Hawaiian Pizza

Tags

Closet Cooking, Ham, Hawaii, Hawaiian Pizza, Macadamia, Pineable, pizza

When the Husband and I were in Hawaii last winter, we went to a pizza place. Twice. We were in Kona just over a week, and we went to the same restaurant twice. For pizza. Seems like a bit of crime, no? It was absolutely not. This pizza was the best thing we ate all week. It was so good, we’re still talking about it a year later.

Since the chances of us returning to the great state of Hawaii in the near future are pretty slim, I decided to give this pizza a try at home. And boy did it work out well!

Hawaiian Pizza (a la Boston Basils–Kona, HI)

For the pizza, you’ll need:

• Ham, sliced lunch meat will do
• Pineapple, diced into bite sized chunks
• Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Sweet Chili Sauce (recipe below)
• Macadamia nuts
• Pizza dough, homemade or store bought

For the sweet chili sauce, you’ll need:

• 2 Jalapeno peppers
• 2 Serrano peppers
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs corn starch
• 2 Tbs water

(recipe from Closet Cooking)

Let’s make the sauce!

1. In a food processor or blender, process the peppers and the garlic.

2. On the stove, bring the water, vinegar, sugar, salt, and chili/garlic concoction to a boil. Simmer for about 3 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, make a paste with the corn starch and water. Mix it into the sauce and heat until the sauce gets thick. It should only take a minute or two. Remove from heat and let cool.

Assemble the pizza!

1. Once your dough is stretched, spread the sweet chili sauce on it as you would a tomato based pizza sauce.

2. Top with Mozzarella cheese, sliced ham, pineapple, and macadamia nuts. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top for good measure.

3. Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Once the cheese is super melted and crust is browning, it’s done.

Brush the crust with some melted butter, and enjoy. Even people who claim to not like Hawaiian pizza will admit this is one good pie!

Stromboli Success

Tags

bread, Dough, pizza, Stromboli

Remember awhile ago when I made stromboli? And it was something of a fail? Let me refresh your memory. Well, I put on my big girl panties, and I tried again. And it worked!

Look at that rolled up pizza deliciousness!

Some key things we did differently than the last attempt:

• Avoided over stuffing. It’s tempting to pile on the toppings like you would for a pizza. Don’t give in. A little goes a long way in the toppings realm.
• Left a 3 inch border for rolling. It helps. Just do it.
• Had better dough to begin with. My new trick for raising dough is this–set your oven to warm, put a dish of warm water on the bottom rack of the oven, and the bread in a covered bowl above it. Once the oven preheats (to warm), turn the oven off. This creates a lovely little warm and humid place for dough to rise. Especially if your house is dry, this is a great way to go!

For the recipe and complete directions for your own stromboli success, head on over to Lauren’s Latest.

Stromboli

Tags

Dough, pizza, Stromboli

Stromboli and I have yet to make peace with one another. This is my second attempt. I would call it a success over the first, but still not a sweeping victory. If you don’t care to hear about the lessons I learned, then feel free to hop right on over to Lauren’s Latest to read about her (lovely) stromboli, and how you, too, can make one for yourself.

That said, mine still tasted just fine. Just fine, I tell you! I made the dough. Rolled the dough. Sauced it. And topped it.

And rolled it up! Good to go, right? Wrong. Here’s where things got a bit complicated. Do not, under any circumstances, think you can transfer your stromboli onto another cooking surface. You can’t. I don’t care how great you think your pizza stone is. Your stromboli will not move from the surface on which you created him. He won’t. He’s stuck. And so, you bake him where you make him. Done.

All that said, the stromboli (potential) disaster, turned out pretty tasty!

Definitely something to make again! I will succeed!

Lessons I learned:

• Do not move the stromboli after you roll the dough
• Do not over-stuff the stromboli-a little will go a long ways
• A little egg wash goes a long ways-do not, under any circumstances, dump an entire beaten egg on top of the stromboli (massive amounts of smoke will result)

Go see Lauren for the recipe. You won’t be sorry! I recommend following her directions down to the letter. Do as I say. Not as I do.