Little Pizzas Saved The Night!

These pizzas were a lot more happening than the actual Oscars.

 

 

My favorite moments of the telecast:

Jen and Ben, together…so sweet.

Charlize Theron’s statuesqueness next to Dustin Hoffman’s umm…vertically challengedness

JEN HUD!

ADELE!

SHIRLEY!

BARBRA!

Jane Fonda’s YELLOW dress

Seth MacFarlane saying, “The next presenter needs no introduction.” Meryl Streep walks out and Seth leaves the stage. (If only the entire Oscars had had him doing that.)

JACK!

FLOTUS!

                           

Okay, here is the recipe for these cute devils. This pizza dough has a bit more salt than I usually add, but I find it needs it since it doesn’t have all the usual pizza toppings. (Even with smoked salmon, I think it needs the salt.)

Red Onion Pizzas With Smoked Salmon And Scallion Cream

(Makes 16 small pizzas or 32 cute littler ones)

Pizza Dough:

1 envelope yeast

1 tsp. honey

3 cups white flour

1 1/2 tsps. Kosher salt
1 tbl.extra virgin olive oil

1/4 red onion, peeled and diced small

additional extra virgin olive oil for brushing

For garnish:

Scallion Cream (recipe below)

2 slices smoked salmon, cut into a thick julienne

half a tomato, seeded and diced

capers

Proof the yeast by first stirring honey into half a cup of very warm water (105°F –115°F). Sprinkle the yeast carefully over the top of the water and stir gently. Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast gets bubbly. If it doesn’t, discard and start again with fresh yeast.

Meanwhile, process flour and salt in food processor with metal blade. Add olive oil and yeast mixture. Process until mixture just forms a nice ball at least 35 seconds. Process another 30 seconds. Add onion and process another 10 seconds or so. (You don’t want to chop the onion any more.) Turn dough out onto big piece of foil and work it just a bit until it’s nice and smooth.

If the dough didn’t have onion in it, I’d knead it on silpat. I don’t like it for baking, but I do like to work with dough on it, so I don’t have to scrub my counter afterward.

Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour and a half. (Mine was ready to go about 10 minutes early.)

Cut dough into 16 equal pieces and roll quickly into balls. Flatten each ball, cover with plastic wrap and let rest on counter for another 20 minutes.

At this point, I decided to cut some of the balls in half to make even smaller pizzas.   



The 1/16th size is good for a first course. The 1/32nd pizza is great for hors d’oeuvres.  Plus if I make them smaller, I can eat more. (Right?)

Brush each side with olive oil and cook the pizzas any way you wish. I cooked them over medium heat on a stovetop grill pan, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Other choices – cook them on a barbecue, grill on top of the stove or bake in a 425°F oven for 6 to 8 minutes.

Cool at least 5 minutes. Top with Scallion Cream and a few carefully placed strands of smoked salmon, diced tomatoes and capers.

Scallion Cream

½ cup sour cream (part skim is okay)

½ cup Greek yogurt (non-fat is fine, full fat is fab)

2 scallions, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly

1 tsp. white wine vinegar

1 tbl. red onion, finely chopped (leave this out if you don’t want to deal with raw onions)

Mix all ingredients together. Cover tightly and refrigerate. Make a day ahead, if you wish.

Note: After the first rising, freeze any dough you're not using, wrapped airtight. Thaw and bring to room temperature before shaping and baking.