not too long ago, I just didn't think chicken belonged on a pizza. (This pizza was one that helped change my mind.) Then there's the fact that in our house we're not really big on BBQ sauce. But I've had an unopened bottle hanging around for quite a while- since serving BBQ pork sandwiches at a casual party many months ago- and I thought it was time to use it, plus I had some homemade pizza dough in the freezer and wanted to try something different.

My version of this pizza is a little different than most I've seen out there. Typically, they have a layer of BBQ sauce instead of red sauce. Sage wasn't keen on this idea, so I went for a thin layer of store bought red sauce (He recently came home with 3 jars - they were on sale- so we already had it laying around) and then used shredded chicken coated in the BBQ sauce. Chopped red onion is often used to top this kind of pizza, but Sage isn't a fan of it when cooked. However, I didn't want to skip onions altogether because I love them, so I used yellow instead. Lightly sauteed, along with bell pepper, they were a wonderful addition to this pizza. For non BBQ sauce fans, we absolutely loved this pizza!

1 breast of chicken
about 1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays, original flavor)
1/2 tbsp lite butter
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1 ball of pizza dough
2 tbsp marinara or jarred pasta sauce
1/3 cup shredded mozarella
1/2 cup shredded fontina (or gouda)

In a small to medium saucepan, cover chicken breast completely with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Poach chicken until just no longer pink inside, about 10 minutes. Remove to cutting board to cool, and drain and rinse saucepan. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred using 2 forks and return to pan. Add just enough BBQ sauce to coat (without being too wet) and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes or until ready to use.

Meanwhile, add butter to skillet over medium heat. When melted, add onion and peppers, and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft but not browning. Set aside.

Roll out pizza crust and transfer to baking sheet. Bake in oven preheated to 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and spread red sauce evenly over top. Sprinkle with mozarella.

Next, top with desired amount of shredded chicken. (I piled it on, but since I had used a very large breast, I did not use it all.) Reserve any extra chicken for another use. To pizza, add green peppers and onions, and finish with a layer of shredded fontina. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Sausage Mushroom Pizza with Carmelized Onions & Goat Cheese

Contrary to what this lousy photo would lead you to believe, this was an absolutely fantastic pizza. I actually shot this picture of the one remaining slice the next day, since the sun had set by the time we ate and the pictures came out dark. This one isn't much better, but I loved this pizza and wanted to share it anyways.

I probably should be calling this Carmelized Onion-Goat Cheese Pizza with Sausage and Mushrooms, because the onions and cheese are definitely the primary flavors, which is fine with me! Sage (who's favorite pizza toppings are mushrooms and sausage) wasn't quite as thrilled- because as he puts it: he likes goat cheese, he does not love goat cheese. So of course, he liked this, but did not love it. Beckett however really enjoyed it. I have to admit, it makes me happy to see my child eating a pizza with carmelized onions and goat cheese on a homemade whole wheat crust. When I was a kid, we either had delivery from somewhere like Dominoes or Dinos, or probably more often, those frozen Totino's Party Pizzas, which I remember was like eating like a cardboard frisbee. Hopefully, my kid will never had to eat one of those, or if he does at a friend's house, he will think they are dreadful compared to Mom's homemade ones.

2 tbsp butter
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 pizza dough ball (I used half of this recipe and froze the other half)
1/2 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1/4 cup shredded mozarella cheese (I used an Italian blend)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 link turkey sweet Italian sausage
2 oz. goat cheese

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Saute onions for 25-30 minutes or until beginning to carmelize. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out pizza dough on lightly floured surface, and transfer to pizza pan or baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove crust from oven, top with thin layer of tomato paste, shredded cheese and mushrooms.

Open casing of sausage at one end, and carefully pinch the ground meat in very small pieces evenly over other toppings. (If you prefer to have the sausage in slices, it will need to be fully cook it first.) Top with onions and crumbled goat cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes or until sausage is cooked through.

