Pizza Bianca

I'm stealing this recipe from America's Test Kitchen. I saw it on their show a few weeks ago and finally got around to trying it today. OH MY GOODNESS, it is the best pizza dough recipe ever! It is a much wetter dough than the other recipe that I usually use and takes much more time, but it is worth it. The dough ends up crisp and chewy and oh so good!Ingredients:
3 c. flour
1-2/3 c. water
1-1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. yeast
1-1/4 tsp. sugar
5 T. olive oil

1-1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
sauce of your choice

Place towel or shelf liner beneath stand mixer to prevent wobbling. Mix flour, water, and table salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until no patches of dry flour remain, 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Turn off mixer and let dough rest 20 minutes.

Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Increase mixer speed to high and knead until dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls away from sides of bowl, 6 to 10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl and pour 1 tablespoon oil over top. Flip dough over once so it is well coated with oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in volume and large bubbles have formed, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to middle position, place pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Coat rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto baking sheet along with any oil in bowl. Using fingertips, press dough out toward edges of pan, taking care not to tear it. (Dough will not fit snugly into corners. If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch again.) Let dough rest in pan until slightly bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Using dinner fork, poke surface of dough 30 to 40 times and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake until spotty brown, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Remove pizza from oven, spread sauce evenly over surface, and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella. Return pizza to oven and continue to bake until cheese begins to brown in spots, 5 to 10 minutes longer.
Serves 6
Points: 4

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Yet another pizza recipe I know, but this is Tyson's favorite. Today I tried something new and made a sourdough crust. The juxtaposition of flavors was really good so I think that we'll do this again. Ingredients:
1/3 sourdough bread dough recipe (found here)
3/4 c. BBQ sauce, divided (I prefer Sweet Baby Ray's)
3 oz. chicken breast, cut into 1/2 peices
2 strips bacon, cooked and cut into 1/2 pieces
1/3 c. pineapple tidbits, drained
1-1/2 c. mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

Press, roll, or toss dough and place on a greased pan or pizza stone. Cook for 7 minutes at 425 degrees and remove from oven.

Cook chicken in a frying pan with 1/4 c. of the BBQ sauce. Once fully cooked add the bacon and pineapple and continue to cook together on low heat for 3-5 minutes.

Spread remaining 1/2 c. of BBQ sauce on pizza and then spread toppings evening. Cover with mozzarella and then Parmesan cheese. Bake for another 7-10 minutes or until the cheese and completely melted and bubbles.
Yields: 8 Slices
Points: 6

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

Yet another pizza favorite in our household. Like I said before we love to play around with new pizza ideas and this came from me just playing around in the kitchen.
Well, to begin let's star with a basic pizza dough recipe. This is an old family favorite and I have no idea where it came from.
Ingredients:
1 c. water, hot
1 T. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 T. olive oil
2-1/2 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in water and let stand for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients and let the mixer knead for about 5 minutes. This is enough dough for 2 pizzas.

*I have 2 methods, for a thinner, normal crust for my pizza I use a pizza stone. Or, for a deep dish crust I use a 12" cast iron skillet. I melt butter (Safola margarine for less fat) in the bottom before I add the dough.

Bake the dough for approximately 7 minutes. Remove from oven and add toppings and sauce.

For this pizza I use the following:
1/4 c. Ranch dressing
1/2 chicken breast, sliced
3 mushrooms, sliced
1 medium tomato, sliced
2 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1-1/2 c. Mozzarella cheese, divided

Spread the dressing around the crust and top with 1 cup of the cheese. Spread the remaining pizza toppings and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Back for another 7-10 minutes, or until the cheese bubbles and the crust is golden.
Serves 6
Points: 7

Chicken Pesto Pizza

I love pizza, but I get bored with pepperoni, Hawaiian, etc. so I find myself trying new toppings and sauces all the time. I was flipping through one of my many cookbooks (Taste of Home) last week looking for some new ides when I landed on this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 tube refrigerated pizza dough (now, I can't stand to use that stuff so I make my own dough. I'll post that recipe soon)
1/2 c. water
3 T. olive oil
1 envelope pesto sauce mix
1 pkg. (10oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 c. ricotta cheese (I used the fat free ricotta)
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 c. shredded cooked chicken
1 jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1 roma tomatoes, sliced
1 c. shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 c. grated Romano cheese

The recipe says to unroll the pizza crust onto a jellyroll pan, however I prefer to use a pizza stone. Prick the dough with a fork and bake at 425 degrees for about 7 minutes.

In a small sauce pan combine the water, oil and pesto mix and warm through, don't boil. Add the spinach, ricotta and onion and mix well.
*The recipe says to use this entire amount on the pizza, but when I made it I felt that it was just too much, so I saved half of it and put it in the freezer to use when I make this pizza again. Spread the spinach pesto mix over the crust.

Top with mushrooms, chicken, tomatoes and both Swiss and Romano cheese. Bake at the same 425 degrees for another 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden.
Serves 8
Points: 7 per slice