When I was growing up Pizza was a rare treat for the family. There a couple of local family owned restaurants that made outstanding pizzas that my parents liked to go to. One place in particular made a pizza with a sourdough crust that was out-of-this world! (One day I would like to try my hand at sourdough pizza crust, but I digress.) Pizza Hut and Shakey's were around, but my family never went to these places. Now that I have kids it seems that pizza is served constantly. It's served at birthday parties, school parties, get togethers, and so on... It is a cheap way to feed a lot of kids. I am certainly guilty of taking advantage of the $6.99 HOT-N-READY Pizzas at Little Caesars when I have a house full of hungry teenagers.
The problem with pizza being served so often is that everyone gets tired of it. So, when we make homemade pizza we often try non-traditional pizza toppings. This Greek Pizza is one of our favorites! (Another favorite is Taco Pizza, which is the same crust topped with refried beans, taco meat, shredded lettuce, cheese, chopped tomatoes, crushed nacho chips, and drizzled with taco sauce.) It is fairly quick, easy and delicious!
Greek Pizza
For Pizza Dough:
Recipe is adapted from The Perfect Pizza Dough Recipe from http://www.chef-in-training.com/perfect-pizza-dough-recipe/
Ingredients
1 cup warm water
1/2 tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour. divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Instructions
1. Mix warm water and yeast and let sit 5 minutes until yeast proofs.
2. Add 1 1/4 cups flour with proofed yeast and mix well in mixer with dough attachment or hook.
3 Add additional 1 1/4 cups flour and salt, knead until smooth. Form dough into a ball. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 10-20 minutes.
4. Using a pizza peel or a large pan with no rim (I use a cookie sheet that has no rim on one side and it works well), place parchment paper cut into approximately a 16" round onto the peel. Brush it with one tablespoon olive oil. Set aside.
5. Preheat oven to 450°F. with pizza stone or steel in the oven.
6. Remove dough from bowl, although add more flour, a little at a time, if dough if too sticky. A tablespoon or two should do it.
7. Place dough in the center of the prepared pizza peel. Press dough out with your fingertips
toward the edge of the parchment to form a nice round pizza crust. You can also roll the dough out, but I like the unevenness you get from pressing the dough out with your fingers.
8. Brush the top of the dough with the other tablespoon of olive oil.
9. For Greek pizza: sprinkle the dough with some oregano, then slide the prepared pizza dough onto the heated pizza stone or steal and bake for 6-10 minutes, or until a light golden brown. Keep a careful eye on the crust, the oven is very hot, so the dough can burn quickly. Note: this is a great basic pizza dough recipe, so you can also use it to top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake accordingly. It usually takes about 15-18 minutes for a topped pizza dough to bake.
Greek Pizza Toppings
For Meat Topping:
Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
3/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon allspice
salt to taste (I use about 1/2 teaspoon)
Olive oil, if not using Crock-Pot method
Instructions
This ground turkey can be prepared one of two ways: 1. Heat a large frying pad with one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add ground turkey to pan and cook until brown. Then add the seasonings and simmer for about 10-15 minutes low heat. OR
2. Place ground turkey into a 5 1/2 quart Crock Pot with all of the seasonings, cook oil high for 1-2 hours, remove lid, crumble the turkey meat and stir. Return lid and cook for another hour or until the meat is completely cooked.
Another option for meat for the pizza is chicken. For chicken: 1. Preheat oven to 400F. 2. Take all of the seasonings listed for the ground turkey and mix. 3. Rub 2 chicken breast with olive oil, sprinkle with the seasoning mix, place on a baking sheet. 4. Bake the chicken breasts for 10 minutes or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of one of the breasts reads at least 165°F. 5. After removing the chicken from the oven, let it rest for about 5 minutes, then dice.
Vegetable Toppings:
3/4-1 cup of each of the following vegetables diced in roughly the same size:
Grape tomatoes
Cucumber,
Red onion
Avocado, optional (I don't always use, especially if I know there will be leftovers. The avocado turns brown and does not look very appetizing.)
Kalamata olives or black olives, sliced (I serve these separately and leave it up to the individual to put on their pizza. Not everyone in our family is a fan of olives.)
Crumbled Feta Cheese
Quick and Easy Tzatziki Sauce:
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup finely grated cucumber, that has been peeled
1-2 cloves of garlic (Keep in mind that garlic gets stronger the longer this sauce is stored.)
1/2-1 tablespoon of fresh dill, optional (I don't care for dill, so I leave it out.)
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready for use.
To assemble the pizza:
1. Top baked pizza crust with meat of choice.
2. Distribute all of the vegetables over the meat evenly.
3. Crumble the feta cheese over the vegetables.
4. Drizzle tzatziki sauce over the entire pizza and finish with fresh ground pepper, if desired.
Makes one 14"pizza.
Enjoy!
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