Week 1: NE Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills- Buffalo Chicken Pizza

For this first week of football, the Patriots were playing one of the Monday Night games. To say Sage is obsessed with football and the New England Patriots, is an understatement. I wanted to do something special for dinner, and I thought about a New England themed dinner. But all that came to mind was seafood, and recently I've developed an odd aversion to it.

So I was still trying to come up with something and recalled a co-worker I used to have. For fun, every week during football season he'd cook a themed dinner for his family. Depending on who was the opposing team their favorite team was playing, he'd create a dinner traditional to that area or one that had the team's location in the title of the food. I thought that would be cute to attempt for this season. The Pats were playing the Buffalo Bills, so I decided on a Buffalo Chicken Pizza- something I'd already been planning on making this week.

I looked through a few recipes but most had a layer of blue cheese salad dressing instead of a red sauce. I wanted to top mine with blue cheese crumbles, so I just came up with a simple recipe of my own. This was one of my favorite pizzas I've ever made. The crust was amazing and all the toppings were perfectly balanced. It looked like a lot of blue cheese, but it wasn't overwelming at all. I'm a veggie person, so I was worried that it would be just too much chicken and cheese, but when I asked Sage what vegetables I should use, he shrugged and said "Celery?" So we went without, and I didn't miss them. I made two small pizzas and they had a party appetizer feel. Perfect for eating while watching the game.

I needed a quick rising pizza dough, because that was the only type of yeast I had, and it was my favorite so far. I found this Honey Wheat Pizza Dough at About.com. For the flour I used 1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat flour and the rest all-purpose and followed all the rest of the recipe perfectly. I used only half of it for two 6-7 inch pizzas, and saved the rest for another use.

2 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/4 cup cayenne pepper sauce, divided (I used Frank's Red Hot)
pizza dough ball or premade crusts
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup shredded mozarella
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Grill chicken (I used our George Foreman.) Dice and put in a small bowl. Mix with three tablespoons of the cayenne pepper sauce. Set aside.
3. Divide pizza dough onto two balls and roll out each on a floured surface. Transfer to baking sheet (I use the backside of mine.)
4. Mix tomato paste with remaining tablespoon of sauce. Spread half of tomato paste mixture on one pizza crust, top with half of mozarella, half of diced chicken, and finish with blue cheese crumbles. Repeat for other pizza.
5. Cook according to pizza dough or premade crust instructions. (I cooked mine for 14 minutes.)

My guys this year for the first Patriot game of the regular season

First Patriots game of the season, September 2008

Beckett's first Super Bowl, February 2008, less than two weeks old.

Roasted Butternut, Carmelized Onion and Apple Maple Sausage Pizza

I don't plan meals before I go shopping. I prefer wandering around the store, getting my cooking staples and then picking up whatever else appeals to me. (I actually love to go grocery shopping.) Its funny to me how the random ingredients I buy always wind up working together. Two of those things from my last trip were a butternut squash and apple maple chicken sausage.

As I was browsing for inspiration for how to use my butternut squash in a different way, I kept coming across pizzas. None of them had meat, but I knew Sage would like a squash pizza better if it had the sausage on it. I was thinking goat cheese at first, but lots of the recipes I saw had ricotta, so I went with that since I had some to use up. Plus I always love ricotta on a pizza. I was going to have Sage bring home some sage (yes, really) but I forgot, so I used dried thyme instead. I got a later start on dinner, so I used a quick rise dough. It was good, but I didn't turn the oven up enough after roasting the squash, so it took a really long time to cook through. This was time consuming (but I believe I need to work on my time management skills in the kitchen) but wonderful!

pizza dough ball or premade crust (I used this recipe subbing 1 tbsp of honey for the sugar and 1/2 a cup of the flour using whole wheat and letting it rise once for a 30 minutes.)

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 in. cubes

olive oil

1 small onion, sliced

1 tbsp butter

1/2 cup part-skim ricotta

2 links (pre-cooked) apple maple chicken sausage, thinly sliced

1 tbsp shredded parmesan

1 tsp dried thyme

1. Heat butter in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until beginning to brown. Reduce heat to low and cook until carmelized (about 45 minutes) stirring frequently. Lay on a paper towel until ready to use.

