Thursday Night Recipe

Pizza Night - leftovers make great pizza toppings!
We'll use leftover tomato sauce from Monday night for a marinara pizza, and leftover chicken from Tuesday night for the onion, pepper, chicken pizza. You can save the other third of the dough (wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge) for breadsticks that are made with the super fun recipe of the week!

Pizza Dough (makes enough for three pizzas)
**This recipe is from "Every Day with Rachael Ray", (or www.rachaelraymag.com) recipe by Teri Tsang

One 1/4-ounce packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
4 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

1) Place 1 1/2 cups warm water(110 degrees) in a medium bowl. Stir in the yeast and sugar and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
2) In a large bowl, combine 3 cups flour and the salt. Make a well in the center, pour in the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon; the dough will feel sticky and elastic. Transfer to a floured work surface and dust with some of the remaining flour. Knead for 7 to 8 minutes, adding flour a little at a time as necessary until the dough is smooth and springy. Wash and dry the bowl, then lightly grease with oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
3) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and cut into thirds; wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough until ready to use.

Caramelized Onion and Sauteed Pepper Pizza with Chicken

1/3 pizza dough from above recipe
Olive Oil
3 med. sweet onions, thinly sliced
2 bell peppers, any color, thinly sliced
3/4 tsp. Dried thyme
3 Tbls Parmesan Cheese
Leftover chicken from Tuesday Night, cubed

1) Warm 2 Tbls olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the onions and stir to coat with oil. Add dried thyme and stir in. Lower heat to medium and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, very soft, and sweet.
2) In another small skillet, warm 2 Tbls olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute peppers about 5 minutes, until tender, but not mushy. Put onions and peppers aside to cool off a bit. Meanwhile, warm the chicken in the microwave for 45 seconds on high.
3) Preheat the oven to 500°. Invert a baking sheet on a work surface and cover it with a sheet of parchment paper. Stretch the pizza dough to fit the parchment paper. This is much easier to do if the dough has been refrigerated for a little while (at least 15 minutes).
4) Sprinkle the dough with the parmesan cheese, then spread the onions across in an even layer, leaving a little bit of a crust at the edges. Scatter the peppers evenly over the onions. Place the chicken on top of that.
5) Bake 8-10 minutes until the crust is golden. Use the same baking method for your other pizzas. Some sources suggest preheating a separate cookie sheet in the oven and transferring the pizza (and parchment paper it's prepared on) onto the preheated cookie sheet and baking it that way. See what works best for you! Have fun!

Marinara Pizza

1/3 pizza dough from above recipe
leftover tomato sauce from Monday night
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups Mozzarella cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 500°. Invert a baking sheet on a work surface and cover it with a sheet of parchment paper. Stretch the pizza dough to fit the parchment paper. This is much easier to do if the dough has been refrigerated for a little while (at least 15 minutes).
2) Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, then cover with tomato sauce, leaving a thin crust around the edges. Sprinkle with the Mozzarella.
3) Bake 8-10 minutes until crust is golden.