Smashed Potato Pizza with Pepperoni and Mozzarella

It's a slightly different route away from the popular individual smashed potato pizza, but more like a "conglomerate" version of it. What binds these potatoes together are the melted cheese on top. You can be creative with the toppings, but the classic pepperoni paired with marinara sauce and red chili flakes never disappoints. 

Smashed potato pizza with pepperoni and mozzarella - 

Ingredients?

• 10 medium small potatoes
• 10 to 12 slices pepperoni
• 1 pack/at least 150 grams shredded mozzarella
• Some marinara sauce
• Some olive oil
• Some salt
• Some red chili flakes

How?

Prepare a medium/large pot of water and add in the potatoes. 

Just like cooking pasta, we need to add few pinches of salt here too. Bring the pot to a boil then adjust the heat to keep it at a light bubbling stage. Cook till the potatoes are fork tender, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Drain and pat dry. Set aside till cool enough to handle by hand.

Preheat the oven to 395 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Score the potatoes with a criss-cross pattern, which will make them easier to smash shortly. Transfer these potatoes to the baking sheet. Perhaps place a small sheet of parchment on top of the potato then grab a flat bottom glass to smash it down. The parchment paper acts as a barrier preventing the smashed potatoes sticking onto the glass.

Repeat till all the potatoes have been smashed. Arrange the smashed potatoes to one big rectangular shape, like a Detroit-style pizza. Even though the melted cheese will bind the potatoes together, but still make sure there're no gaps in between.

Brush the potato surface with olive oil and sprinkle some salt all over. Into the oven for 20~25 minutes, or till the edges turn golden brown. Mine took about 20 minutes.

Take out the baking sheet. Spoon enough marinara sauce over the smashed potatoes. I used sweet basil flavored pasta sauce, you can pick whichever red sauce variety of your liking here. Sprinkle generous amount of shredded mozzarella then evenly arrange pepperoni slices on top.

Back to the oven and bake till the cheese melts, perhaps slightly burnt on the edge of some pepperoni slices. 

Once ready, remove from heat and sprinkle some red chili flakes. Tabasco sauce should work wonders here too.

Some like the edge with crispier potato skin, I on the other hand prefer the center with extra soft potatoes and oozing cheese. 

Like that.

You can make ahead and store them in the fridge or even in the freezer. Just pop the whole thing in the oven and slowly heat it up when the need arises. Perhaps serve alongside with some salad greens to make it a more balanced meal.   

Healthy Version of Homemade Hawaiian Pizza

One of the best benefits about homemade food is that we get to enjoy our guilty pleasure with a healthier twist.

My version of Hawaiian pizza is made with organic cheese, organic flour, etc. On top of that, I used roasted and smoked turkey breast instead of ham, and the result is not any less tasty than store bought version (at least better than boxes from the frozen aisle!).

Ingredients for one pizza?

Dough:
1 envelope of instant pizza crust yeast
1 2/3 cup of organic all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of organic granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon of sea salt
2/3 cup very warm filtered water
3 tablespoons of olive oil

Toppings:
3 oz of sliced honey roasted and smoked turkey breast
8 oz/1 small can of cubed pineapple
1 1/2 cup of organic shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup of organic shredded parmesan
1/4~1/3 jar of spaghetti sauce
Some olive oil

How?

There's actually one "less successful" pizza before this recipe. Thanks to my friends who unknowingly became experimental white mouse and finished that very first pizza.

I used instant pizza crust yeast for the pizza dough. In fact, I never knew such thing exists till the other day at the grocery store. After reading the description, there's no hours of proofing the dough required, what a time saver!
If you can't find instant yeast, just use the regular kind and prepare the dough as instructed -

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheight.
Once done kneading or maybe proofing the dough, roll it out and transfer onto a baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil and let's start layering the toppings. Below are the ingredients I used starting from the bottom:

Spaghetti sauce
Half of the shredded mozzarella
Turkey breast slices
Pineapple
Parmesan
The other half of the shredded mozzarella

Remember to leave about one inch space around the outside edge of the dough. Into the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or till the top of the cheese turn slightly golden brown.

Serve with Tabasco or red pepper flakes.

The cheese helps binding all the ingredients together and Everything just turned into a mouthful of oozing goodness.

Maybe dessert pizza next time?

Homemade Pepperoni Pizza with Mozzarella and Taleggio Cheese

I was flipping through my thick recipe book - Le Cordon Bleu: Complete Cooking Techniques,
Looking at pages after pages of gorgeous bread dough pictures,
I was hit by an inspiration!

(As I looked over my kitchen..)
My food mixer was sitting in the corner,
Did my eyes get all fogged up, was that...a gloomy cloud hovering above my mixer?
Ok...I have to admit that the mixer hasn't really been used since it came to my house few months ago,
Less than five times for sure,
Maybe it's time to bring out the sobbing mixer and give it some works!

Utilizing food mixer - Pizza time

Ingredients? (small one...well..I think it was small..for my stomach..)

Dough (adapted from the "Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques"):
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2/3 cup of warm water
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of active dry yeast
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
Salt
Black pepper

Toppings:
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup of cubed taleggio
2 oz to 3 oz pepperoni or salami slices

Optional:
Red pepper flakes
Tabasco sauce

How?

Sift the flour into the container attached with the mixer,
Stir in active dry yeast and salt,
Make a hole in the center, pour in warm water and olive oil,
Start "blending" (kneading) for about 5 minutes till the mixture forms into soft dough,
You might need to use a scraper to scrape the flour down into the center during blending.

Once that's done, cover and wait till the dough gets "fat!"
Wait for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Before and after -

The fat dough is cute huh?
Too bad all that cuteness won't save it from being hit by a hungry person,
Just punch it down and knead for additional 2 to 3 minutes.
Flour the board or the kitchen counter,
Transfer the dough there and roll it into a ball.

Shape the dough till it resembles the shape of pizza,
It was my first time making pizza dough...
Man oh man...it was sticky and elastic for sure,
Remember, use enough flour! Otherwise the dough will stick on everything!

Line the baking sheet with parchment paper,
Place the flattened dough there.

For pizza sauce,
You can just use store bought spaghetti sauce for time saving's sake,
I actually heat up a can of diced tomatoes,
Add about 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, some salt and pepper,
Cook till the sauce is reduced by half,
My simplified pizza sauce is done.

So spread the sauce over the dough,
Leave some space on the edges,
You had pizza before yep? (Please say yes, otherwise I might faint..) So at least you kind of know how much space to leave there.
Sprinkle shredded mozzarella and cubed taleggio over the sauce,
Cover all that goodies with pepperoni -

(Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit)
Into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes,
Sprinkle some red pepper flakes or just use some Tabasco sauce for that extra kick if desired.

Not bad for the first try??
Well....at least my food mixer is happy now.

Cindy's Rating: 6 (definitely a lot of room of improvements!)