Pizza Night

{CPK BBQ Chicken pizza}

I've taken to making pizza for dinner once a week. Hip hip for my new favorite tradition. I start with PW's crust recipe and then go crazy from there. If you haven't tried PW's crust, I recommend you hop to it at your earliest convenience. I've made it at least a half dozen times and it has come out perfectly every time. And for someone who has earned some notoriety in the past for ruining bread this is a big deal.

I'm also quite proud of my "pizza stash" that I've established in my freezer. The recipe I use makes two crusts at a time so I made the dough three weeks in a row, used one immediately, and froze the other. Then I bought one of those giant bags of shredded mozzarella from Costco and separated it into 1 lb. bags for freezing. Add to that the cans of frozen pesto that I have from the summer and voila! The beginnings of a perfect pizza right at my finger tips. (If you don't want to bother with homemade pesto, Costco also sells a giant bottle of it that is delicious. It would be perfect for dividing into smaller containers and freezing.)

And of course, the thing that keeps us from getting sick of pizza week after week (as if that could ever happen), the limitless toppings! I love trying to think of what I can use that is already in my fridge + one special surprise ingredient from the grocery store. Here are a few of our favorite combinations so far:

:: pesto + caramelized onions + prosciutto + feta (this is far and away our favorite so far. I didn't stop thinking about it for days after we ate it)

:: pesto + roasted red pepper + artichoke hearts + bacon

:: pesto + asparagus + rosemary + feta

Obviously we like our pesto around these parts.

Also, here's a couple of tricks that I've found work well for me...

:: I like to let the dough rise right in the bowl I've been mixing it in. I used to move it to another bowl until I realized it was pointless and just left me with another bowl to clean.

:: If your house is on the cool side, putting your dough in the oven with the light on will generate enough heat to facilitate rising. Just be sure not to pre-heat your oven when the dough is still rising in there like N8tr0n did last night! Bummer. Good thing we had extra dough in our stash!

:: The dough can be a little tough to stretch out at first. Be patient and keep working it. The thinner this crust is, the better.

:: Baking the pizza with the rack on the lowest setting is crucial for maximum cheese browning and crunchy crust.

So. Do tell. What is your favorite pizza topping? Anything that we must try? Also, want to come over for pizza?

P.S. Thank you for all of the get-well wishes! Things are definitely looking up in the head cold department. And if the boisterous sounds I heard coming from Z-cakes' room weeeeeell after bedtime are any indication, I think she is on the mend too.