enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe

40 pizzas / bacon & date.

pizza no. 20 : bacon & date.

occasion : Paul's family is in town.

crust : our whole wheat usual. (I promise I have plans to try something different soon!)

sauce : olive oil.

cheese : pepper jack.

toppings : cooked bacon, chopped dates, green onion.

thoughts : at a new favorite dinner spot, we tried an appetizer that was bacon wrapped dates plus pepper jack cheese. Since it's next to impossible for us to try a new flavor combination without sticking it on a pizza, we knew this would be happening. At the last second before we stuck it in the oven I told Paul it needed some color. We decided on green onions and added them to the pizza for the last five minutes of baking so they wouldn't burn. They were the perfect touch to a pretty great pizza.

40 pizzas / grill pan style.

pizza no. 19 : BBQ chicken in a grill pan.

occasion : I saw this pizza recipe on A Beautiful Mess where they cooked a pizza in a cast iron pan. We don't own one, but we have a cast iron grill pan and I wanted to see what the results would be.

crust : a smaller version of our whole wheat usual. Here it is again since this one is cooked up a bit differently :

• 1/2 C water (at about 100*F)
• 1 T yeast
• 1 t white sugar
• 2/3 C white flour
• 2/3 C wheat flour
• a little less than 1 t salt
• a little less than 1 T olive oil

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the water, yeast and sugar. Give it about 10 minutes to "bubble." The sugar will help activate the yeast. Add in the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix with a dough hook until dough comes together and is tacky but not sticky to the touch (add more flour or water if needed). Cover the bowl with a clean towel and allow the dough to rise for 4-8 hours in a warm area. (We stick ours in the garage in the summer.)

When you are ready to build your pizza, roll out the dough on a clean surface with some flour until you have a flat sheet that will fit your grill pan. Brush olive oil on your grill pan to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully transfer the dough into the grill pan, rolling up the edges if needed. Build your pizza on top (sauce first, cheese then toppings). Cook on the stove-top for about 5 minutes then transfer to the oven for about 20-25 or until the crust is firm and cheese bubbles.

sauce :  BBQ sauce.

cheese : jack and cheddar.

toppings : grilled chicken, onion, (frozen) corn.

thoughts : SO...this was a fun twist on our normal pizza nights. As mentioned, I saw that post and really wanted to try something like it. The fun part about using the cast iron pan is that you get to start cooking on the stove top. We loved the flavor and will be trying this method again soon.

40 pizzas / chorizo & jalapeno.

pizza no. 18 : chorizo & jalapeno.

occasion : it's a last hurrah before I try a semi-paleo-inspired diet (I'm currently attempting to go without or with just a little bread, pasta, sugar, cheese & peanut butter).

crust : our whole wheat usual.

sauce :  enchilada sauce from trader joe's.

cheese : yellow and white cheddar.

toppings : grilled onion, chorizo, sliced jalapenos, fresh garlic & salsa.

thoughts : we recently went out to dinner and tried a very similar pizza. Both of us were excited to replicate it at home. It's a pretty easy one to throw together because you don't have to "make" anything. The sauce is in a jar & the chorizo is pre-cooked so really you just need to build this one. We put the enchilada sauce down first, then the cheese then the toppings. The salsa was a fresh one from the deli section at our local market and we poured a bit of that on top. Awesome spicy flavor to this one. It might be my new favorite.

ps... that broccoli salad in the third photo is this one.

40 pizzas / "greek" pizza.

pizza no. 17 : greek style.

occasion : it's Wednesday night and we love pizza.

crust : our whole wheat usual.

sauce : red tomato sauce of Paul's concoction (I've shared this before, but here it is again) :

• olive oil
• 1 large garlic clove - minced
• 28 oz can of whole peeled plum tomatoes
• pinch of dried rosemary, basil and oregano
• salt & pepper to taste

Saute the minced garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Add the tomatoes (crush them up with a wooden spoon), dried herbs and a bit of salt and pepper. Turn the heat up slightly and let the liquid in the tomatoes boil off. It took us about 20 minutes to get it to a great consistency. Taste it! It may need more salt. The trick is to NOT taste it too early because so much will boil off leaving a more intense flavor and you'll end up oversalting.

cheese : havarti & feta.

toppings : onion, grilled chicken, kalamata olives, fresh minced garlic & fresh basil.

thoughts : I put the "greek" in quotes because I am not sure that throwing feta and kalamata olives on a pizza makes it authentically Greek, but that's what Paul and I always call this pizza style. We make a version of this so often that I was surprised to find I hadn't shared it already. SO good. Be sure to add the fresh basil late (like five minutes before the pizza is ready to come out of the oven) so it doesn't burn. We had havarti on hand and it was amazing, but any cheese would work of course.

40 pizzas / fig & prosciutto.

pizza no. 16 : fig & prosciutto.

occasion : it's Friday night and figs were on sale at the grocery store.

crust : our whole wheat usual.

sauce : olive oil.

cheese : havarti.

toppings : prosciutto, sliced figs, fresh minced garlic, salt & pepper.

thoughts : this is such an easy pizza that feels more fancy than it really is. Perfect for summer & fig season. While usually I am all about "freedom in the kitchen!" and "substitute whatever you'd like!" in my recipes, I'd highly recommend this exact combination. The havarti cheese, salt & pepper and fresh garlic totally made this pizza. To keep the prosciutto from getting too dry in the oven, we built the pizza without it, cooked for 10 minutes then quickly pulled the pizza out, added the prosciutto and cooked for another five. Perfection, I tell you.