2. Toss squash in enough olive oil to lightly coat, and roast in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Set aside.

3. Roll out crust into desire shape. Transfer to pizza pan or cookie sheet and precook for 5 minutes. Brush with olive oil, and top with about a cup of the roasted butternut (reserve any extra for another use.) Layer sausage and onion. Drop small clumps of ricotta evenly and sprinkle with parmesan and thyme.

4. Bake according to pizza dough recipe, or until crust is golden brown and sauage is warmed through.

Sun-dried Tomato, Goat Cheese and Chicken Sausage Calzone

To use up the other half of the pizza dough I made the other night, I wanted to try making a calzone. Not surprisingly, my inspiration for this came from A Year in the Kitchen. (Yes, I realize I cite this blog for a lot of the recipes I've been trying out, but with well over 700 posts of food I really love, its hard not to!) She had a calzone with ricotta, goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Oddly enough, I had all of these things on hand. It sounded wonderful!

I did choose to substitute chicken sausage for the chicken, just because I thought it would be really good. I was right; Sage loved this. I think his words were: This is flippin' delicious! In fact, he said he liked it even better than the pizza the other night. It was toddler approved as well. I did use half the amount of goat cheese since I was also having some on our salad and a little less ricotta and tomatoes because I thought my dough ball seemed a little small. Since the sausage is fully cooked, I didn't bother browning it first. This was easy to make and oh so good! I will be experimenting with my own calzone fillings in the future!

adapted from Chicken Bada Bing Calzone, A Year in the Kitchen

1/2 batch of pizza dough (I used this one)

2 chicken sausage, diced (I used sun-dried tomato)

1 cup part-skim ricotta
1 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
8 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Marinara for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine goat cheese, ricotta and mozzarella in a bowl. Fold in tomatoes, spices, and diced sausage.

3. Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface. (I don't have a rolling pin, so I just used my fingers to gently push it into a round shape.) Place on a pizza pan or baking sheet, spread ricotta mixture over half, fold the other half over. Crimp edges to seal. Brush with olive oil and place in the oven.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden and puffed. Serve with marinara for dipping.

Chicken Sausage, Red Pepper and Mushroom Pizza

I told myself the next time I made a pizza I would make the crust myself. I've never worked with yeast before, but it was really pretty easy. There are many variations of a basic pizza crust, so I decided to go with one of the many dough recipes from from my favorite blog, A Year in the Kitchen.

Usually when make our pizzas, we tend to use toppings such as artichoke hearts, banana peppers, sun dried tomatoes and/or whatever fresh veggies we have on hand. But on the rare occasions we order out from our favorite NY style pizza shop, we prefer to keep it simple. Sage's favorite is sausage and mushroom. I don't like pork sausage so we only have it put on half. Since he is an all around great guy and an amazing husband and father, I decided that this week I am going to cook meals that are favorites of his.

For this pizza I planned on using an Italian-style chicken sausage, but the store was out, so I used a sundried tomato which was awesome! I chose to add bell peppers because I love how they go with sausage, and for the sauce I tried something new. Typically we use a few spoonfuls of jarred pasta sauce and then it goes to the back of the fridge. I make my own sauces for pasta, so I rarely get around to using any more of it. Unfortunately I've tossed out countless nearly-full jars of sauce. On the same blog, I read a tip about using tomato paste instead. I love tomato paste and never have a problem using it up in time. Sage looked at me like I was crazy when he saw me spreading it on, but he admitted afterwards he loved what it brought to the pizza (a richer tomato flavor and a tanginess.) But he also thought I was silly for making homemade pizza dough- and he loved that too!

