GRILLED PIZZA

I'm loving the weather, yay i have the reason to grill again. This time we had grilled pizza. I made Enrichin's (Lenny) here
pizza dough from his cook book "Enrichin' Your Kitchen"..:Chapter "Traditional Family Specialties"

Basic Pizza Dough

INGREDIENTS :
3 -3 ½ cups flour
1 pkg. Dry Active Yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
1 pinch of sugar
1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:
1.Warm a medium mixing bowl by swirling hot water in it. Drain.

2.Place yeast in the bowl, pour on warm water.

3.Stir in sugar, mix with fork and allow to stand 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast has dissolved and starts to form.

4.Use a wooden spoon to mix the salt and 1/3 the flour, stirring with the spoon until the dough forms a mass and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

5.Sprinkle some of the flour onto a smooth work surface. I usually use a wooden board.

6.Remove dough from bowl and begin to knead it working in the remaining flour a little at a time. Knead for about 10 minutes. By the end the dough should be elastic and smooth. Form into a ball. Lightly oil a mixing bowl and place dough in the bowl.

7.Cover with a moisten clean dish towel, set it in a warm place until the dough doubles in size.

8.This take about 45 minutes to an hour. To test if the dough is ready poke two fingers into the dough.

9.If indentions remain, the dough is ready. You will need to work the dough one more time. Knead for 1 to 2 minutes to release the air.

****If a pizza dough is not available, you can substitute it w/ tortilla , lavash, flatbread or pita bread. These are the crust i used before. I suggest a thin crust would be best for grilling, it's quick and crispy.

1. Brush one side with olive oil and grill that side for few minutes.





2. Assemble your toppings on the grilled side. So the uncooked one will be on the bottom when you place the crust back to the grill. I used Italian hot sausage. Remove the casings, and cook the sausage first before the assembly. I used mozarella and provolone for the cheese. Close the grill and cook for about 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Until the gas ran out so i had to finish the last pizza in the oven but overall the pizza was good!!!.


This was the pizza that had to be cooked in the oven.

GIVE THIS A TRY, AND TELL ME W/C WOULD YOU PREFER, GRILLED PIZZA OR THE BAKED PIZZA.

ENJOY!!!!

MANAKEESH "MIDDLE EASTERN PIZZA"

In the Middle East they serve and eat this for breakfast but for me it's anytime of the day. I make this at home using fresh baked pita w/c i buy from a middle eastern bakeshop. As you guys know i've been baking bread lately and thought of making pizza dough to make manakeesh. I think i prefer the thin crust pizza dough, i love the crisp as oppose to the chewyness of the pita, but really either way, FRESH pita bread or homemade pizza dough will work.

I made my pizza dough and divided them into 18 small balls. Then made free formed mini pizza.Make sure to crank up your oven temp to 500 DEGREES and have your pizza stone heated up.

ALL MY MEASUREMENTS ARE ESTIMATES. IT'LL ALL DEPEND ON HOW MANY CRUSTS YOU WILL MAKE.

Mix together 2 T Olive oil, 3 T Zatar, 1 T Sumac and 1 t Lemon juice. I know Zatar has sumac but i want to taste more sumac.

IF YOU MADE TOO MUCH MIXTURE USE THEM TO COAT ANYKIND OF FISH THEN BAKE..YUM!

ZATAR / ZAATAR/ ZA-ATAR - An herb mixture composed of savory, thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds. A prepared mixture of this herb mixture can be found at most Middle Eastern groceries






SUMAC/ SUMAK - A Middle Eastern spice that comes from the grated skin of a dark berry. It has a slightly acidic, astringent flavor. I also use this w/ my lentil soup, YUMMY!

The green powder is Zatar and the red is Sumac.

SAUCE TOPPING INGREDIENTS FOR MANAKEESH: Zatar, Sumac, Labna, Feta Cheese, Lemon

LABNA, LABNEH, LABNE - A Middle Eastern Yogurt cheese also called kefir cheese.


Make your own vegetable toppings. The Zatar/Sumac mixture will be your sauce toppings or if you can't really find or make your zatar make the yogurt as your sauce toppings.
Arrange them on your heated pizza stone and bake for 5 to 10 minutes.

I USED SPINACH, RED ONIONS, TOMATOES FOR MY VEGGIE TOPPINGS AND ADDED FETA CHEESE AND DOLLOP OF YOGURT OR MAKE SOME WITHOUT CHEESE BUT FOR THESE CRUSTS I SPREAD SOME LABNA FIRST THEN THE ZATAR MIXTURE

THESE ARE SOME OF THE MANAKEESH VARIATIONS I MADE.

MANAKEESH USING PITA BREAD. THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME TO MAKE THEM AT HOME, SO YOU'LL NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MY FIRST AND THE LATEST I MADE. i'M TALKING 2005 - 2009.

I DIDN'T MIX THE ZATAR AND THE SUMAC WITH THE OLIVE OIL. I DRIZZLED THEM W/ OLIVE OIL. IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS!!

I PRECOOKED MY VEGGIES BUT THEN AGAIN IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS!!! GO FIGURE