CEiMB post below this one: BAREFOOT BLOGGERS - White Pizza with Arugula

I'm a pizza lover. But only if it has a white sauce or a thin layer of red sauce. If it is running over with red sauce, I'll share. Otherwise, get out of my way while I cut myself the largest piece! One of my favorite pizzas is California Pizza Kitchen's club salad pizza. When I saw the recipe that Andrea of Nummy Kitchen chose for this week, that is immediately what came to my mind.
The dough was easy to mix up but I tried to halve the recipe and just make one pizza instead of the six small ones Ina suggested. And there is a reason the lemon in the above picture looks like it has already had the life squeezed out of it. Because it has. I squeezed the lemon juice and then remembered I needed a slice for the pizza!

This was delicious and will be made again at my house! Check out Andrea's and the other Barefoot Bloggers and see how theirs turned out here! That Ina Garten never fails to deliver a great recipe. At first glance, it may "sound" complicated, but it really is not.
Ingredients
For the dough:nocoupons
1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110) water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
Good olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, sliced
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
For the topping:nocoupons
3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces)
1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese (7 ounces)
11 ounces creamy goat cheese, such as montrachet, crumbled
For the vinaigrette:nocoupons
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces baby arugula
1 lemon, sliced
Directions
Mix the dough.
Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.
Knead by hand.
When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.
Let it rise.
Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Make garlic oil.
Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Be sure your oven is clean!)
Portion the dough.
Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Place the doughs on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.
Stretch the dough.
Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 circles on each sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)
Top the dough.
Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.
Make the vinaigrette.
Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Add the greens.
When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.
TIP Make sure the bowl is warm before you put the water and yeast in; the water must be warm for the yeast to develop.
TIP Salt inhibits the growth of yeast; add half the flour, then the salt, and then the rest of the flour.
TIP To make sure yeast is still "alive," or active, put it in water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. If it becomes creamy or foamy, it's active.

Comments

natalia said…
Ciao ! I came to read about the trip ! Love your pizza !
Cathy said…
Oh, this looks wonderful - I need to go back and make it. I have a "usual" pizza dough recipe, but Ina's sounds really great with the honey. Love the toppings too - yours looks beautiful!
liza said…
wow! this looks fantastic!!
recipe sounds good!!
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Spike said…
You're right it does look complicated but was pretty easy (and delicious)! Glad you liked it
Anonymous said…
Yum. I love white pizza. This looks good.
Peggy, your pizza looks perfect! I'm so glad you liked it, I think we have the same taste in pizza, sometimes I find myself scraping off the too much sauce that goops out the side of some pizzas. It has to be an amazing sauce for me to eat it like that, I'm partial to the thin sauce layer as well.

I love you pizza pan, I've been thinking about trying one of those with the holes for crisper bottoms. Lately I've been using a baking stone but I bet I'd like the pan too!

Thanks for cooking along with me on this pick :)
Kathy Walker said…
Your pizza looks wonderful! It was certainly delicious, wasn't it?
Suzie said…
This looks really good. I am jealous of your pan - very professional looking.
Leslie said…
This looks insanely good! I almost made one big one but didn't want to do that with my first pizza and mess it up. I made the whole recipe of dough and froze the rest for another night.

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