Perfect Pizza Crust and Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza

I've been wanting to make my own pizza crust for a really long time, but for some reason I've been hesitant. I've never been much of a bread beaker and I tend to avoid recipes that deal with kneading or rising. Yesterday, though, Ross and I decided to be brave and try making our own pizza dough for Valentines Day dinner. (On a side note: I absolutely love when Ross gets involves with a cooking project. It makes it a lot more fun. Ross, if you're reading this. Hint, Hint!)

If you're going to start making pizza dough I figured that a recipe called "Perfect Pizza Crust" was the place to start. I cannot express to you just how impressed I was with this recipe. It had a big name to live up to, and it did. The crust really is pefect. It's the perfect thickness and it's crispy yet chewy at the same time. The pizza that came out of the oven was one of the best pizzas I've ever eaten. I couldn't stop marveling in our accomplishment and that made every bite taste better! I can't wait to try this recipe again subbing some of the white flour for whole wheat.

If you're at all thinking about tackling pizza dough from scratch, search no further. This is the recipe you want.

I chose to throw some roasted garlic, pesto, chicken, mozzarella, and parmesan on mine, but with this dough I'm sure you could put anything on it and it would still be amazing!

The Perfect Pizza Curst
Source: Annies Eats (great blog!) orginally from Baking Illustrated
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp.) instant yeast
• 1 1/4 cups water, at room temp
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plug more for dusting
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• Cornmeal
  
• olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing bowl
  

Directions:

1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
2. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.
3. To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
4. Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza Adapted from Annies Eats Ingredients:

• 1 perfect pizza crust (recipe above)
  
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto (store bough or homemade)
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked
  
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. To roast the garlic: Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed. Remove garlic gloves and smash with a fork.
2. Spread roasted garlic over pizza dough. Do this to taste. I used almost the whole (small) bulb, but I LOVE roasted garlic.
   
3. Spread the pesto on the pizza.
4. Add the sliced, cooked chicken.
5. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
6. Top with fresh grated parmesan.
7. Bake on preheated pizza stone for 8 - 12 minutes.
   

Pasta with Pesto, Chicken, Sundried Tomatoes, Toasted Pinenuts, & Feta

I know the title of the recipe is extremely long but I didn't want to leave out any ingredients since they all add so much to the dish. This is, hands down, Ross' favorite meal that I make! If he had to pick one dish that I make to eat over and over and over again, this would be it. I originally got the recipe from All Recipes and have been making it about once or twice a month for years now. It's not the prettiest dish in the world, but what it lacks in color it makes up for in taste.

You start by cooking some chicken... or if you want to make it easy on yourself just shred up a rotessire chicken from the store. The sauce is fairly simple. It's a combination of chicken broth and pesto (the premade kind that you can buy in a store) that is cooked down with a little cornstarch to thicken it up. In the end it almost has the consistency of a creamy pesto sauce, but without all the fat! The sundried tomatoes and toasted pinenuts are added to the sauce, and them some feta is thrown in at the last minute. And don't foreget the fresh basil and fresh grated parmesan cheese for the perfect finishing touch. And yes, that IS basil from my garden that I grew myself! (I'm clearly very excited about this... it's a first for me)

Of course I have to do what I can to make the dish a little healthier. I always use whole wheat pasta; penne or rotini work best here. I use low sodium chicken broth because the salitness of the feta is enough. And I use the reduced-fat feta because honestly, I can't tell the difference. It would be super easy to make this dish vegetarian. Just swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth, and add tofu instead of chicken.


Now as delicious as this dish is the night you make it, it really shines the next day. This is amazing cold! It make a great next day lunch. It also makes a great do ahead pasta salad if you're having company.

Recipe: Adapated from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite size pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup prepared basil pesto
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 (16 ounce) package fusilli pasta
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook chicken in oil with garlic in a large skillet over medium heat until done.
2. Stir cornstarch into a couple of tablespoons of chicken broth. Stir remaining chicken broth, sun dried tomatoes, pesto, pine nuts, and basil into the skillet with the chicken. Mix cornstarch mixture into the sauce, and cook until thickened. Add feta a few minutes before serving.
3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain. Serve sauce over pasta, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.