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Monday, April 9, 2007

Pizza or Nachos?

Once again, drawing from Cooking Light....we had a very successful appetizer/dinner this weekend. Grilled Shrimp Pizza. Yum. It could be either: appetizer, because of the crispy crust and light taste; or dinner, just serve with a salad!
Though the recipe calls for this to cook on the grill, we cooked the pizza in the oven and it still turned out delicious! The shrimp tasted great from the grill, though I am sure you could cook them on the stove as well.
Don't be turned off by the fact that this calls for you to make your own dough...it is really simple and pretty quick to do. You could also make it ahead of time and freeze it in a freezer Ziploc bag. Just dust the dough with flour before freezing and let it thaw in the fridge over night before rolling it out.

Dough:
2 teaspoons honey
1 package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 ounces)
6 tablespoons stone-ground yellow cornmeal,
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons olive oil

Remaining ingredients:
36 large shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 1 pound)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) queso fresco, crumbled
6 tablespoons green salsa,
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, divided (optional)

1. To prepare dough, dissolve honey and yeast in 1 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes.
2. Add 2 cups flour, 2 tablespoons cornmeal, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms.
3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 6 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly sticky).
4. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover with a towel or damp paper towel and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)

5. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough), roll each into a 10-inch circle (mine turned out to be rectangles) on a floured surface.
6. Place dough on 2 rimless baking sheets, each sprinkled with 2 tablespoons cornmeal. Brush each portion with 1 teaspoon oil; coat lightly with cooking spray. Place in refrigerator until you are ready to top (at least 10 minutes).

7. Thread 6 shrimp onto each of 6 (12-inch) wooden skewers. Sprinkle shrimp with 1/8 teaspoon salt (we did garlic salt and it was great!!!).
8. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill for 2 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done. Cool slightly, and coarsely chop.
9. Combine cheeses.
10. Slide dough onto grill rack coated with cooking spray, using a spatula as a guide (or do the same in on your oven rack, preheated to about 375).
11. Grill about 2 minutes or until lightly browned; flip and brown other side.
12. Spread 3 tablespoons salsa over crust, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Top with half of the shrimp and 2 cups cheese mixture. Grill an additional 3 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese melts. Remove and keep warm.
13. Repeat procedure with remaining dough, salsa, shrimp, and cheese mixture. Sprinkle each pizza with 1/4 cup cilantro. Cut each pizza into 6 wedges.

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