Pizza With Parsley Pesto Cremini Mushrooms Fontina And Goat Cheese Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• For the parsley pesto: Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, pine nuts, basil, garlic, parsley and some salt and pepper to a food processor. With the motor running, slowly add about 1/2 cup olive oil and process until smooth. Pulse a few times to incorporate, adding more oil if the mixture is too thick. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
• For the mushrooms: Heat the canola oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add the mushrooms, garlic and shallots and saute until brown, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove to a plate and reserve.
• Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat.
• For the pizzas: Portion the dough into six golf-ball-size pieces. Dust a work surface with flour and roll each piece of dough into a rectangle (or whatever shape you like). Brush the tops of each piece with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss on the grill, oil-side down. Cook until the bottoms are an even golden brown, about 3 minutes. (The tops will also start bubbling up with air pockets.) Flip over and grill until golden brown on the other side and just firm, about a minute or so. Remove to a baking sheet.
• Top the pizzas with the fontina, mushrooms, Parmigiano-Reggiano, dollops of goat cheese, crushed red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted, 3 to 4 minutes. Top with the parsley pesto and garnish with a few more torn basil leaves.
• In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup warm water (if the water is too hot the yeast will die and if the water is too cold the yeast will not activate). Add the dry yeast and sugar, stir to combine and let sit for 15 minutes. The top of the water will bubble and it will smell very yeasty; this is what you want.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the olive oil and the yeast/water mixture. Using a fork, gradually stir the flour into the yeast/water mix. Once most of the flour has combined, turn the dough out to a smooth, clean work surface dusted with flour and use your hands to knead the dough to a smooth consistency.
• Lightly coat the mixing bowl with oil, return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, at least 1 hour.
• When the dough is ready, portion it into six golf-ball-size pieces. (If you're not using the dough right away, wrap each ball individually in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.) Dust a work surface with flour and roll each piece of dough into a rectangle (or whatever shape you like; I like irregular shapes). Top the pizzas as desired.

Steps:

• If the pizza dough has been refrigerated, take it out and let it warm up a bit.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pan and then add the mushrooms and chopped onions. Saute until soft. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and cook for another minute or two. If there is liquid remaining in the pain, drain it.
• Stretch out the pizza dough onto a lightly oiled pizza pan, or a pizza stone.
• spread the pesto sauce onto the dough -- it's best of the pesto is a little less oily than usual: if I buy store-bought I let it separate a bit in the container and then avoid the oil rather than mixing it back inches.
• Top with the sauteed vegetables, then the shredded cheese.
• Add the black olives and small (1/2 inch cubes) chunks of the goat cheese.
• Bake according to the instructions on the dough or dough recipe (generally 450 degrees for about 10-12 minutes).
• Slice and enjoy!

Steps:

• *** MAKE DOUGH*** Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with the water in a 5-quart bowl or a lidded (not air-tight) food container.
• Mix in the flour without kneading using a spoon, a large capacity food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with dough hook). If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour. I use a spoon to combine, then my hands for the last bit of flour.
• Cover (not air-tight) and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
• The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (again, not air-tight) container and use over the next 12 days.
• *** MAKE PIZZA *** Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoons vegetable oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until golden, about 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter with 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in another heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, and shallot. Sauté 4 minutes. Add wine and simmer until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently, about 13 minutes. Add rosemary; season with salt and pepper.
• Position rack in bottom third of oven. Place a pizza stone on rack. Preheat oven to 500°F at least 30 minutes before baking.
• Instead of kneading this dough, you're going to "cloak" it, which (and this is VERY important), should take no more than 30 seconds for the whole process from grabbing off a hunk of dough to the end of cloaking. This is done after the 2-hour rest. Sprinkle a little flour on the surface of the dough you've made and pull or cut off a grapefruit-sized ball. This will be for one pizza. Sprinkle a bit more flour on the top of that ball and with the entire length of the sides of your thumbs, gently stretch the top surface around to the under part of the ball. Gently! You're not actually tearing the dough, but think of it as lengthening the fibers on the very top surface of the ball by stretching it just a bit.
• Roll out 2 dough disks on lightly floured surface to 10-inch rounds, allowing dough to rest a few minutes if it springs back. Sprinkle 2 pizza peels with cornmeal and transfer 1 dough round to each peel. Lightly brush dough with garlic oil. Sprinkle one with 1/2 cup cheese, and then scatter 2 1/2 tablespoons onions over cheese. Scatter 1/2 cup mushrooms over onions. Sprinkle with salt and repeat for second pizza.
• Position tip of pizza peel at a slightly downward angle to roughly 2/3 of the way across pizza stone. With quick forward jerks and less jerky backward motions, jiggle the pizza from the peel to the stone, then slide peel the remainder of the way out so that the pizza is centered on the stone. Repeat with second pizza and bake for 6 minutes. Rotate pizzas half a turn. Bake until crust is deep brown, about 6 minutes longer, but watch that the crust doesn't burn.
• Using a large spatula or two, carefully transfer pizzas to cutting board. Let rest 1 minute. Slice into wedges and serve.