I feel so accomplished -- I actually made taco pizzas and got a bit of housework done yesterday! I didn't spend any time outside in the (rare) sunshine, but I made dough, baked pizzas, and cleaned out the fridge! And played way too much of "The Sims." I really didn't expect such motivation by the time I got home from work, but somehow mustered some anyway.
I wanted to make taco pizza similar to the one Pizza Oven in Bangor serves (UPDATE: I have just been informed that Pizza Oven has recently ceased to exist! Obviously I don't go there very often, but that was my favorite pizza place when I was growing up! The memories! Whatever will I do?), but I wanted it to be a bit more "guiltless." As I thought about this on my way home from work, I decided I needed a whole grain crust, reduced fat cheese, and lots of veggies. In the midst of these thoughts, an epiphany occurred... I have a set of four mini pie tins. I could make mini pizzas! Not only is it a great portion control mechanism, but it also totally kicks up the cuteness factor! With all this in mind, I was ready to rock.
I started by looking for a dough recipe that sounded good and was whole-wheat flour based. The first place I looked was in my "Vegetarian Times" cookbook, which is very nice and very heavy and had a 100% whole-wheat recipe that sounded decent. Then I remembered that I own "Smart Bread Machine Recipes" by Sandra L. Woodruff. It is, hands down, my favorite bread cookbook. The breads are all whole-grain based and use very few dairy products or refined sweeteners. I know, it may sound a bit too crunchy for the average bread baker, but I love it. I bake something from it for every family holiday meal, and there are rarely leftovers.
A side note -- don't hate me because I use a bread machine. I've had it since the beginning of bread machine time, and I admit I baked a lot of bread in it the first couple of years I had it. Now I only use it to mix dough. I always bake my bread in the oven now. The texture, for whatever reason, is countless times better than when it's baked in the machine. Plus, bread dough is just fun to play with. Someday, when I get my dream purple Kitchenaid stand mixer (to match my purple blender, of course!), the bread machine will be passed on to some unsuspecting person who never knew he/she needed/wanted a bread machine.
The crust recipe I found couldn't have been more fitting for my plans -- it's called "Fiesta Pizza!" Here are the ingredients:
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1/4 cup whole-grain cornmeal
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar (I use Sucanat, an unrefined sugar, for almost all of my baking)
I threw everything into the machine, set it on "dough only," and went about my business. An hour and a half later...
I had a bread machine pan full of what looked to be a very sticky dough. I was scared. I bake a lot of bread, but I still don't always have the best luck handling the dough. This one looked extra intimidating. But I got out my purple silicone spatula and scraped the dough out onto a floured kneading mat. It turned out, surprisingly, to be very easy to handle. From my one pound lump of dough, I made eight two-ounce balls. I froze four. I rolled out the other four and laid them into my mini pie tins. Into each crust went (in this order) a spoonful of salsa, a small handful of organic reduced fat cheddar cheese, a bit of diced red onion, a few pieces of chopped pickled jalapenos, some crushed baked tortilla chips (I like both Baked Tostitos and Guiltless Gourmet), and another small sprinkling of cheese (for good measure). I baked them at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until the edges of the crusts were nicely browned, and voila...
Aren't they adorable? The red onion, I think, is very pretty. Now... if only I'd remembered to put in the tomatoes I bought especially for this occasion, they'd be perfect! I am not the biggest fan of straight-up tomatoes (though I love tomato sauce, salsa, etc.), but I do really like them on pizza, and they would have made this even better than it already is. The crust is super chewy, with that added cornmeal crunch I love so much. The salsa and jalapenos add just the right amount of heat. The chips make a great topping you wouldn't expect on pizza. All in all, a very successful venture. Next time I'll try to remember the tomatoes.
