30-Minute Mozzarella

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We made this over the weekend. It’s very easy and satisfying to make your own cheese. You can use the leftover whey to make ricotta (also very easy).

Measure out all additives before you start, in clean glass or ceramic cups. Use unchlorinated water.

1 gallon pasteurized milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized)
1 ½ level teaspoons citric acid dissolved in ¼ cup cool water

Stir the milk on the stove in a stainless steel kettle, heating very gently. Add 55 degrees add the citric acid solution and mix thoroughly. At 88 degrees it should begin to curdle.

¼ tsp. liquid rennet, diluted in ¼ cup cool water

Gently stir in diluted rennet with up-and-down motion, and continue heating the milk to just over 100 degrees, then turn off heat. Curds should be pulling away from sides of pot, ready to scoop out. They whey should be clear. (If it’s still milk, wait a few minutes.) Use a large slotted spoon or ladle to move curds from pot to a 2-quart microwaveable bowl. Press curds gently with hands to remove as much whey as possible, and pour it off.

Microwave the curds on high for one minute, then knead the cheese again with hands or a spoon to remove more whey. (Rubber gloves help – this gets hot!) Microwave two more times (about 35 seconds each), kneading between each heating. At this point, salt the cheese to taste, then knead and pull until it’s smooth and elastic. When you can stretch it into ropes like taffy, you are done. If the curds break instead, they need to be reheated a bit (but don’t over cook it, or it will turn stiff and dry) Once cheese is smooth and shiny, roll it into small balls to eat warm or store for later in the refrigerator.

Chicken Pesto Pizza

I got the idea for this pizza from a restaurant Josh and I went to in Escalante, Utah in July. I pulled it together at home and loved it! It's a great twist on a traditional favorite.




Pizza Crust or other crust recipe

Pesto sauce in place of tomato pizza sauce
*I used a basil pesto but you could probably use any other kind of pesto. Store bought or homemade work great

Mozzarella Cheese
Cooked, Cubed Chicken
Tomato slices
Red Onion, thinly sliced
Mushrooms, sliced

Make and roll our pizza crust according to directions. Spread a liberal amount of pesto sauce on the dough (when I made it we thought I should have used more pesto sauce). Sprinkle on the cheese and toppings. Bake as directed.

Primavera Pizza

This is very simple, but oh so good. It is very colorful with the spinach and red pepper.

pizza dough to make 2 pizzas
olive oil cooking spray
grated parmesan cheese
garlic
ranch dressing
cooked chicken breast strips, chopped
chopped red bell pepper
chopped red onion
1 cup torn baby spinach
shredded italian blend cheese
italian seasoning

On 2 sprayed cookie sheets, spread dough and then lightly spray dough. spread/divide parmesan and garlic over each crust. Bake 10 min at 400. Spread ranch dressing on each crust. layer chicken, bell pepper, onion, spinach, cheese and italian seasoning. Bake 8 more min.

Quick Pizza Crust

This is one of my old reliables. I always have cheese and turkey pepperoni on hand and can make this in a pinch for lucnh or dinner adding whatever other toppings I might have on hand. For Valentine's Day I cut hearts out of the pepperoni circles and make the crust heartshaped. Currently one pizza feeds my family for dinner, but it won't be too long before I will need to make two. In all this recipe can take as little as 30 minutes-start to eating.

Place pizza stone in oven. Preheat to 450 degrees.

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
Mix and set aside

1 Tbs yeast
1 Tbs Olive oil
¾ -1c. warm water
Mix oil, water and yeast and let sit for a couple minutes while you prepare toppings. Then add to flour/salt mixture. It is better to have the dough too sticky and add more flour than the other way around.

If making more than one pizza I repeat the steps above in a separate bowl.

Let dough rest while you finish preparing sauce and toppings. Roll kneaded dough into a 14” circle. Transfer to paddle or cookie sheet (I use a thin cookie sheet without sides) sprinkled liberally with corn meal (dough should be able to slide off easily).

Sauce:
1 can pealed crushed tomatoes
1 tsp minced garlic
Italian seasoning (and/or oregano, basil) and salt/pepper to taste
Process in food processer.

Add desired toppings. Transfer to hot pizza stone. Bake for 10 minutes. Take pizza out using the cookie sheet, slice and serve. (I leave the hot pizza stone in the oven and just let it cool down after I turn the oven off)

Note: I have also used this recipe to make calzones. One dough batch makes 3 fair sized calzones. The sauce makes a fair amount (for 3-4 pizzas). I just save the extra in a tuperware in my fridge until the next time I want to make pizza.