Saturday, July 28, 2012

Power Pizza

Recipe Category: Dinner section: Power Pizza: Crafted by Missy Lapine
This homey, inviting, satisfying meal hosts three power vegetables, energizing your kids (And you!). If you want to make it even more kid-friendly, bake smaller pizzas, so that the kids can adorn their own personal pan with the optional toppings listed below. Also, I have enclosed a homemade pizza dough recipe below (courtesy of Jamie Oliver) that we enjoy using because of its great thickness and texture. Here is the guarantee: There will be hardly any dishes to wash, because your kids will gobble up every last bit of their pizza! Missy says that you can prepare the pizza ahead of time without baking it, and you can just pop it in the oven when ready to eat!

*Below is the Orange Puree, the White Bean Puree, and a rough copy of the recipe. Please remember that you can always view the entire full recipe by purchasing Missy Lapine's first book, The Sneaky Chef. This recipe is found in the Dinner section. Also below is the pizza dough recipe by Jamie Oliver.



Orange Puree: 


Supplies You Will Need: (To make about two to three cups of Puree)
1 or two sweet potatoes/yams, peeled and roughly chopped
Several medium to large carrots, or about a cup of small snack size carrots
2 to 3 tablespoons water




Process: 


Process:
Place the veggies in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil for about 20 minutes, or until very, very tender. You need them to be very malleable, otherwise you will have small pieces of veggies floating around inside the dish. This would reveal the puree.
Drain the veggies and place in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of water. Pulse until you have crafted a very smooth puree. You can add another tablespoon to smooth it out if you must. 
You can store this puree for up to three days in the refrigerator, or store in the freezer in small portions for up to three months. 


*Remember that with this puree, and for all purees of that matter, the less water makes a better puree.


White Bean Puree: (To make about 1 cup of puree)


Supplies You Will Need:
1 15 ounce can of white beans (great northern, navy, cannellini) 
2 to 3 tablespoons water


Process:
Drain the beans and pulse in the bowl of a food processor. Add two tablespoon of water to make it smoother. Since you are pureeing beans, you may have to stop occasionally to push the bean contents to the bottom. The aim of this puree is the consistency of peanut butter. This puree can be stored in the refrigerator for three days, or in the freezer for months.



Ingredients

  • 7 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour or 5 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour, plus 2 cups finely ground semolina flour
  • 1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
  • 2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dried yeast
  • 1 tablespoon raw sugar
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
Sift the flours and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a large measuring cup, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.
Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.
Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands - this is called punching down the dough. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straightaway, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas - this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas.
Timing-wise, it's a good idea to roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20 minutes before you want to cook them. Don't roll them out and leave them hanging around for a few hours, though - if you are working in advance like this it's better to leave your dough, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator. However, if you want to get them rolled out so there's 1 less thing to do when your guests are round, simply roll the dough out into rough circles, about 1/4-inch thick, and place them on slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted aluminum foil. You can then stack the pizzas, cover them with plastic wrap, and pop them into the refrigerator.

Power Pizza: (Yields one large pizza or four smaller pizzas)


Supplies You Will Need:
1 store bought pizza dough or recipe above
3/4 cup tomato sauce
3 tablespoons Orange Puree which you made earlier
1/4 cup White Bean Puree
1 to 2 cups low fat shredded mozzarella cheese
Optional toppings: sliced mushrooms, onions, sweet peppers, artichoke hearts


Process: 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and spray a baking sheet with oil. Roll out the pizza dough to form a pie structure. Combine the purees with the tomato sauce, and spread over the dough. Top with the cheese as desired. You can either cover and refrigerate for later use, or you can bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. Allow to cool, add optional toppings, and serve in triangles.






 Sneaky Tip From Missy!-
Missy says that the optional extra boosts in any recipes make the dish even healthier, however she can't promise them in disguise. Approach these in caution, making sure your child will eat it before you ruin the entire dish.





Thanks for viewing this recipe by Missy Lapine! To view the full version of this recipe, and any other recipes, I would encourage you to purchase The Sneaky Chef, available on Amazon, Ebay, and local bookstores everywhere!
Thanks again-
Grace Gilbert
Pictures are featured below!!!














The Purees Spread on the Pizzas!














Pepperonis Top Them...














Finished with an Adornment of Cheese and Basil!!!


















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