Valentines' Hearts #BreadBakers

 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the Bread Bakers home page. 

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories is hosting and she wrote: "Bake your favorite pizza.. pan pizza, grandma pizza, deep dish pizza, Chicago style pizza, flatbread pizza, Detroit Style Pizza, English muffin pizza, Neapolitan pizza, and/or grilled pizza (or any other type of pizza). In other words, share your favorite pizza recipe."

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

Here's the #BreadBakers' pizza shop...

• Aglio e Olio Pizza from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Barley Flour Vegetarian Pizza from Cook with Renu
• Breakfast Biscuit Pizza from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Deep Dish Hawaiian Pizza from Making Miracles
• Dessert Apple Pizza from Magical Ingredients
• Grilled Fruit Pizza from A Messy Kitchen
• Individual Deep Dish Pizzas from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Jerk Chicken Sausage Pizza from Passion Kneaded
• Langallo (Hungarian Pizza) from Palatable Pastime
• No-Knead Thin Crust Margherita Pizza from Sneha's Recipe
• Pizza Empanadas from Ambrosia
• Quattro Stagioni Sourdough Pizza from Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Pizza from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Valentine's Hearts from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Valentines' Hearts

Well, I decided to make some heart-shaped pizzas ahead of Valentines' Day. I think as a food blogger, you are are always making recipes for holidays days, or even weeks, ahead of the actual event. My family has just gotten used to it. Jake used to ask, "It's not ________ today, right?" Now he just knows that he's married to a serial planner...and I usually get my posts done way ahead of time.

So, for today's pizzas, I used what I had in my fridge for toppings. We ended up with pesto-mozzarella; fresh mozzarella with shaved asparagus; artichoke pesto topped with mozzarella and tomatoes; and some with prosciutto. But, for me, the beauty of homemade pizza is in the crust. And I've been making a sourdough pizza crust for several months. It's a family favorite.

 Ingredients 
makes six 8" hearts (easily halved, but we love our pizza and having leftovers)

Crust

• 1 cup sourdough starter, unfed/discard
• 1 cup sourdough starter, recently fed (within 8 hours)
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5 cups flour plus more for kneading
• oil for the bowl

Toppings

• crushed tomatoes 
• fresh tomatoes
• fresh mozzarella
• pesto (I used regular and artichoke)
• prosciutto
• asparagus, thinly sliced
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper
• olive oil 

Procedure

Crust
Place starters and water into a large mixing bowl. Stir gently to get rid of any lumps from the unfed starter; mine is always a thick lump. Spoon the yeast over the top and let bloom for 10 minutes. Add in the flour and salt. Use a wooden spoon to combine to a shaggy dough like the photo above.
 
Turn the dough onto a floured counter and knead until smooth and elastic. Mine takes about 10 minutes of kneading.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise for as long as you can - or at least until it's doubled in size. I usually do my dough before I go to work and leave it till dinner time, so about 8 or 9 hours.

When you're ready to cook, preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut your dough into six pieces. Handstretch the dough into a heart shape and place it on a baking stone.

 

 Spoon sauce onto the crust and spread it almost to the edges. Add your toppings. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.

Place pizza in the oven for 16 to 18 minutes. You want the crust crisped and browned and the cheese gooey and melted. Remove from the oven. And serve hot.

That's a wrap on the #BreadBakers February pizza event. We'll be back next month when Sneha of Sneha's Recipe leads our discussion on griddle breads. Stay tuned....