Recipe: Gyro Pizza

So, just in case I forgot to mention it, pizza is basically my favorite food.  Pasta would be 2.  Pizza is definitely number 1.  Pizza is a food of infinite possibilities.  Take a crust, then go crazy!  Sauce is usually good, but not always necessary.  Add some cheese.  Or don't.  Throw on some meat.  Or veggies.  Or fruit even!  There are so many interesting ways to make pizza.  Tomato sauce and cheese is great if you want traditional, but I like to throw out all the rules and come up with some crazy combinations. 

My husband Scott loves to smoke things on his Big Green Egg.  He decided to smoke some gyro meat, but you could easily pick some up at a take out place, or even just use sauteed ground lamb.  Or sub out chicken even.  But the lamb adds such a great flavor that is hard to get in other kinds of meat.

This recipe is not particularly weight watchers friendly, and I did not calculate the points.  This is one of those splurge and enjoy meals. 

Here is the recipe:



Scott's smoked gyro meat
and sauteed shallot

Gyro Pizza
Servings depend on how you cut your pizza and how hungry you are.

Pizza dough (you can use store bought, but my favorite homemade pizza dough recipe is the cornmeal pizza crust from Martha Stewart)

For the toppings:
1 Shallot, thinly sliced
1 cup gyro meat, diced or ground lamb, sauteed
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled or diced

For the sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
Small eggplant, peeled and diced
Red pepper flakes

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. While you are rolling out the pizza, roast the eggplant in the pre-heated oven until cooked through and very soft.  Remove and let cool.

Roll out the pizza dough so that it fits on your pizza pan (I use a Lodge cast iron pizza pan that I LOVE).  Par-bake for 10 minutes, or until your dough is about half way to done.



The sauce isn't much to look at, but
tastes amazing.  It would even make a
good dip!

In the meantime, saute the slice shallot in a drizzle of olive oil, then toss with the gyro meat.

For the sauce, use either a food processor, regular blender or immersion blender to puree the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and roasted eggplant until smooth.  Seasone with salt and red pepper flakes and puree for a few more seconds.

Ready to go in the oven

Once the pizza dough is half-cooked, pull it out of the oven and spread the sauce, then top with the crumbled feta and gyro meat/shallot mixture. Bake for another 10 minutes or until the dough is completely cooked through.









Hot out of the oven!

I served this with some tzatziki sauce to dip the crust into, and it was divine!

Indian inspired Pizza

Pizza is one of my favorite foods.  I could eat it pretty much every day, not even joking.  But I get bored of the same old tomato sauce/mozzarella cheese combo, so I try to mix it up.  Some combinations are more successful than others, and the pizza I made last night was a definite winner.  The recipe has several parts.

Indian-inspired Pizza

For the dough, I like to make my own.  It takes about 10 minutes in my stand mixer, and about an hour to rise, and is so much better than store bought, but feel free to pick some up at the store.  Whole Foods makes a good whole grain dough that would work in this recipe.

This is my go to dough recipe, from Martha Stewart.  The cornmeal adds a nice crunch. I use half the recipe for a pizza for 2 people.

Cornmeal Pizza Dough

Ingredients

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Pinch of sugar

2/3 cups warm water

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1/4 cup cornmeal, plus more for pizza peel or baking sheet

1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl

Directions

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the warm water. Let stand until yeast is dissolved and mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.

Combine flour, cornmeal, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the yeast mixture and oil. Slowly stir ingredients with a wooden spoon just until dough starts to come together. Turn out dough on a lightly floured work surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes. Let rise for 1 hour in a lightly oiled bowl.

For the pizza

¼ head of cauliflower

Pinch of garam masala

Olive oil in a spray bottle

4 ounces goat cheese

Slightly under ripe mango, diced

One bottle Seeds of Change Jalfrezi Sauce

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Dice up the cauliflower, sprinkle with garam masala, spritz with olive oil and bake for about 15 minutes or until just turning brown.

Spread the pizza dough out on a pizza pan, sprinkle with a garam masala, spritz with olive oil and bake.  I use a cast iron Lodge pan to make pizza, and it comes out nice and crispy.  Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven.

Take the Jalfrezi sauce and puree it with a stick blender or in a regular blender.  Spread over pizza, then top with the roasted cauliflower and the goat cheese.  Bake for another 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven; sprinkle the diced mango over the pizza.  Slice and serve.

This was a great combination of sweet with the goat cheese, tart with the mango, spicy with the sauce and smoky with the garam masala.  Try this to turn your pizza night into something different!