The oven in the new house isn't working but I had a hankering for pizza so decided to experiment on making a stop top version. Now I confess I had thought pizza earlier in the day and it proved a happy coincidence that there was basil in the fridge so the pesto had already been made (using peanuts just for a change).
Next step: caramelizing the onions (which we learnt how to do a few weeks ago with Pete Bufo). So I chopped up three onions and cooked them for nearly an hour in a little butter over very low heat. Just perfect!
Then it was time to make the dough (3/4 C warm water mixed with 1 t of sugar and 1 sachet yeast and then combined with 2 C flour and kneaded until smooth and pliable) and add the toppings - my homemade pesto, shredded cheese, my homemade caramlized onions and sliced mushrooms. More toppings that I would normally add but I was feeling a little wild and decadent.
I researched the process for cooking on a stove top (cover the pizza with a lid or tight fitting foil and cook on low for about 15 - 20 minutes to all the toppings to cook, the cheese to melt and the base to crust (but not burn). With instructions that easy, it was worth a try.
Results: 6.5/10. Things I would change next time: make a thin crust pizza - the dough around the edges wasn't fully cooked through - although it was towards the centre of the pie; use a heavy based pan rather than my cheapie frypan; use less toppings - the flavors were great and certainly went together but there was too many big flavors for me to fully appreciate each of them (next time I shall do a pizza bianca with the caramelized onion on one half and the pesto and mushrooms on the other half); and, use half as much cheese - I generally just use a sprinkle of parmesan and I put a bit too much on this one. Not that these were big faults as such, more like tweaks ..... and a reason to cook pizza this way another time :-)
Next step: caramelizing the onions (which we learnt how to do a few weeks ago with Pete Bufo). So I chopped up three onions and cooked them for nearly an hour in a little butter over very low heat. Just perfect!
Then it was time to make the dough (3/4 C warm water mixed with 1 t of sugar and 1 sachet yeast and then combined with 2 C flour and kneaded until smooth and pliable) and add the toppings - my homemade pesto, shredded cheese, my homemade caramlized onions and sliced mushrooms. More toppings that I would normally add but I was feeling a little wild and decadent.
I researched the process for cooking on a stove top (cover the pizza with a lid or tight fitting foil and cook on low for about 15 - 20 minutes to all the toppings to cook, the cheese to melt and the base to crust (but not burn). With instructions that easy, it was worth a try.
Results: 6.5/10. Things I would change next time: make a thin crust pizza - the dough around the edges wasn't fully cooked through - although it was towards the centre of the pie; use a heavy based pan rather than my cheapie frypan; use less toppings - the flavors were great and certainly went together but there was too many big flavors for me to fully appreciate each of them (next time I shall do a pizza bianca with the caramelized onion on one half and the pesto and mushrooms on the other half); and, use half as much cheese - I generally just use a sprinkle of parmesan and I put a bit too much on this one. Not that these were big faults as such, more like tweaks ..... and a reason to cook pizza this way another time :-)
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