Yummy Pizza with Food Processor Crust

If you're anything like me, when you read the title of this, you thought that a Food Processor Crust sounds very odd.

Yes, it is a bit unusual, but I can honestly say that this is the BEST TASTING PIZZA CRUST ever and so simple to make! It's a great family project as you can make two larger pizzas or 4 individual sized and let the kids create their own pizza masterpieces.

Pizza Crust Instructions

One 1/4 ounce packet of yeast (abt 2 1/4 teaspoons if using jarred yeast)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 to 2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Combine 3/4 cup warm water (105° to 115°F), the yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade; let stand five minutes.

Add 1 3/4 cups of the flour, the salt, and oil; process until a soft dough forms. Add as much of the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, as necessary to make the dough manageable.

Shape the dough in a ball, place in an oiled bowl, turning so an oiled surface is up.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 35 minutes.

Use as directed in a recipe or refrigerate for use up to one day later. If refrigerated, bring to room temperature before using.

Makes about 4 individual sized pizza crusts or 2 large pizzas.

For two larger pizzas, split the dough in half and gently spread the dough on a slightly greased cookie sheet. For 4 individual pizzas, divide dough into 4 and spread out two on a cookie sheet.

Top with tomato sauce, then sprinkle on garlic powder, basil, oregano and then top with your favorite toppings (mine are below) and bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted.

My Favorite Pizza Toppings:

My favorite pizzas are veggie pizzas with little or no cheese and include all of the following of my favorite toppings:

Sliced Plum Tomatoes
Green Bell Peppers
Red Bell Peppers
Sweet Yellow Onions
Artichoke Hearts
Mushrooms
Black Olives

Yum! I hope you enjoy this as much as our family does! Tell me what your favorite toppings are!

Sharing a Little of My Polish Heritage

One of my hobbies is genealogy and I've learned a lot about my ancestors in the last 10 years of research, solved some family questions, met some very distant cousins and learned even more about my heritage. The past several years my research focus has been on my Polish ancestors who immigrated to the US and settled in western Pennsylvania.

Yesterday afternoon, I was trying to figure out what we were going to have for dinner and something popped into my mind that I have not had since I was a child - Halupkis. Both my grandmother and my mom used to make these a lot when I was young and it's a meal that my Polish great grandparents would have made, too. When we were little, our family called them Pigs in a Blanket which is a much different version than the hotdog in a crescent roll.

Making them and eating them last night brought back a lot of memories and took me back to envisioning my ancestors making them, too. So, I thought I would share this delicious Polish recipe with you.

Halupki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

4-6 servings

1 head cabbage
1 1/4 lbs ground meat
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 teaspoon parsley
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
1 cup cooked rice
2 cans tomato soup
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 3/4 cups water

In a large pot (I used an 8qt size), boil the head of cabbage 10-15 minutes. Carefully remove the leaves from the head after the cabbage has been boiled.

In a medium bowl, mix the meat, salt and pepper, egg, parsley, garlic, onion and rice together.

Place a spoonful of the meat mixture into a blanched cabbage leaf (use more meat mixture if the leaf is large) and roll the cabbage leaves to enclose the meat mixture.

In a 5-quart dutch oven, place some leaves of cabbage on bottom of pan.

Add cabbage rolls on top with the seams face down.

Mix tomato soup, sugar, vinegar, and water together.

Pour over cabbage rolls, cover and cook on medium heat for 1 1/2 hours.

Enjoy!

Celebrating Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend, please take a moment to reflect upon those who have given their lives so that ours may be better and honor them by flying an American Flag at your home or business. It's the least that we can do to let them and their families know how thankful we are for their sacrifices.

This holiday weekend is especially important to our family for two reasons. The first being honoring our cousin who was killed in Iraq on Christmas Day, the second reason is last year during this holiday weekend, we lost Karl's grandmother (Ean's great-grandmother) after a very sudden major stroke. Both of these two very special loved ones gave so much back to our family and they will forever be remembered in our hearts.

Since I know many of you will be celebrating with the First Official Cookout this weekend, I wanted to share with you one of our family's favorite recipes!

Mozzarella Stuffed Burgers
Preparation Time: 10 min. | Cooking Time: 6 min. | Serves: 4

Ingreidents:

• 1 1/2 lb raw ground sirloin beef
• 1/2 cup fresh Italian Parsley (flat-leaf)
• 1/4 cup Red Onions -- finely chopped
• 1/4 cup small Capers in a jar, drained
• 1/4 cup dijon Mustard
• 2 medium fresh Roma (plum) Tomatoes -- ripe, seeded and cut into 1/4" diced pieces
• Yolk from 2 large eggs
• 4 pieces sun-dried Tomatoes -- (8 halves) coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons Caraway seed
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4-6 teaspoons part-skim milk Mozzarella Cheese -- coarsely grated
  

Preparation:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, except the cheese - gently tossing with your hands. Do not overmix.
2. Divide mixture in half and make 4 patties out of one half.
3. Make a small indention in the center of each patty and place some of the grated mozzarella in each. Top with the remaining meat to finish the patties.
4. Grill over hot coals for 3 minutes on each side for rare -- or longer to taste.

Hope you Enjoy!