eta: The pizza dough recipe that follows will be in the 'T' family cookbook.
I was craving a shrimp pizza, last week, and came up with this recipe using an alfredo sauce at the heart of it. It was really good!
I kept this pretty simple with only shrimp as a topping but sweet peppers and onions would go really nice on it as well. Olive Gardenused to serve a shrimp pizza that I loved, years ago, and if my memory doesn't fool me, it also had red, yellow and green peppers on it. I'm always a sucker for peppers on pizza. Mmmmm!
We have no good pizza places out in our neck of the woods (other than Pizza Hut and that's still about 20 minutes away!). We usually make our own homemade pizza about once a week.
Shrimp Pizza
Crust: (place in bread machine on the dough cycle in order recommended by manufacturer). I got this one from my sister, Sara. It makes 2 lbs. of dough. Enough for two large pizzas.
1-1/2 c. warm water
2 T olive oil
2 tsp. sea salt
4 1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. yeast
I've adapted her recipe, in that I also add:
Dried rosemary, to taste (a generous sprinkling, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 tsp? I don't measure.)
Garlic powder, to taste (a generous sprinkling--again, I don't measure)
Cheese:
Mozzarella cheese (enough for two pizzas), grated, divided
1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated, divided
For Shrimp:
1 to 2 lbs. Large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
Melt olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, until browned. Add the shrimp; saute until just pink. {Don't overcook them! As soon as they begin to look pink, they're done.} Immediately scoop them into a dish using a slotted spoon, and set aside. Toss the extra liquid.
For the white sauce:
1 T olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. butter, cut up, divided
2 c. heavy whipping cream
2 oz. whole milk (I used raw organic farm milk.)
1 to 1-1/2 cups (about 1/4 lb.) Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste (I used almost 1 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. pepper, or to taste
Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in saucepan over medium heat and add garlic; saute until browned, about 30 seconds. Add remaining 7 tablespoons of butter; Whisk until melted. Add whipping cream and milk; Whisking often over medium-high heat until thickened. Add Parmigiano Reggiano; stir to combine. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Assemble the pizza:
- Sprinkle two round stones, or pans, with cornmeal. (Pans with sides may be preferable here because with all of the cheese and white sauce, it gets a little messy while baking. Otherwise, you can do as I did, and line the rack below your pizza with tin foil to catch any excess as it bakes.)
- Toss your crust until it's the right size and lay out on pan. Roll out, if necessary.
- Generously spread each crust with the white sauce.
- Sprinkle about 3/4 of the mozzarella onto each pizza. However much you use, I'm leaving up to your preference.
- Same for the shrimp. Scatter shrimp over mozzarella.
- Add the rest of your mozzarella, along with about 1/4 cup of Parmigiano Reggiano to each pizza.
Bake at 375° for about 35 minutes or until top is golden.
Note: Bake in the lower portion of the oven so the cheese doesn't burn before the crust is finished.
Another Note: This recipe makes enough sauce for two pizzas. But I only made one and used the other half of the sauce as leftovers the next day over steaming hot linguine. I knew all of my kids wouldn't like it so I made the other pizza with tomato based sauce and cheese only.
Enjoy outdoors on a beautiful early summer evening in front of an open fire!
