Pizza Pizza!

A Friday favorite for sure is PIZZA night!  The kids love eating it and I love that it cooks in 15 minutes and that my girls always help throw it together!  They snack on all the ingredients too, adding to the fun!

Pizza dough (easier than you would think)

This is one of the most forgiving doughs I know - you can let it rise all day or not at all.  You can add too much flour and it still comes out yummy.  It's a hard one to mess up.  The only thing messy about this recipe is that the quantities are difficult.  It takes 1 package of yeast to make a pizza and a half.  It can be stretched to two pizzas but halving the recipe seems to leave me a little short for a nice size pizza. This recipe I feel comfortably makes a pizza and a half.

• 1 package of yeast
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water for about 5 minutes (until a little foamy).
• Add the oil.
• Then add the flour and the salt (I just add the flour then shake the salt right on top.  I don't measure the salt and probably never put close to a teaspoon in).
• Mix and knead.  Knead until it looks elastic and all the same color (you can't see the flour).  It's probably a few minutes.  It's a very forgiving recipe so you can kneed for 2 minutes or 5 and it will still work out.
• Let rise (or not)
• Oil the pizza stone (a little bit of oil prevents sticking)
• Roll out.  Pizza dough is a bit tough to roll.  To save time I will sometimes roll it right on the pizza stone.  If you flip it while rolling it - it will stop snapping back into its ball shape. 
• Add the sauce (we use jarred spaghetti sauce - the same that we add to our spaghetti) and spread with the back of a spoon.
• Add toppings (bacon, pepperoni, tomato, pineapple  - whatever you like!)
• Add the cheese.  I recommend grating your own mozzarella instead of buying the pre-grated.  The taste difference is worth it!
• Cook for 10-15 minutes at 500 degrees.  It's ready when the crust is browning and the cheese is melted and browning a bit too.

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Recipe

This is a favorite around here - lots of gooey cheese, homemade sauce; what can be bad about that!

Enchilada Sauce

This is easier than you would think.  For all my recipes, I use homemade chicken broth which makes it economical.  You can also make it ahead and freeze it.

This is taken from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/easy-enchilada-sauce-recipe/index.html and altered a little.  The original recipe makes a very thick sauce and I prefer a more liquidy sauce.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup chili powder

3 cups chicken broth

1 small can of tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

salt (I just shake a little in - I never use much salt!)

 

How To:

• Heat the oil and cook the flour for about a minute
• Add the chili powder and cook for about 30 seconds
• Add the chicken broth, tomato paste (it will mix in as it warms up), cumin, salt, and oregano and bring to a boil
• Keep it at a strong simmer for at least 15 minutes to let the flavors mix

 

Chicken Enchiladas

• approx 10-12 corn tortillas (Trader Joes has a great one for just 99cents and very few ingredients!)
• about a pound of chicken, diced (for my family, this is a leg, thigh and a breast but you could probably use 2 breasts)
• chili powder
• vegetable or canola oil
• onion, diced

 

To make the chicken, cook the onion and chicken with a little bit of oil (I prefer olive oil) in a frying pan until the chicken is cooked through.  Sprinkle with chili powder during cooking.

 

To make the tortillas, heat the oil in a frying pan until hot.  Fry each tortilla shell for about 10 seconds.

 

To make the enchiladas, dip the shells into the sauce.  Then add some chicken and cheese and roll it up.  Place in a baking dish.  When all the chicken and tortillas are used up, dump the remaining sauce on top and sprinkle any leftover cheese on top of that. 

 

Cook at 375 for about 30 minutes until warm and cheese in melted.

 

Enjoy!