I should give you a caution about these recipes...my style of cooking can be summarized as "He who measures first, loses!" You will quickly gain a feel for how the dough should look and feel, how much spice to add to the sauce, how much olive oil etc...That's when it becomes more of an art than a science and that's when we really get cooking!
It's Salmon, Chives, Asparagus, Goat Milk Roma Tomatoes and Yellow Bell Peppers! MMMM!
As a bonus, this pizza recipe makes the Salmon I've ever tasted as well as a great pizza! So if you don't feel like making dough tonight, just make the Salmon and you should be eating in 45 minutes or so.
Ingredients:
Asparagus
Salmon Filet
Roma Tomatoes (or Heirloom if they are in season)
Salt
Italian Seasoning
Herbs Provence (Thyme, Basil, Savory and Fennel)
Yellow Bell Pepper
Flour
Yeast
Prosecco
Goat Cheese, Crumbled
Pepper
Olive OIl
Navel Orange
Green Onions
The Idea is to make the dough, while it's rising, prepare and cook the salmon, then par bake the pizza and add the salmon, asparagus, green onion mixture to the partially cooked pizza.
First though, pour yourself a glass of the prosecco!
Pour lukewarm water in a small mixing bowl (about the size of your fist for each pizza) add yeast and a shot of prosecco to it. Let stand for 5 minutes or until foamy. You can substitute beer, brown sugar or honey for the prosecco. Add a dash of Olive Oil (optional) and some flour. Add less flour than you think you'll need. Start with about the same volume as you have of water.
Mix the flour into the yeast sponge with a wooden spoon until it's a smooth watery mixture. Then gradually add more flour while stirring until the flour just starts to flake a little. The final dough won't be flaky at all, but I've found that when it first starts flaking, it will continue to soak up water that's trapped inside and get smoother and stickier. Sprinkle some flour on your work space and knead the dough. Add flour and work the dough until it has the feel of a babies bottom. It should be smooth and not sticky. Don't overwork it. We're not trying to break the dough in this recipe, we just want it light and fluffy.
I knead by flattening the dough, folding it towards me and then using the heel of my palm to push down on it. Turn and repeat.
The key to my crust is adding the flour to the water...most recipes have you add the water to the flour. This is why their dough sucks :) Just kidding! But I think the texture is lighter and fluffier this way.
Oil the doughball and put it in a stirring bowl to rise. Let rise for 35 minutes (rapid rise yeast) or until it roughly doubles in size. Traditional yeast will take longer (probably 1.5 hours).
Preheat the oven to 425 and put either a pizza stone or some cooking surface in. Break asparagus by grabbing both ends and bending until it breaks. Discard the stem and keep only the tender top. Cut up green onions and asparagus and peel orange and separate into wedges. Get out aluminum foil or parchment. Pile the green onions and asparagus to make a bed for the Salmon, add some salt, pepper, shot of prosecco and Herbs Provence to the mixture.
Lay the salmon on top, sprinkle on olive oil, Herbs Provence, sea salt, pepper, the orange wedges and another shot of prosecco.
Fold the aluminum foil over to make a pouch, seal around the edge leaving a small hole at one end for steam to escape. Literally the size of a pinhole. Bigger and your pouch will dry out, no hole and it will explode :)
Set the salmon on your cooking surface and let it cook about 25 mins or so. Have another glass of Prosecco if you haven't already!
Dice the tomatoes and put in a small bowl. Add salt, pepper and Italian seasonings and mash around a little with a spoon. Put in a colander to drain excess moisture and set aside. This will cover the whole pizza so be generous with the amount of tomatoes you start with. In this recipe I used three for the one pizza.
Check the dough. It should still be a few minutes away so dice up the yellow bell pepper and then clean off the space to roll the dough out.
Split the dough into balls about the size of your fist. Roll the dough out very thin, spread a thin layer of corn meal on a pizza peel and put the dough on there. Shake back and forth gently to make sure the dough is not sticking to the peel.
sprinkle olive oil on top and spread with a spoon. This is a necessary step because it helps keep the toppings from soaking into the dough. Spread on the tomato pesto and bell pepper.
Now the Salmon should be just about done. If not, wait for it before popping the pizza in the oven. Take out the Salmon and, using a fork, gently open the tin foil. Caution, steam will be hot! By this time the smell of the salmon cooking will have you positively famished! Go ahead and pour another glass and eat a few bites. You need the protein and it is wonderful. Scales and all. Seriously, try the scales too. Just make sure you save enough for the pizza!
Slide the pizza in the oven and let it cook for about 7 minutes. Using a fork, flake the salmon, green onions and asparagus off onto a plate and on a separate plate, grate up some parmesan cheese. Open the oven and slide the half-baked pizza out, sprinkle on the salmon/asparagus/green onion mixture. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top and let the pizza continue baking until the crust turns a nice toasty brown. (The goat cheese will not melt).
While the pizza is cooking is when I usually try to get a head start on the cleaning. Ugh!
Now just enjoy with the remaining Prosecco!
Or...if there isn't any Prosecco, a nice hearty beer will do the trick...(notice the bites missing. Apparently my helper couldn't even wait while I set up another shot....oh...that was ME!)
Enjoy!
