What's for Dinner - Pizza & a salad

Tonight's dinner was courtesy of my most recent issue of Cook's Country magazine. I'm not sure I've ever made something bad out of one of my CC and tonight was no exception. My husband is, in fact, insisting that I share the recipes with you here.

I made Grandma Pizza and Antipasto Salad. Grandma Pizza is apparently quite popular in Long Island, NY but not so well know in other places. I had certainly never heard of it. It's not anything complicated, though, just cheese and tomatoes. But, it was very good. See below for recipe.

With it, we had Antipasto Salad which was packed full of flavorful ingredients (and a few substitutions to accommodate what I had on hand).

Grandma Pizza

Note: the method they had for forming the dough worked great, and I will use it again in the future with other pizzas).

Dough

3 TB olive oil

3/4 c. water - I used warm water

1 1/2 c. bread flour (8 1/4 oz - I have a kitchen scale, so I weighed out the 1 1/2 cups that I measured...it was over an ounce short, so I highly recommend a kitchen scale)

2 1/4 tsp. instant or rapid-rise yeast (1 packet)

1 tsp. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

Topping

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 TB olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. salt

8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)

1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

2 TB chopped fresh basil

For the dough:

Coat rimmed baking sheet with 2 TB oil. Combine water and remaining 1 TB oil in a liquid measuring cup. Using stand mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour, yeast, sugar, and salt on low speed until combined (or just whisk it...that's what I did). With mixer on low speed, slowly add water mixture and mix until dough comes together, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium low and mix until dough is smooth and comes away from sides of bowl, about 10 minutes.

Transfer dough to greased baking sheet and turn to coat (oops...forgot to turn it). Stretch dough to 10 by 6-inch rectangle (I needed some flour on my hands to do this). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Stretch dough (again with floured hands) to corners of pan (let rest if you can't get it and try again in a few minutes), cover loosely and let rise in warm place until slightly puffed, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 500 degrees.

For the topping:

Drain tomatoes in a colander. Combine drained tomatoes, oil, garlic, oregano, and salt in bowl. Combine mozzarella and Parmesan in second bowl. Sprinkle cheese mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border around edges. Top with tomato mixture and bake until well browned and bubbling, about 15 minutes. Slide pizza onto wire rack, sprinkle with basil, and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve.

I might let mine cook a bit longer next time, even though the edges of the crust were getting pretty brown. The middle was not as crisp as I was hoping. But, it tasted great.

On to the salad...

Antipasto Salad

So, this is a little more complicated salad recipe than I would typically advocate. But, it really is good (unless you don't like vinegar). The flavors are bold. Also, I'm going to share how we made it. The original recipe called for artichoke hearts (9oz frozen...thawed and patted dry) instead of the cucumbers I used and black olives (not our favorite). Otherwise, I stayed true to the recipe.

2/3 c. red wine vinegar

1/4 c. water

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. dried oregano

salt and pepper

1 red onion, halved and sliced 1/4 in. thick (I used about 3/4 of an onion)

1 med. cucumber, diced

1/3 c. sliced banana peppers

2 TB olive oil

2 Romaine hearts, chopped - Actually, I just used a lettuce mix that we like and had on hand, that is half spinach - the Romaine would be better and hold up to the other ingredients

10 oz cherry tomatoes, halved

3 (1/4 inch thick) slices provolone cheese (6 oz), cut into 1-inch long matchsticks

3 (1/4 inch thick) slices salami (6 oz), cut into 1-inch long matchsticks

Basil leaves, torn

Bring vinegar, water, garlic, oregano and 1 tsp salt to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until onion is nearly tender, 5-7 minutes. (Add artichoke hearts at this point, cook 3 more minutes). Off heat, add banana peppers and cucumbers. Transfer mixture to a bowl and refrigerate until cool, about 20 minutes.

Drain marinated vegetables through strainer and reserve 1/4 c. vinegar mixture. Toss marinated vegetables with 1 TB olive oil in bowl. Whisk remaining 1 TB oil into reserved vinegar mixture until thoroughly incorporated. Toss romaine, tomatoes, salami, provolone with vinaigrette in large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer salad mixture to platter and top with marinated vegetables, (olives) and basil.

Dig in.