Dan’s Margherita Pizza with Crunchy Prosciutto

Finished Pizza - YUM!

Made this last night  - we have been on a home made pizza kick lately!   I twisted the classic recipe a bit with the Prosciutto – to me, pizza isn’t pizza without some form of meat on it!  I made a quick fresh sauce for the base of the pizza by grating a whole tomato on a box grater until just the skin was left, and then straining out some of the liquid.  I added salt, garlic, fresh ground pepper and basil and let it sit for a bit before putting it on the crust.  I used a whole wheat crust ( at my wife’s request), but would recommend regular, since the flavors of this pizza are very subtle, and the wheat crust was a little much for it.  Once again, let me say how much I LOVE my Emile Henry BBQ Stone – you can just build the pizza right on the cold stone, without pre heating it.  Comes out nice and crisp every time.

Add Sauce Base

Well, here are the ingredients:

Base Sauce:

1 large, or 2 small tomato’s, grated on a box grater, down to the skin.  Strain out most of the excess liquid.  Add the following ingredients – these measurements are to taste, so feel free to alter them.  Then let sit for about ½ hour to let the flavors blend.

1 tsp Kosher Salt

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp Oregano

1 tsp dried basil

Pinch fresh ground pepper

Cover With Tomatoes

For the Pizza:

1 pkg Prosciutto, crisped in a small fry pan, and rough chopped when cool

2 – 3 large ripe tomatoes, sliced thin

1 large log of Fresh Mozzarella

3 cloves of garlic, sliced very thin, and rough chopped

10 – 12 large Basil leaves, rolled up like a cigar, then sliced across thinly to make curly strips ( called a Chiffonade cut, a great way to decoratively cut herbs)

3 tbs flour or corn meal

Directions:

Flour a flat surface, and roll out the crust to about a 12” round using flour as needed.  Brush the bottom with olive oil, and pre heat pizza stone ( unless you are using the EH one that I have) as directed. 

Ready for the Grill!

 While stone is heating, spread base sauce thinly over crust.  Cover with thinly sliced tomatoes.  Cover tomatoes with sliced garlic, basil and Prosciutto crisps. I would add a good pinch of Kosher salt over the whole thing at this point to bring out the flavor of the tomatoes.  Cover whole crust with fresh Mozzarella slices.

Transfer pizza to hot stone with a peel, and cook at 400 for about 10 – 12 minutes, or until crust crisps and cheese starts to bubble. 

Serve with a nice light red or Pinot Grigio, and enjoy!

Grilled Pineapple and Pancetta Pizza with Queso Fresco and Caramelized Onions

I made this pizza on the grill without a pizza stone.  I normally use an amazing new stone from Emile Henry, upon which you can build the pizza directly, and put it right in the oven or grill, without pre heating.  The crust comes out nice and crunchy without the transfer of the dough to the stone – MUCH easier!    Anyway, the pizza was fabulous – and pretty easy to make.  Pre grill the pineapple, pancetta and scallions, so once the crust starts, it goes quickly.  I have a 4 burner grill, so the indirect heating method works pretty well on it.  Just keep the outside two burners on high, and place the crust in the middle.  I cheated a little and kept the middle two on low to speed the process a bit…. It really depends on the grill you are using.  So anyway, here is the process:

Ingredients:

1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced into ½ inch ring slices ( you will be using 5 or 6 slices)

½ lb pancetta, cut thick ( about 5 slices)

2 Vidalia onions sliced thin

2tbs olive oil

2 tbs butter

½  10 oz package Queso Fresco, crumbled

6 scallions, root ends cut off, grilled, then rough chopped into about 1 inch pieces

1 ball fresh pizza dough

2 tbs flour

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Instructions:

In medium fry pan, place slices of pancetta so they do not overlap.  Cook until just becoming crispy, about 3 minutes per side, then set aside.   Drain most of the grease.  In the same pan, melt butter, add olive oil , then add onions, and sauté until golden brown – about 5 – 7 minutes.  Set onions aside.

Brush pineapple slices with butter, and scallions with olive oil.  Grill until pineapple has nice grill marks, and scallions begin to blacken – about 5 or 6 minutes or so.  Set aside.

Pre heat grill to 400 degrees, the shut down middle two burners.  If a 3 burner grill, shut down 2 of the three burners.

Spread flour over rimless cookie sheet or cutting board.  Roll out dough until it is a fairly even 14 inch circle or so.  Place on grill, and close cover.  Grill covered for about  5- 7 minutes, depending on your grill, or until bottom of crust begins to crisp.  Transfer crust to rimless cookie sheet.

Spread caramelized onions over entire pizza.  Crumble Queso Fresco cheese over onions.  Place the pineapple slices evenly around the pizza, and top each with a slice of pancetta.  Top everything with the grilled scallions – roughly chopped, and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Return pizza to grill, and grill until crust edges are crisp – about 20 minutes or so, again depending on the grill you are using. 

Cut pizza into slices so each slice has a piece of pineapple….. and enjoy!