Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Shrimp, Fire Roasted Corn, and Bacon Pizza



I know what you are thinking… “What is she smoking?” But I promise this flavor combination is fantastic. The sweet fire roasted corn balances the salty smoky flavor of the bacon. The sweet plump shrimp texture is remarkable in contrast to the crunchy bacon and the soft crunch. The creamy béchamel sauce ties all of the pizza together beautifully. So give it a try… or experiment with your own pizza flavor combo.

Pizza Dough (makes double what you need, store the other half in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for two weeks):

1 package of quick-rise yeast
1 cup of warm water
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 ½ cups of flour
1 teaspoon of salt

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

Proof the yeast in the warm water and sugar to make sure it bubbles. This will take about 5 minutes. When you are sure it is good, add in the salt and flour. Combine with your hands until dough is formed or if you are doing this in your standing mixer use your hook attachment and mix until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Let it sit for about 20 minutes. Or however long it takes you to take out the rest of your ingredients and cook your bacon. When you are ready, cut the dough in half. Keep half in the fridge for another pizza or bread sticks. Roll out your pizza on to 12 inch pizza pan and bake at 425 for about 10 minutes or until the dough turns a light brown.

Topping:

3 strips of bacon (I used turkey smoked bacon)

1 cup of cooked shrimp

1 cup of fire roasted corn


Cook your bacon on the stove top in a skillet. Either use frozen cooked shrimp and thaw before use or if using fresh uncooked boils for three minutes and then drain. I used frozen fire-roasted corn, which I thawed before use. But I bet in the summer freshly grilled corn will be phenomenal…
Toss all of your prepared ingredients together and let sit in sieve in the sink to drain out any excess liquid. Runny pizza is not a happy pizza.

Sauce:

This is a simple béchamel, but you would be amazed how few people know how to make this amazing delicious and easy white sauce.

1 Tablespoon of Buttah
1 Tablespoon of Flout
1 cup of Milk (any kind)
Salt and pepper to taste.

In sauce pan on medium heat melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk together until you have a gorgeous sunny golden paste. The flour needs to cook a little but not get burned. The more you cook it the less ability it has to thicken the sauce, so no more than 3 minutes. When completely integrated add the cup of milk and whisk. Stir until there are no lumps. Within 5 minutes you will have a velvety delicious sauce, add freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble the pizza:

Take out your prebaked crust. Add the creamy sauce. Poor on your toppings. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, maybe less depending on your oven and pan.

Then enjoy… It was so good, I had left over for breakfast.

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy baking.