1/2 recipe of pizza dough (or premade crust)
about 3 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 red pepper, sliced
2 chicken sausages, sliced (I used sundried tomato)
2/3 cup part-skim mozzarella, divided
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tsp Italian Seasoning, Pizza Seasoning or your own blend of spices (I used 1/4 tsp each of fennel seeds, crushed red pepper, garlic powder and oregano)

Whole-Wheat pizza dough (from A Year in the Kitchen)
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tbsp. organic brown sugar (or honey)
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1. Add water, yeast and sugar to a stand mixer's bowl bowl. Let it sit for 10 minutes, yeast will bubble. Turn mixer on low, using the dough hook and add in the flours. If the dough is too sticky, add another 1/4 c. all purpose flour. Let it knead for 5 minutes.
2. Cover with a damp towel and let it sit for 1 hour. Punch down, cover, and proof for another 30 minutes.
3. Divide in half, wrap half the dough and refrigerate.

To prepare pizza:
1. Preheat oven to 425, preheating pan as well.
2. Either roll out or using fingers, press gently into desired shape on a floured surface. Place on preheated inverted baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat skillet on medium. Spray with cooking spray and add peppers and sausage. Cook for 5 minutes, turning halfway through. Remove from heat.
4. Spread thin layer of tomato paste on parbaked crust. Top with 1/3 mozarella cheese. Layer peppers, sausage and mushoroms evenly. Add remaining cheese and spinkle with seasonings.
5. Bake for 10, or until crust is golden brown and crisp, and cheese is melted.

Artichoke, Mushroom & Goat Cheese Pizza

The other night was a rarity- Sage and I actually went out on a Saturday night. For a quick and easy dinner, that wouldn't make us feel too full, I made a pizza. I used a Boboli crust, but next time we have pizza, I am going to attempt making my own.

This was delicious, light yet full of flavor. I would've put fresh basil on it, but I didn't go my usual grocery store and they were out. I also realized after it was in the oven, that I had fresh spinach that would've been great on this as well. Next time I will probably use a little heavier hand with the toppings, but I wasn't sure if it would be overwelming. I sauteed the mushrooms and garlic in wine, but I don't think it added much, and the mushrooms don't need to be pre-cooked, so I'd most likely skip it next time.

Whole Wheat Boboli Crust
olive oil
4 Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp white wine
1 Roma tomato, sliced very thin
1/2 of a 6 oz. jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and halved
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
basalmic vinegar
1/2 tsp dried basil (or use fresh)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush crust with a light coat of olive oil.
2. Sautee mushrooms and garlic in wine, until liquid is cooked out, about 5 minutes.
3. Arrange tomato slices evenly over pizza crust. Next top with mushrooms and garlic, then artichoke pieces, then goat cheese. Drizzle basalmic vinegar all over pizza and spinkle with basil
4. Cook for 10 minutes.

Black and White Pizza

I recently tried chicken on a pizza (due to a grocery miscommun-ication between Sage and I) and ever since then I've been wanting to try this Black & White Pizza (from allrecipes.com.)

Instead of a red sauce it uses a jarred alfredo. I LOVE white pizza; Sage does not. Because of this, and because I didn't want the extra calories- I was going to just use olive oil with some canned diced tomatoes. (Not exactly white, but healthier.) But Sage wanted to try it. All I had was a sundried tomato alfredo, which we knew might be wierd. Honestly, it wound up being the only thing that kept it from being amazing! We may try it with regular alfredo (the creaminess is good) but probably the way I was first going to do it. Either way, the black beans, jalapenos and chicken are so yummy on a pizza! I've made only a few changes in the original recipe.

1 Whole Wheat Baboli

olive oil

1 chicken breast

1/2 cup jarred alfredo

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup canned black beans (rinsed and drained)

1/4 cup jarred sliced jalapenos

1 tsp dried parsley

1. Preheat oven to 450. Lightly brush Baboli crust with olive oil.

2. Grill chicken, cooking until just before done. Slice into bite size pieces. (Or cook chicken in a saute pan with olive oil and the minced garlic.)

3. Spread alfredo sauce on pizza. Sprinkle very lightly with some of the cheese. Top evenly with onions and garlic, black beans, chicken, and jalapenos. Cover with remaining cheese and sprinkle with parsley.

4. Cook for 10-13.