Crab and Mushroom Pizza with Truffle Oil

To anything that has truffle oil as an ingredient, I say 'YUM!'  It has such an amazing fragrance and taste.  It is a strong taste, so you don't need to use much.  That's good, since its more expensive than other oils.  The combination of mushrooms, crab, pecorino cheese, and truffle oil is to die for.

This recipe is moderate on the healthy scale.  There isn't much cheese, but it does have some half and half.  It does contain some fiber from the mushrooms, onions, and arugula, and protein from the crab. So it is pretty filling, which helps to save some calories.

This recipe uses a dough recipe from The Italian Baker, which is a fabulous cookbook.    I made 1 1/2 times the recipe (written below) because I was making 3 medium pizzas.  For one large pizza or two small/medium, make half the recipe written below.  If you don't want to make dough, you can always buy store-made.

Crab Mushroom Mixture:
1/2 cup chopped baby Bella mushrooms
1/3 cup chopped Shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
1 cup shredded crab meat
1/4 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup half & half
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shredded Pecorino-Romano cheese
1 tsp truffle oil
1/2 cup chopped arugula

Dough:
5 2/3 cup
2 1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp warm water
2 tsp active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
To make the dough using a mixer:
In a bowl, mix together the flour and salt.  In the mixer bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar.  Stir, then let rest for 5 minutes.  Stir in oil using a paddle attachment.

Gradually add in flour (still using paddle attachment).  After adding most of the flour, switch attachment to the hook. Add the rest of the flour.  Continue to mix until all flour is incorporated, then mix another 3 minutes.  Finish kneading dough on lightly floured surface. Cover with plastic wrap in a bowl.  Let rise at room temp for 1 hour.

Cook mushrooms over medium high heat in a large pan. Cook 6 minutes.  Add onion and cook 3 minutes.  Add crab and butter, stir.  Add flour and stir 2 minutes until flour is cooked.  Add half and half, truffle oil, and 2 tbsp cheese,  and stir until mixture has thickened, about 1 - 2 minutes.  Turn off heat and set aside.

Roll out in a circle about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick. Spread the crab mixture over the dough, leaving a half inch border.  Lightly coat the edge (crust) with olive oil.  Bake on parchment paper or on a cornmeal-covered surface.  Bake at 400* for about 12 minutes, until the edges turn golden brown.  Top with chopped arugula and remaining cheese.

Spinach Broccoli Pizza

I hosted a girl's night at my house suggesting we make our own pizzas.  When coming up with ideas, I thought of everything but your typical cheese or pepperoni.  The BBQ chicken pizza was one of them, plus this veggie pizza, and a caramelized onion, pear, and gruyere.  All of them were delicious!

With this pizza, you want to make sure you have a good crust and a flavorful white sauce.  There is not much sauce used in comparison with the amount of veggies, so it needs to stand out.  I start with infused milk.  Infusing milk is a really easy way to add flavor without calories.  You heat milk over the stove (careful not to boil).  You add peeled garlic cloves, chunks of onion, bay leaves, cloves, and parsley stems so the flavor leaks into the milk.  To thicken this milk, you then need to make a roux (equal parts butter and flour cooked together in a sauce pan).  Let the milk cool slightly and gradually add it to the roux stirring constantly.  Let that milk come to a low boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.

Spinach Broccoli Pizza

What you'll need:

- 1 whole wheat pizza crust (store bought or made)

- 1 cup nonfat milk

- 1/4 cup cream

- 3 garlic cloves, peeled

- 2 bay leaves

- 1/2 small onion, peeled

- 1/2 tbsp dried cloves

- 4 parsley stems

- 4 whole peppercorns (or later add in 1/2 tsp ground pepper)

- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

- 1 tbsp butter

- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, divided

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli (easy fix is to buy frozen)

- 2 packed cups spinach

- 1/2 tbsp olive oil

What to do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*F.  If using a baking stone, preheat for 30 minutes.  Roll out the dough to ~1/3" thick.  Let stand.

2.  Combine milk and the next 7 ingredients (through peppercorns) in a medium sauce pan.  Bring to a low simmer and keep simmering for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let cool slightly.  Remove all onion, cloves, etc.

3.  In a sauce pan, melt butter.  Add the flour and mix thoroughly.  Continue stirring  and cook the flour 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly add milk to flour mixture stirring constantly.  You can use a wire whisk, but a small rubber scraper does a better job of getting the flour mixture from the corner of the pan.  Add 2 tbsp parmesan cheese, then bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer; simmer 5 minutes stirring occasionally.  Mixture should be thick enough to stick to the back of a spoon.

4. Reserve 1/4 cup of sauce, and pour the rest over the dough.  In a bowl, mix olive oil and 1/4 cup sauce over the broccoli and spinach.  Spread veggies over the pizza.  Top with the remaining parmesan cheese.  Bake 12 minutes until crust is golden brown.  Recipe makes 4 servings.

Low-Cal BBQ Chicken Pizza

I love atypical pizzas.   I like something more interesting than tomato sauce and cheese.  I also really like finding ways to make pizza healthier.  I like to add lots of veggies and lean meat.  The fiber and protein help fill you up on fewer calories.  I still have something on the side of the pizza, whether its a salad or  fruit, to create a well-balanced meal.

Low-Cal BBQ Chicken Pizza

What you'll need:
- 1 whole wheat pizza dough (store bought or homemade)
- 1/4 cup tomato-based BBQ sauce
- 1/4 cup apple cider BBQ sauce
- 1 skinless chicken breast
- 1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/3 cup sliced red onion
- 1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar (or Colby Jack)
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp paprika

What to do:
- Preheat the oven to 400*F (or follow package directions for store bought dough). Heat a small or medium sauce pan filled 3/4 full of water.  Bring to a boil, add chicken, lower heat to a low simmer.  Cook 8 -10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken breast, until chicken temperature reaches 160*F.  Remove chicken and let sit.

- Roll the pizza dough out into a large circle or rectangle (I personally find rectangles easier).  The dough should be thin (~1/8" thick) but without holes.  Fold over the outside edges to create a crust.

-  Spread tomato-based BBQ sauce around the pizza dough.  Top with cut veggies, parsley, oregano, and paprika.

- When chicken has cooled, tear apart into thin, short strips.  Combined with apple cider BBQ sauce.  Spread chicken over veggies on the pizza.  Top with cheese.  Spread flour or corn meal over a  baking tray or pizza stone and bake for 8 - 12 minutes until cheese is bubbling and crust is golden brown.  Alternatively, you can cook the pizza on the grill- see directions below.  Recipe makes 3 - 4 servings.

Cooking pizza on the grill
The most important thing is that the pizza does not stick to the grill.  So it is good to pre-bake the pizza dough for a couple minutes.  Heat the oven to 400*F.  Put rolled out dough on parchment paper, then put on a baking tray.  Bake in the oven for 4 - 6 minutes, remove and cool.  On the grill, heat 2 burners on high, heat 1 or 2 burners(depending on the size of your grill) on medium-low heat.  When grill reaches ~400*F, put pizza on the 2 high heat burners, then lower heat to medium-low. You want to make sure the grill stays hot, but the crust does not burn.  Cook 4 minutes, lower the pizza burners to low heat, and increase the empty burners to medium-high.  Cook another 4 minutes and remove from grill.