Monthly Archives: July 2013

GRILLED PIZZA FINISHED WITH PREMIUM EVOO

Posted on by

Grilled Pizza

By Rachel Bradley

I got a little fancy here, but grilled pizza is a snap to make on the grill, endlessly versatile, and the perfect foil for a drizzle of bright, peppery extra virgin olive oil.

Pizza Dough

  • 2 1/4 cups warm (80 degree) water
  • 5 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup super high phenol (400+) extra virgin olive oil from Fresh Harvest
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • Cornmeal (optional)

Now it’s time to be creative with your favorite toppings and of course, a nice drizzle of olive oil to finish off your pie.

My grilled pizza pictured above is made with a garam masala curried tomato cream sauce, thinly sliced purple potatoes drizzled with Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil and dusted with cumin, baby beet greens, and farm fresh eggs.Toppings to consider:  Pesto, pizza sauce, mozzarella, olive oil, Parmesan, thin sliced potatoes, baby greens, arugula, peppers, olives, eggs, smoked salmon, squash, grilled chicken, shrimp and on, and on.

Directions

Mix the granulated sugar in to 1/4 cup warm water and add the yeast.  Allow to sit and “bloom” for five minutes.  In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of your stand mixer, or in your bread machine, add the flour.Mix the yeast mixture in to the remaining two cups of warm water along with the salt and olive oil.  Add this to the flour in the bowl and slowly begin to mix it until it’s fully incorporated and smooth but slightly our flour.  This slightly wet dough helps to create a beautiful cracker crisp crust if rolled very thin.  If left thick, it will make a chewier crust.

Cover the dough and allow to rise until doubled for approximately 1 1/2 hours in a warm location.

It using a pizza stone or steel, place your stone or steel in to your gill and preheat to its highest possible temp. for at least 20 minutes.

Divide the dough in to six portions.  Keep the portions of dough not being rolled covered so that they don’t dry out.  Roll out each portion to desired thickness.  If you do not want to use cornmeal, you can roll out your pizza dough on to small sheets of parchment paper.  The pizza and parchment will go directly on to your hot pizza stone for a minute, and then the parchment should be removed after a minute or so, when the pizza dough is par-cooked which will allow it to slip off the paper easily, and directly on to the hot stone without sticking.  You can also use cornmeal to help the pizza off the peel and on to the grill or stone.  If grilling your pizza directly on the grill without a stone, reduce the grill heat to medium and use corn meal to help slide the of your peel and directly on to a medium grill.

Keep a close eye on the pizza as it will cook quickly whether set directly on the grill or a blazing hot pizza stone.

Make one or two pizzas at a time rolling the dough out as necessary while keeping the rest of the dough covered.

Makes 6 medium sized pizzas.

Wild Mushroom & Zucchini Empanadas with EVOO Pastry

Posted on by

Wild Mushroom & Zucchini Empanadas with EVOO Pastry

Wild Mushroom Empanada
by Rachel Bradley

Wild Mushroom Empanada Filling

  • 1 cup zucchini finely diced
  • 1/2 pound assorted wild mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped
  • 1 shallot minced
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons Fresh Harvest Wild Mushroom & Sage Olive Oil
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (or Parmesan)
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • sea salt to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Sautéfa the shallot for two minutes until translucent.  Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.

Add in the mushrooms and saute until all the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms begin to caramelize.  Add in the zucchini and saute for two minutes until most of the moisture is cooked off.

Add the mixture to a bowl, season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to cool.  Once the mixture is warm, add the beaten egg, cheese, and bread crumbs – stirring to combine.  Set aside and proceed with making the empanada dough

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Empanada Dough

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup Fresh Harvest Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 5 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 large egg, beaten

Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, mixing with a fork to form a crumbly mixture with pea sized lumps of flour.

Slowly drizzle in the ice cold water, mixing as it’s poured.  Dump the mixture on to a large sheet of parchment paper, and with floured hands, begin to form the dough in to a large flat disk.  Knead gently, incorporating any loose scraps.  Place another sheet of parchment paper on top of the disk and roll the dough out to 1/8″ thick.

Empanada Assembly

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cut out circles approximately 4″ in diameter from the dough.  Place a heaping tablespoon of filling on one side of each circle, being careful not to allow the  filling to touch the edges of the dough.  Moisten one edge of each side using beaten egg, and fold the other side of the dough over the filling to create a half moon shape.  Firmly press down on the edges of dough to seal.  Use a fluted pastry wheel or sharp knife to cut excess dough from the edges.  You can also crimp the edges with the tines of a fork

Line a  baking sheet with parchment paper and place the empanadas on the sheet with a small amount of space between.  Brush with beaten egg and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.  Serve warm, or at room temperature. You can also wrap them in paper and freeze for later!  Makes 10 empanadas.