When Joann suggested the idea of a collaborative Pizza & a Movie post, I got really excited. We eat pizza on a pretty regular basis, and getting the family together to watch a movie is one of the best ways to get the busy teenager in my house to actually interact with the rest of us. I chose Forrest Gump because it seems like the adults in the house quote it all the time, and the teen in the house has never seen it.
Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.
My favorite pizza is homemade, of course, and starts with a basic “5 Minute a Day Bread” pizza dough recipe. This is actually my favorite way to make dough because it’s pretty much a case of stick the ingredients in my old crockpot insert (the one I don’t use for cooking anymore), cover, and after the initial 2-hour rise, stick in the fridge. Necessity is the mother of invention (please read that to mean, I didn’t have the money or the time to go find a fancy crock for my bread dough)!
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp yeast
- 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- 4 cups whole white wheat flour
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large bowl.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are incorporated. You do NOT need to knead this dough.
- Cover with a non-airtight lid and leave on counter for about 2 hours, or until dough has risen and doubled in size.
- Once risen, place the container in the refrigerator for at least three hours. Do not punch dough down!
- The dough will eventually collapse in the refrigerator. This is normal. Use the dough within 14 days.
- Prepare toppings.
- For each pizza, use a baseball size of dough.
- Flour your surface so the dough doesn't stick.
- Flatten dough with your hands and roll out with a rolling pin to desired size.
- Place on a pizza peel (to transfer to a baking stone) or baking sheet.
- Add your toppings.
- Slide pizza onto stone or place baking pan in an oven preheated to 400°F.
- Bake for 8-15 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust is done (use your peel or a spatula to check for doneness on the bottom of the pizza.
Something from my basket generally ends up in almost every meal I make. Bountiful Baskets truly has changed the way we eat. Even on something as simple as my shrimp pizza, I feel the need to add vegetables. I wanted peppers or chiles, so to accommodate both the spicy lovers and the spicy haters, I made two pizzas and used roasted peppers and hatch chiles.
Ingredients
- Pizza Dough
- 1 (8oz) jar tomato sauce
- 2 (8oz) jars marinated bell peppers or green chiles (or 1 of each)
- 1 1/2 lbs raw shrimp, peeled
- 1 1/2 tsp cajun seasoning
- 2 tbsp spicy garlic hot sauce
- 1 lb mozzarella cheese, grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Roll out pizza dough according to pizza dough instructions. You should have two pizza crusts.
- Mix shrimp with cajun seasoning and hot sauce.
- Spread pizza crusts with tomato sauce. Mix additional hot sauce in with tomato sauce if you like it extra spicy.
- Chop peppers and chiles.
- Spread peppers and chiles over crusts. I used marinated peppers on one and chiles on the other to separate the spice.
- Place shrimp on each crust.
- Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Place pizza on preheated pizza stone and cook for 10-15 minutes (until shrimp is cooked and crust is crispy).
- Remove from oven and enjoy.
Notes
This particular pizza recipe works best when using a preheated pizza stone.
The final product was a big hit with my family. The spice lovers LOVED the pizza with the hatch chiles. The non-spice lovers LOVED the pizza with the marinated peppers. And we all loved the movie. What more could you ask for?
