It should look like this after a few minutes. When you are done kneading and it feels like a springy dough ball, cover the dough with a damp towel. I always prepare the damp towel in advance because your hands will be a mess. Now let the dough rest in a warm place for at least 20 minutes. It should double in size. When that happens you'll need to punch it down to release some of that air. Now pull the dough from the sides of the bowl and kind of loosely form it into a ball again. Pour a little olive oil over the dough and cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until dinner. 
O.K. so now it is hours later right? The dough will have risen and should be enough for 3 pizzas. I take the dough out of the bowl and cut it into 3rds. I take 1 3rd and roll it out as shown. I freeze the other balls for later. And boy, is it nice to have those in the freezer! I like a thin crisp crust so I roll it thin. I transfer it to my large oiled pizza pan. And this is an important part. Take a fork and poke it all over your crust. Then bake it at 450 for 5-10 minutes. (My metal pan has holes in it) This pre-baking will give you a crisper crust. You don't need any pizza stone or special pizza oven. Trust me. 
This is another favorite pizza. As always it starts with the crust. And for that recipe go to my labels under pizza. And look for my meal on death row post. Ha! 
First you brush your favorite taco sauce on the pre-baked crust. Then add a taco cheese mix and your favorite chorizo or taco meat. Bake for 10 minutes at 450. Then sprinkle with some fresh cilantro. 
Then the fun part. When you serve it you add the pre-made relish. Here's what is in that...
What a bonus! It was 80 degrees this weekend. The Sun was shining, the Honeycrisps and pumpkins were ripe and the leaves were brilliantly colored. We weren't even planning one more trip to our favorite pizza place. The Nelson Stone Barn. But we were lucky enough to get a bonus weekend on the river. Our first stop was for apples. A whopping $50 for a big bag of Honeycrisps. Holy Cow. I guess you have to be a Millionaire to eat apples these days. Then we hiked on over to Maiden Rock bluff.
Enjoy the view. Then read this interesting tale about Maiden Rock...
A train chugs down the tracks.
A yellow explosion.
No Fall trip is complete without a visit to a pumpkin patch.
Who is this goofball?
A feather in Pepin.
Look at the sunset creeping down through the window of the old barn pilings. A bottle of vino, a romantic setting and a fantastic pizza just pulled from a burning hearth. Life is good.
I was inspired by the pesto I bought at the Farmer's Market last weekend to make a potato pizza. And the result was a winner, winner, no-chicken dinner. Yum. The first time I had a potato pizza was at the State Fair. Now I make it at home. But with all the fresh vegetables from the garden and this new pesto. It was my best version ever.
You start with a crust. I always pre-bake it around 10 minutes on my pizza pan with holes. It gets crisper that way. For the millionth time you can find my crust recipe under my labels for savory or pizza and my meal on death row pizza post. Then spread on your favorite pesto. Add some cheddar cheese. Then some cooked and sliced new potatoes. Round it out with onions, peppers and tomatoes. Boy, they taste so good when you just step outside your door and pull them off the vine. I sure am going to miss Summer. Sniff. Before you pop it back in the oven add some Parmesan cheese and freshly cracked pepper. 
Bake for around 10 minutes at 450. Then add some crispy fried bacon. Yum!
If you want to spice things up add some green hot sauce. My favorite is Marie Sharpe's Green Habanero. Enjoy! 
The last time we were at my favorite pizza place www.nelsonstonebarn.com they had a Thai pizza on the menu. Genius! I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before. So I had to attempt my own version. And it is the perfect time of year to try this because of all the fresh peppers I have in my garden. I started with a pre-baked crust. For the crust recipe just look under my labels for savory and my Mexican pizza post. Then spread on the Thai peanut satay sauce that you see peeking out at the top of the photo. I actually rubbed the crust with a cut garlic clove first. Then add Mozzarella cheese and rotisserie chicken. Now add what ever spice level of peppers you can tolerate. And of course some onions. 
Bake for 10 minutes at 450. Then add some fresh basil.
I minced some red and green chili peppers to add as needed. Flaming hot!
It was delicious!
First of all this is a fabulous pizza. Even if it isn't as colorful as the pizza sauce variety. I'm going to skip the crust prep part because I already covered that in my Mexican pizza post. See labels under savory! So I'm starting with a prebaked crust. Then I drizzle the crust generously with olive oil. I even rubbed a cut garlic clove around the edges this time. I was feeling ambitious! Now put on a light coating of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle on as much leftover rotisserie chicken as you desire. Add caramelized vidalla onions and sliced green apples. As many as you would like. Now a sprinkling of Penzey's dried Bouquet Garni herb mix. Or what ever herbs you like. 
Bake at 450 for around 10 minutes
I sprinkle the pizza with a generous amount of sea salt and cracked pepper. Enjoy! It is so good.
I made my favorite meal for our Anniversary. Mexican Pizza and Watermelon Margaritas. Divorce? Never. I don't have to worry about my husband kicking me to the curb after making this. I'll even start this post in the prehistoric dough stage. You'll need:It should look like this after a few minutes. When you are done kneading and it feels like a springy dough ball, cover the dough with a damp towel. I always prepare the damp towel in advance because your hands will be a mess. Now let the dough rest in a warm place for at least 20 minutes. It should double in size. When that happens you'll need to punch it down to release some of that air. Now pull the dough from the sides of the bowl and kind of loosely form it into a ball again. Pour a little olive oil over the dough and cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until dinner. O.K. so now it is hours later right? The dough will have risen and should be enough for 3 pizzas. I take the dough out of the bowl and cut it into 3rds. I take 1 3rd and roll it out as shown. I freeze the other balls for later. And boy, is it nice to have those in the freezer! I like a thin crisp crust so I roll it thin. I transfer it to my large oiled pizza pan. And this is an important part. Take a fork and poke it all over your crust. Then bake it for 5-10 minutes. (My metal pan has holes in it) This pre-baking will give you a crisper crust. You don't need any pizza stone or special pizza oven. Trust me. 
Now you can take your pre-baked crust and add your toppings. I spread a thin layer of Ortega taco sauce on top. Then a thin layer of a taco cheese blend. My favorite meat is chorizo. I find my favorite at Clancey's Meats in Linden Hills. If you've tried chorizo and didn't like it, try another kind. When you find the right one it is fantastic. I take one link and squeeze it out of its casing and saute it until it is almost done. Then I sprinkle it on my pizza. I'll add onions and sliced peppers. But add what ever southwestern veggies you like. Bake for around 5-10 minutes at 450 degrees. 
After the pizza is done. Add cooked frozen corn. I always have pre-cooked frozen corn in my freezer. You might want to defrost the corn on a paper towel to absorb moisture. Then sprinkle the pizza with some fresh Mexican cheese. I usually add my favorite herb cilantro as well. But I didn't have any today. This is a fabulous pizza!
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| But most of the pizza we eat comes straight out of a box. This is from the unique and portable Big River Pizza. Coming to a farmer's market near you! |
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| Can you guess what kind this is? |
We enjoyed this favorite on a scenic trip down to the Stone Barn in Nelson,Wisconsin. We always get the Southwestern. Yum! 
We had Pizzeria Lola about every other day this Summer. I should have photographed it when we had a colorful and flaming hot variety with Calabrian and Serrano peppers. 
We always say it is the leaning hour at the happy tower. Or happy hour at the Leaning Tower of Pizza.
Pizzeria Lola. Classic Margherita
Pizzeria Lola. Marinara.
A little balsamic drizzle at Olives in Marine on St. Croix.
The end. 
