Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Shall I Compare Thee to A Hummus Pizza?

You may recall from my Hawai'i post that I had a rather disappointing encounter with a hummus pizza.  


He was gorgeous, but I wanted more from the relationship than he was willing to give.  You know, flavor-wise.  

     Well, my friends, I have whipped out my brand new pizza stone for this and holy crud is it worth it (insert de-flouring joke here).  I do not have a pizza peel however.  For those of you who don't know, a peel is that big fancy wooden board thingie they show in the commercials that looks like a big flat shovel.  Apparently, it's handy for getting your 'za into and out of the bloody hot oven.  So, while this bad boy tasted beautiful, this is the shape it turned out:

He may not be all that much to look at, but he's got it where it counts.  Ooooohhh yeah...

No matter what shape yours turns out you will want to eat a lot of this as fast as you possibly can.

     Here's a couple of things about a pizza stone.  They're not too expensive.  The one I bought was about $25 and was made in the USA, too.  Love that.  You have to heat your oven really high (500 degrees and up) and you need to heat your stone at least 30 minutes before inserting the pizza.  I used a spatula and the bottom of a baking sheet as the "peel".  It worked great with a thicker crust, but not so much on the super thin one.

     Find a pizza crust recipe you like.  This one called for the oven to be heated to 550°.  It's probably a good medium for any dough you choose.

Ugly But Worth It Hummus Thin-Crust Pizza
Pizza dough
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 small squash, cubed
1/4 small zucchini, cubed
Sundried tomatoes packed in oil
Feta cheese

One half hour in advance, move the middle rack down to the bottom third of the oven and put the pizza stone on it.  Preheat to 550°.  While the stone is pre-heating, roll out your dough very thinly (1/4-1/8 inch).  Flour your peel or dust it with cornmeal.  Transfer the dough to the peel and brush the top of the crust completely with olive oil.  Using a garlic press, crush the garlic over the crust and brush it around as evenly as possible.  Transfer the crust to the stone and bake it for 2 to 4 minutes depending on how thinly you've rolled it.  It will start to bubble almost instantly.  When the crust has bubbled up, dried a bit, and has turned just a tiny bit tan, remove it from the oven and as quickly as you can, spread with hummus, add the veggies and lightly sprinkle the cheese.  Return it to the oven for another 2-4 minutes until the edges have begun browning.  Remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly until it's just above room temp.  This won't take long with a thin crust pizza.  It is still wonderful once it's at room temp, but too warm, you can't taste the hummus as much.

Notes:
I could take or leave the tomatoes.  Hubby liked them.  In a previous incarnation of this recipe, I used sweet little peppers cut into strips, those were wonderful but I forgot when I was making this one.  Next time I want to try shredded carrots.  To veganize this, you could easily leave off the feta.

Also, upon further experimentation (and a little hint from America's Test Kitchen) I found that a little parchment paper under the thinner crust pizza helps it keep its shape during transfer.  Just slide the pizza off, paper and all.  Don't worry, the paper won't burn in the oven, which was my original fear...

Review:
The boys both approached this with a little hesitation.  But once they had a bite, they were hooked!  I also made an additional crust covered in olive oil and garlic and cut it up into strips to dip into the hummus.  They liked that even better.  None of those pesky vegetables to get between the bread and the hummus... =)

14 comments:

  1. Love this pizza! I'm making pizza tomorrow night and have hummus...what a terrific idea.

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    1. Go for it, girl! Tell me how you like it! =)

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  2. Hey, easy, EASY! This is a family blog. You are getting a bit risque for my taste :) But then again, I *am* finding myself becoming lured in by his charm. Woooooo-weeeee, someone open a window.

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    1. All that "pre-heating the oven" stuff got to you, did it? =D

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  3. What kind of hummus did you use? Is it your own? I could totally see me using a garlicy garlic hummus. Looks ad sounds great. What is your favorite pizza dough recipe? Hmm, may try this for lunch on Friday, after we get some hummus from the Farmer's Market1 Fun stuff!

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    1. It is my own recipe, if you click the link up there in the recipe, it will take you to it. It's pretty garlicy! I'm still searching for my favorite recipe, America's Test Kitchen comes close. The one in the pictures is one from a magazine that you're supposed to make ahead of time and just keep in the fridge. It was pretty good. PS, my hummus is better than the one from the farmer's market...

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  4. that must have packed a punch.. sounds super flavourful!

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  5. Hi Brook, agree pizzas are much better baked with the stone. Did I ever tell you about my broken Jamie Oliver stone -http://extravirginchef.blogspot.com/2011/11/jamie-oliver.html? Cheers!

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    1. Oh man! That stinks! I'm hoping mine will fare a little better... I have a feeling mine will break when I inevitably drop it. That sucker's heavy!

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  6. I'm not that much a fan of hummus (although maybe it was because I have only had store-bought hummus) but I LOVE feta cheese. this looks fantastic

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    1. Well, not to toot my own horn, but I've never had better hummus than mine anywhere. OK, maybe that was a little toot. =) If you don't like hummus, I've got a pesto pizza on here that's rockin', too! http://crackersonthecouch.blogspot.com/2012/03/st-patricks-days-comin.html

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  7. This pizza looks amazing, but I'm surprised at 2 things: 1.) That you were capable of sharing with your family (I would have kept it to myself. Portion size, shmortion size), and 2.) That your young boys would eat anything with hummus on it! I have 2 11 year olds in my house that will no go within 10 feet of hummus.

    Love this idea and I've "pinned" it so I will remember it for later! :-)

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    1. Hi Kristy! Thanks for stopping by! I did have to share, unfortunately. I really should have made two, frankly... =) And my boys will eat a whole bunch of stuff many kids won't. #1's favorite veggie is kale and #2 begs for broccoli. They go through phases, but really, if it's got the word "pizza" in it, they totally go nuts.

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