Sunday, February 24, 2008

Something Savory...For Dinner!

Tonight's dinner was Lavash Cracker "pizza". I made Peter Reinhart's Lavash Crackers, then half way through the baking time I put toppings on them.

This dough was super stiff. I had the hardest time kneading it by hand! Being pretty small, with any sort of muscle I have existing in my legs, you can imagine how long it took! I was very tempted to call my big brother down and have him do it. I had to start using my elbows at some points, and puting one hand on the dough, the other on the counter and lifting myself up...I'm not even sure I kneaded it enough! But it tasted fine, so it's all good!

Lavash Cracker "Pizza"

Lavash Cracker "Pizza"

This one I made one layer of cracker, deli sliced ham and swiss cheese, then another lay of cracker, topped with sesame seeds and kosher salt, then baked.

Lavash Cracker "Pizza"
Before ( My sister made my arms look hairy! O__o Grr...)
Lavash Cracker "Pizza"
Half way through baking:
Lavash Cracker "Pizza"


Peter Reinhart's "Lavash Crackers" Recipe:
(Taken from Bread Baker's Apprentice")

1 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup water, at room temperature

(Directions, in my own words, because from what I heard, I'm aloud to post recipe, but not directions?)

Using a spoon, mix everything together in a bowl. You might not need all of the water, but have it ready just in case. You'll need just enough to make a ball.

Lightly flour the counter, empty the dough onto the counter and knead for around ten minutes, when all the ingredients are well distributed.
Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough in the bowl rolling it to coat it lightly in the oil. Cover with plastic, then a towel, T shirt, apron, whatever is around, and ferment at room temperature until it's doubled in size. About 1 and a half hours.

Once doubled, light mist the counter with some spray oil and pat the dough into a rectangle. Lightly pat some flour on top of the dough and roll it out paper thin with a rolling pin. Place on baking parchment on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Now, I placed mine in, baked it half way, quickly pulled it out and threw on a few toppings. Then baked the rest of the way. It may need more then 20 minutes.

My toppings were: Pepperoni, Mozzerella, and diced tomatoes. The other was
Turkey, swiss, and diced tomatoes.
My favorite was the pepperoni. The crushed tomatoes tasted SO good! I'll have to make this again. It was very easy even though my arms felt like they were going to fall off.

I hope you try and make this!
Lavash Cracker "Pizza"

4 comments:

Megan said...

Nice pictures of that pizza. Now I have a craving for pizza. Good ideas for using the cracker base. and I like the name
*Lavash Cracker Pizza*

Colette said...

Thanks! Pizza is my favorite food. <3 I crave it all the time. Haha!

Roselle Kingsbury said...

That pizza looks delicious. I've also had problems with kneading. I find that most kitchen counters are too tall for me to knead properly (I'm 5'5") so it helps to move it to a lower surface or stand on something sturdy. Of course, kneading builds muscle so it will get easier with practice!

Colette said...

I feel the same way about counters! I think I actually got down on the kitchen flour once and kneaded the dough in the bowl. I'll have to find a chair next time. I'm 5'3...lol