Re-inventing the pizza wheel

This weekend our daughter discovered the fruit pizza recipe that has been around for years. We had to rush home and make sugar cookie dough and got to making fruit pizza as soon as she read the recipe.

My daughter asked me to write about pizza this week so everyone could make a fruit pizza. I tried to explain that everyone has that recipe, but I could share a couple of others. So, in doing just that, I did a Google search, and more than 2 million pizza recipes came up. It sure was fun reading through many of them. I have picked a couple to share with you.

Caramelized Onion Pizza

Basic white dough:

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup warm water

1 pack (1/4-ounce) dry yeast

3 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup olive oil (optional: excluding it makes a chewier dough)

1 teaspoon salt (if excluding oil, use 1/2 teaspoon salt)

Whole-wheat dough:

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)

1 pack (1/4-ounce) dry yeast

1 1/4 cups white flour

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Dissolve sugar in water and add yeast. Stir gently until dissolved (about 1 minute). Let stand until the yeast foams slightly (about 5 minutes), to insure that the yeast is effective. Combine 3 cups of the flour and salt in a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and oil if you are using it. Begin kneading the mixture, gradually adding enough of the remaining 1/4 cup flour so that the dough is no longer sticky. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic (another 10 to 15 minutes by hand.)

Shape dough into a ball and put in an oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it with the oil. Let rise until doubled in bulk (45 minutes to 90 minutes, depending on the yeast and the temperature.) Punch down the dough and shape into 1 or 2 pieces. The entire recipe will make one large (16-inch) pizza or two small (12-inch) pizzas. Shape the dough either by hand or with a rolling pin, stretching out as necessary to achieve a thin dough. For a lighter crust, let the dough sit for a half-hour after shaping before constructing pizza and baking.

Topping:

1/4 cup olive oil for frying onions

6 cups thinly sliced onions (about 3 pounds)

6 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil for drizzling on top of pizza (optional)

1 tablespoon drained capers

1 1/2 tablespoon pine nuts

Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil and add the onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the moisture has evaporated and the onion mixture is soft, almost smooth, and caramelized, for about 45 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.

Cover the dough with the onion mixture, sprinkle with capers and pine nuts, and drizzle with remaining olive oil if you are using it. Bake in pre-heated 500-degree oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. The baking time will vary depending on whether you bake on a stone, a screen or in a pan. Be sure that your oven is pre-heated before putting pizza in.

Cranberry Pizza

This is a perfect dessert for entertaining for the holidays because it can be completely assembled in advance. The recipe calls for cranberries, but rhubarb is delicious as well.

Pizza dough: Flaky croissant dough or any pie dough or frozen puff pastry -- enough for one 10-inch puff pastry

Pizza sauce:

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Pizza toppings (according to taste):

Strawberries

Unshelled pistachios

Prunes, pitted and diced

White chocolate, grated

For the crust, use a flaky croissant dough, but any pie dough or frozen puff pastry will work. Use one 10-inch disc puff pastry. Roll crust out onto any baking sheet. Find a large bowl and put it upside down on the dough. Carve around it with a knife to make a perfectly round circle. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or up to one day. Do all this the day before if needed.

In a medium sauce pan, combine one bag fresh cranberries, water, sugar and lemon zest. Stir occasionally, bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until cranberries burst and the mixture reminds you of cranberry jam. This will take about eight minutes. Cool sauce until it reaches room temperature.

Take the refrigerated dough and spread it out on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Use a ladle to spread the cranberry puree evenly on the dough as you would a tomato sauce on pizza dough.

Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven in the lower half of your stove. Bake for six to eight minutes or until the pastry crust is a nice golden brown color, crisp and flaky. Make sure it is not doughy.

For toppings, slice strawberries into thin slices, which are the "pepperoni," unshelled pistachios are the "green olives," diced pitted prunes are the "black olives," and finally, coat the pizza with grated white chocolate as the "Parmesan cheese."

To serve, sprinkle plates with cinnamon. Slice the pizza with a pizza cutter and serve immediately. It is delicious when served warm. Serve with ice cream, either vanilla, eggnog or your favorite flavor. You can also make individual pizzas.

Good Morning Breakfast Pizza

1 tube crescent rolls, to form one crust

1 pound package of thawed frozen hash browns

1/2 pound sausage, browned

1 cup cheddar cheese grated

4 eggs beaten well with a little milk and salt and pepper

Spread crescent rolls on pizza pan to form one crust. On top of crust, place hash browns, crumbled up, and sausage. Make sure that both go to the edges of crust. Slowly pour eggs over top of hash browns. Then sprinkle on the cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Cut in pizza slices and serve with fruit and juice.

Of the millions of pizza recipes out there, this is only a sampling to get your thoughts flowing to inspire you to create your own masterpiece. Have fun and get creative. Until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourian staff.