Pineapple Marinara

That is sage on top...I love pineapple and sage :)

I got a brand spankin new pressure cooker for Christmas, a Fagor Duo 8-Quart to be exact. I have been busting to try it and I finally settled on making this delicious Pineapple Marinara sauce for my hawaiian pizza (which I will post in the coming days). Pressure cookers have been around for a long time, but they are starting have a resurgence now do to their new safety measures (they won't explode in your kitchen anymore) and lots of new publicity from major cookbooks and TV shows. Pressure cookers are back baby! The beauty with pressure cookers is their ability to cook anything at a higher temperature. You see, any food product contains water and the boiling point of water is 212°F. So, therefore, nothing can be cooked past that temperature while it contains water. You can put a steak in an 800°F, but it will never pass 212°F, unless of course you completely dehydrate it. Pressure Cookers can get us around that barrier. Whenever you raise the pressure you essentially raise the boiling point. The Fagor Duo 8-Quart is one of the best on the market and can reach full pressure of 1 Bar, or 15 psi, which essentially increases the cooking environment to 250°F. Given this advantage, you can cook whatever it is your cooking 70% more efficient and given the increased temperature, you can get a lot more depth of flavor. I highly recommend everybody having a pressure cooker in your home, not only are they extremely versatile, but extremely efficient. They are definitely worth the cupboard space!

Ingredients

• 2 cups yellow onion, large dice
• 1 cup carrots, medium dice
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 3 cups pineapple, medium dice
• 1/2 cup prosciutto, diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes 
• Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
• Salt, to taste

Directions

Add the onion, carrot, garlic, pineapple and prosciutto to the bowl of a food processor and mince. Work in batches if they don't all fit. 

Add the olive oil to the base of the pressure cooker and saute the minced vegetables over medium heat until the onions turns translucent, about 4 minutes. 

Stir in 1/2 the can of crushed tomatoes, reserve the rest for another use. Pressure-cook at a gauge pressure of 1 bar/15 psi for 45 minutes. Don't start timing until full pressure is reached.  Once 45 minutes has passed, depressurize the pressure cooker. Blend sauce with an immersion blender until smooth. Season with EVOO and salt to taste.

Stromboli Roll

For some reason this Stromboli reminds me of the creatures from Tremors...Anyways...I love a good stromboli and this meets the criteria. They are really simple and you can fill them with practically anything your heart desires or have in the fridge. There are two forms  of strombolis. Typically the way I do is I roll out the pizza crust into the standard circle , layer all the goods on half of it, fold the other half over and crimp the edges. I felt like changing it up this time and I rolled the pizza dough out into a rectangle and rolled it up. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough, recipe here (or you can use store bough)
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder
• Mozzarella cubes
• Assorted Meats (I used pepperoni and sausage)
• Assorted Veggies (I used red pepper and mushrooms)
• Marinara Sauce
• 1 egg, for egg wash

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 400℉. Using a baking sheet, roll the dough out flat in the shape of a large rectangle. Brush with a thin layer of olive oil and lightly sprinkle the garlic powder. You want to keep the ingredients separate and layer them in columns, from left to right, starting with the mozzarella; this helps prevent the cheese from spewing out in the middle of baking (the mozzarella will be the center of the roll).Then order the rest of your ingredients however you like, I ended with pepperoni since that made for a nice top. Gently roll the dough up and tuck in each side underneath itself. Brush the Stromboli roll with egg wash, season with some salt & pepper, then cut a few slits in the top to help the roll breath through the baking process. 

If you are using sausage & peppers, sauté them up together in a sauté pan to cook the sausage and soften the peppers. Let them cool slightly before adding them to the roll. 

CAN YOU FLY SUCKER?!

Deep Dish Pizza

Probably about a year ago, I made my first trip to Chicago with my girlfriend to see Flogging Molly perform (it was an awesome concert). Being the pizza connoisseur I am, one of the first things I had to do was try the famous deep dish pizza. I still don't remember what place we got it from, just that the hotel we were staying a recommended them. It was definitely in the top 3, maybe even the best, pizza I have ever had. The crust had such an amazing texture, both crunchy and soft. The sauce...don't make me think about the sauce....it was spectacular. It was everything pizza sauce should be. Full flavor with tomato and herbs with a kick of sweetness at the end. Ever since then, I've been wanting to make my own deep dish pizza. Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 1 ½ cups of warm water
• 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup semolina flour
• ½ cup vegetable oil, plus 2 tsp to grease bowl
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
•  ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, coarsely crushed
• 1 Tablespoon dry red wine
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

For Pizza:

• 1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
•  4 ounces pepperoni
•  2 cups diced green pepper
• 1 cup sliced black olives
• ½ pound crumbled hot Italian sausage
• 1 cup grated parmesan

**Note: You can add whatever toppings you want.**

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the semolina, 1/2 cup of the oil, and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes. Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil.

Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

While the dough is rising, make the tomato sauce. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the herbs, seeds, salt, and black and red peppers, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, wine and sugar, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely before using.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Oil deep-dish pizza pan with the extra-virgin olive oil. Press dough into pan, pressing to the edge and stretching about 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Dough Pressed in Pan

Filled with Cheese, Meats & Toppings

Topped with Sauce & Parmesan

Layer the mozzarella cheese all over the bottom of the pies. Top with the pepperoni, green pepper, black olives and sausage. Ladle the sauce evenly over the pizza and top with Parmesan.

Bake until the top is golden and the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven onto a cooling rack and let rest for about 10 min, slice and serve hot.

Additional Equipment

This equipment is not necessary but this is a nice little deep dish pizza kit that UNO Chicago Grill makes. It is only $20 through amazon and you get a quality deep dish pan, spatula and recipe book. If you don't want to spend the money I've seen other deep dish pizza recipes where people use spring form pans or cast iron skillets. Do your research and make an informed decision before starting the recipe...remember from my buffalo nuggets recipe....MISE EN PLACE!!!!

Prices Subject to Change

**Note: I am only including items on the grocery list that I deem an expense. I'm assuming most people will already have things like salt & pepper**

 Kitchen Word of the Day

Proofing (also called proving), as the term is used by professional bakers, is the final dough-rise step before baking, and refers to a specific rest period within the more generalized process known as fermentation. Fermentation is a step in creating yeast breads and baked goods where the yeast is allowed to leaven the dough.

Fermentation rest periods are not often explicitly named, and normally appear in recipes as "Allow dough to rise."

In a less-specific sense with usage reminiscent to fermentation, proofing refers to yeasts' feeding on some type of sugar. As the term is used in some cookbooks intended for home use, it refers to testing the viability of one's yeast by mixing it with a small amount of warm water and sugar, and waiting until the mixture becomes foamy by the action of the yeast. Typically, using US customary units, ¼ cup water at 105–115 °F and ½ teaspoon of sugar are used. While this sugar may be sucrose, instead it may be glucose, typically enzyme-derived from starch.