Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Fire-Roasted Bell Pepper and Broiled Eggplant Pizza


I took an initiative and made a large batch of pizza dough. I'm going to be having myself some homemade pizzas for the next few weeks. W00T!! It was nice getting my hands dirty once again mixing up dough. Kneading it to the right consistency. Is it weird to say that I was way too excited to see the dough double in size. Goes to show how much I miss being in the kitchen.

For the first pizza, I fire-roasted a yellow bell pepper on my stove top to remove the skin and broiled the eggplants in the broiler at the same time. Did a little scoopage to separate the skin from the eggplant after.

I rolled out one of the dough into a super thin crust. Once baked it will be nice and crisp. I tend to prefer thin crust now-a-days, but I still like those bready ones, too. The sauce isn't anything special. It's just the canned version. I used Hunt's 4-cheese pasta sauce, which is pretty tasty. The cheese is shredded mozzarella. What you have here is a veggie-licious dish. Have it with a beer or a can of pop. Perfect for those movie and pizza nights. :)

Serves 2-3 depending on pizza size.


Pizza Dough
4 C All Purpose Flour plus (extra for dusting or you may use cornmeal)
2 c warm water (110 to 120˚F)
1 packet or 2 tsp dry active yeast
2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (plus extra for the bowl and basting)
1 tsp sugar

Combine the water, yeast and sugar together. Let is sit for roughly 5 min..

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and oil. Blend well. Add in the yeast mixture and mix all together until it forms into a dough ball.

On a well-floured surface. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes until almost elastic in feel. Place the dough into another bowl lubed with olive oil. Cover with platic wrap and a towel and keep away from light until the dough rises and doubles in size. Roughly 1-2 hours.

When the dough doubles, lightly punch down the dough to release the gases inside.

Layout the dough on a well-floured surface and divide into 4-6 balls. Wrap unused dough in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer until ready to use.



Fire-Roasted Bell Pepper and Broiled Eggplant Pizza


1 pizza dough (homemade or store dough)
1 yellow bell pepper
2 japanese eggplants
2 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c marinara, pasta sauce or your choice of pizza sauce
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your broiler. Slice the eggplant in half and baste is with some olive oil. Place on a baking pan and broil for 15-20 minutes. Flip half-way through. Once slightly charred on both sides remove from broiler and let cool before handling. Scoop out the meat and discard the skins. Give it a rough chop and set aside.

Turn on one flame of your stove to medium-high. Place the bell pepper directly on the flame. You want to char the skin until they have blackened. Use a pair of tongs to turn the bell pepper. Once most or all the skin has been charred, let it cool for a couple minutes before handling. Using the back of a knife or a straight edge, scrap off the skin. Then remove the seeds and give the bell pepper and rough chop.  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450˚F.

In a lightly dusted surface, roll out the dough until 1/8-inch thick. Place the dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Take a clean fork and perforate the dough all around, then evenly spread the marinara sauce. Take 1 cup of the cheese and sprinkle it over the sauce. Followed by the eggplant, then the bell pepper, then the rest of the cheese.

Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the entire pizza and bake for 10-15 minutes. Or until the crust looks lightly brown and crisp.

Serve warm.

21 comments:

  1. Yum! Can I come over for a slice? Seriously - I love working with a yeast dough. Something about the texture as you knead it and work it just feels so good in your hands. And then watching it come alive and grow in bulk. It's a magical thing!

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  2. what a superb idea! bookmarked for sometime this week :)

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  3. Looks so delicious! I have to try fire roasting the bell peppers next time!

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  4. Bell pepper and eggplant sound great for pizza! I do love a veggie-loaded thin crust pizza, so this is perfect for me.

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  5. This sounds like my kind of pizza, especially with those fire roasted peppers on top. Yum. By the way, I'm holding a CSN giveaway on my blog and you're welcome to come by and enter. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2010/11/45-csn-giveaway.html

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  6. Loving the fire roasted peppers! And I'm jealous you have all that pizza dough at your fingertips!

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  7. wow wow this pizza looks amazing great job :-)

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  8. I can't wait for our Pizza Night Thursday! I love roasted bell pepper on a pie but have never considered eggplant - now it's a must-try. 8-)

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  9. I've never made a homemade pizza before, and this sounds like an amazing idea. Definitely a keeper! http://beast-ro.blogspot.com/

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  10. This look delicious! I love that it's chock full of so many veggies - makes me feel less guilty about eating pizza!

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  11. My favortie snack! I love how thin it is.

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  12. I second Lana's request to come over for a slice? I bet I'm closer than her!

    Pizza dough freezes great, hence why I have stacks of TJ's dough in my freezer. LOL. I'm too lazy to make it myself!

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  13. I have had every intention of making my own pizza dough for ages now, but i've still not done it. I really need to, your pizza looks fab! Love the toppings.
    *kisses* HH

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  14. jenn this looks so good, what a fun idea!

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  15. That looks beautiful and yummy and much better than the frozen CPK pizzas I have planned tonight.

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  16. I would call the prospect of several homemade pizzas a result. Think I'll crack open a can of beer to celebrate :D

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  17. Your pizza looks fantastic. Love the thin, crispier crust. The fire roasted peppers sound like a great addition. I've got to try making homemade pizza dough soon!

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  18. This looks great! I love the addition of fire-roasted bell pepper...yum!

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  19. What a yummy sounding pizza, love the bell peppers and eggplant - you're talking to me on many levels

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Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a message. I'd love to hear from you. I do read them all. ;-D

--J