Three winning pizza recipes

Dave Housman, Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria, Edmonton, Alta. www.famoso.ca

The 2010 Winning Entry

Dave Housman, Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria, Edmonton, Alta. www.famoso.ca

Dolce Vesta Pizza
This fusion of authentic Neapolitan pizza and spicy Cajun cooking blends the sweet tastes of Chorizo sausage and pineapple, with the fire of a spicy salsa and Cajun chicken.

Ingredients

Pizza
10 oz. dough (00 flour)
3 oz. fior-di-latte cheese
5 oz. homemade salsa
2 oz. spicy Cajun chicken
14 pcs. sweet (pre-roasted) Chorizo sausage
1/3 cup Pineapple Tidbits
8 pcs. fresh basil
Pinch Romano
Pinch sea salt

Homemade salsa
1 can (1500 g) tomatoes (drained)
25 oz. diced pepperocini
25 oz. diced red onion
1 tbsp. Tabasco
1 tbsp. ground cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. dried chili flakes

Directions

Pizza
Stretch out dough to 11 inches. Spread salsa out evenly on dough. Spread fior-di-latte. Place sausage out evenly. Season chicken with Cajun spice and distribute equally across pizza. Add pineapple. Rip and place basil leaves then sprinkle Romano and sea salt. Cook in 900 degree volcanic stone oven. Slice into six pieces.

Homemade salsa
Open can of tomatoes and drain. Puree tomatoes until small chunks. Add in all other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Salsa should be quite spicy.

Roasted Chorizo sausage
Cut small slit in each sausage to allow grease to exit. Place sausage on roasting pan. Roast on low heat so as not to burn outside. When sausage is cooked all the way through, remove from heat and place in cooler. After sausage has cooled, slice into 1-cm-wide half-moons.

Recommended selling price: $14.50

The runner-up

Adrien Vachon, Fat Cat’s Pizza Welland, Ont. www.fatcatspizza.ca

The Merenda
A vegetarian’s delight, The Merenda appeals to a health-concious clientele.
The raddicchio and balsamic glaze add an inventive finishing twist and pair beautifully with the sundried tomato and pesto base.

Sauce
Fresh basil and sundried tomato pesto
3-4 bunches fresh sweet basil
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped sundried tomatos
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh grated reggiano parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
 
Pick all the leaves off the basil stalks and put the leaves into a food processor along with the grated cheese and minced garlic. On low speed or while pulsing, slowly pour the olive oil into the hole on top of the food processor until everything is chopped up and blended together. Add chopped sundried tomatoes and pulse to mix them in. Add salt and pepper.

Toppings
1 zucchini sliced lengthwise into 1/2-cm slices
6-8 seed-free 1/2-cm eggplant slices cut crosswise
 
Lightly season the eggplant and zucchini slices on both sides with a pinch of
salt and pepperand allow the slices to rest awhile on a plate to bleed out some of the water – about a half hour.
Brush lightly with some olive oil and grill briefly on a hot grill on both sides just to mark them. Do not overcook. Chill in refrigerator and later cut into half-inch strips.
 
1 whole sweet red bell pepper charred directly on a gas stovetop element. Char entire outside of red pepper until it turns black. Place in a plastic bag for five to 10 minutes, remove from bag and peel off skin of pepper. Cut pepper in half. Pull out core, pith and seeds, and slice pepper flesh into 1-cm strips.

Balsamic glaze
Mix equal parts balsamic vinagar and white sugar in a saucepan. Heat to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Reduce until glaze is a syrup. You can check this by
filling a teaspoon and putting it in the fridge for a few minutes to cool quickly.
 
1/2 cup of 1/2-cm-wide shredded radicchio
1 lb, 10 oz of your favourite pizza dough stretched out on a 16-inch lightly oiled pan.
Break up 1 fist-sized (drained overnight in fridge) ball of fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese into 1-in. chunks.

You can substitute fresh mozzarella made from cow’s milk to make this pizza sellable at the recommended price.

Directions
Preheat oven to 575 F. Spread out about a cup of pesto on the dough evenly. Distribute strips of zucchini and eggplant evenly over the base. Scatter roasted red pepper strips on top of the pizza. Arrange chunks of buffalo mozzarella evenly spaced apart on pizza. Put pizza into oven and let bake for 6 to 7 minutes or until golden. Top with shredded radicchio one minute before removing from oven. It will wilt and char slightly. After removing from oven, drizzle balsamic glaze lattice-style across the pizza. Allow to rest momentarily, cut and serve.

Recommended selling price: $25-$30

Second runner-up

Jeff Hughes, Diesel Pizza & Wings, Riverview, N.B. www.dieselpizza.ca

Aunt Gail’s Favourite
This pizza is a favourite with Diesel’s female patrons. The combination of sweet pears and salty bacon is wonderfully balanced by the creamy goat cheese.

Ingredients
500 grams dough/12-inch pizza
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Bartlett pear
1/3 cup bacon
1/3 cup goat cheese

Directions
Melt butter on grill. Add brown sugar and sliced pears. Grill until pears are soft. Spread pear mixture over pizza. Top with goat cheese and bacon, distributed evenly. Cook until done (Hughes uses an air deck oven).

Recommended selling price: $15.49