I grew up in New York – Long Island to be precise. We don’t take pizza lightly over there, it’s a serious affair. When I think of pizza, I think of Little Vincent’s or Rosa’s (LI), Giovanni’s or Benny Tudino’s (NJ), Alligator Lounge (Brooklyn) or any of the thousand’s of pizza shops on the side of the street (NYC). Now that I’m in Davis, California, I have yet to see a pizza that I’m willing to eat. When I first got here, I attended a function of some sort for grad students (there was a promise of free food after all). When it came time to eat, the familiar flat cardboard boxes arrived. Inside, though, was some circular bread with random glops of stuff in the middle. I’m not sure exactly what it was, but it wasn’t pizza. I went home and cried.
Now I’ve heard rumors of passable pizza places here in CA such as Pizza Orgasmica or even Round Table (really?), but my hopes aren’t very high. I believe it’s the same reason that bagels over here are terrible (don’t get me started on these too). I’ve heard the reason is the water. The east coast has certain minerals (or lack of minerals, not sure which) in the water which help the dough maintain a perfect chewiness and achieve a crisp texture when baked.
In any case, I longed for pizza the other day. A while ago I purchased some Whole Wheat Pizza Dough from Trader Joe’s that was sitting in the freezer. I love it not only because it’s $1, but also because it’s not pre-baked so you can do anything with it. It needs (pun intended) a bit of working but eventually the dough gives in and takes shape. By no means is this an authentic New York pizza, but at least the crust was thin and crispy. I posted a BBQ Chicken Pizza a while ago, but this one is better all around. As much as I love a plain slice of Little V’s, something about BBQ chicken pizza always gets me. Now step on in and take a look at Peanut Butter Boy’s version…
Print1 whole wheat pizza dough (Trader Joe’s)
1 (10oz) can chicken breast, drained
Spicy BBQ sauce (I use Stubb’s)
3T creamy peanut butter
1/2 red onion, sliced thin and cut in half
10oz sliced mushrooms
2 cups (8oz) nonfat shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup nonfat ricotta cheese (Calabra rocks!)
olive oil
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Split the dough in half (or quarters) and place on a floured surface, I used whole wheat pastry flour because that’s all I had. It takes quite a bit of working, but those crusts you see above are made by hand, I don’t have a rolling pin. Work the dough with your hands, folding it over and pushing it down with your fingertips repeatedly until it begins to hold its shape when flattened. The dough will want to form a ball again, so add flour liberally to prevent this. Also, make sure that the surface underneath the dough is always floured or it will stick. Using 1 dough, I made 4 of those pizza’s you see above, so don’t be afraid that the dough is too thin. Press out to desired thickness and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes.
2. While the dough is pre-baking, sauté the mushrooms in a pan with cooking spray, salt and pepper until the mushrooms are tender. Dump the chicken into a bowl with the peanut butter and enough BBQ sauce to make a spreadable sauce, using a fork to mix and break up any chunks of chicken (if you insist, you can omit the peanut butter…shame on you).
3. When the dough is done, remove and spread with PBBBQ Chicken sauce to cover the crust within 1/2 inch of the edge. Add the mushrooms to the pizza and sprinkle the onion rings on top. Dollop plenty of ricotta cheese on top and top with cheddar cheese. Drizzle the top with a bit of olive oil to help it crisp. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and begins to brown.
Additional Info:
Don’t throw out those crusts! During consumption I keep the container of ricotta by my side. When I get down to the crust, I spread some on each bite. As kids, we always spread butter on our crust and it was the best. Alternatively, dip the crust in some olive oil and salt.
Before I forget, I’ve been given an award! I’ve also been tagged! I’ve actually been tagged several times recently, but since I previously posted some embarrassing facts about mysself, I dodged it for a while. But this time, I have some questions to answer.
Check out my award! I got it from Julie over at Peanut Butter and Julie. It’s called the Arte y Pico award and is given to people who are creative and have a penchant for art. Whoever it is bestowed upon must present it to 5 other bloggers and let them know. More about that in a moment.
I’ve also been tagged by Chocolate Moosey. Accordingly, I must answer the following questions and tag other bloggers to do the same, piece of cake!
What were you doing 10 years ago?
1998 – I was 13, so I suppose I was in 8th grade. I don’t have as good a picture to show this time as last time, but I was probably a little less dorky than that infamous picture. Although at the time I played lots of video games. I also went to computer camp that summer, was on the mathletes team and was 2 years ahead in Math…..=(
What are five (non-work) things on your to-do list for today?
Laundry, proofread final project (seriously, check this thing out, it’s ridiculous), gym, grocery store, contact old friends.
Five snacks you enjoy?
A jar of Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter and a knife
Kashi GoLean Crunch
A piece of Lindt, Vere or Marie Belle 70-75% cocoa dark chocolate
Peanut butter chocolate chip rice cake spread with peanut butter
Jelly beans
Five things you would do if you were a billionaire
I already am a billionaire in my mind, I’ve got a wonderful loving family and girlfriend…not to mention 10 jars of peanut butter in the cabinet. Could a guy want anything more? (Awww…)
Places you have lived?
Long Island, NY
Hoboken, NJ
Madrid, Spain
Davis, CA
Jobs you have had?
Research Fellow
Teaching Assistant
Assistant Engineer
IT Help Desk (shudder)
Helper at my Dad’s company
Garbage pickup around my Dad’s offices (I think this one payed the best)
Ok! I bestow the Arte y Pico award AND tag the following people:
Have Cake Will Travel
Veggie Girl
Life, Love, and Food
Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried
Down Home Dieting
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Ah yes, New York-style pizza reigns supreme; and hey, your pizza looks great as well, loaded with peanut butter goodness :0)
thanks for the award, Nick!
you deserve an award for loving dark-ish chocolate too. :)
Thanks for the award and tag – will try to get to it this week. I have several responses to your meme;
Firstly, ack to your final project. I had no idea you were such a brainiac and now have newfound respect for your paper that blurred into indecipherable jargon after the first paragraph!
Secondly, if you really mean it about the family and girlfriend and peanut butter then I think you should run for president.
Thirdly, Hola! Does your sojourn in Madrid mean that you speak Spanish? I have to say, I’m more of a Barcelona girl myself, but I’m looking forward to visiting Seville next April for the orange blossom, Nick says it’s a lovely city.
I also forgot you were 23, when you answered the 10 years ago question with – well I was 13, it took a moment before I realised I was 25 – ten years ago – eek! Luckily I have good genes so nobody but me and you knows about that okay?
x x x
Nick!! I definitely commented on your post BEFORE you included the award/meme part, haha – congratulations on the well-deserved award, and thank you for passing it on to me as well!! :0)
I love your answer to the “Five things you would do if you were a billionaire” question – too perfect/sweet!!
Pizza is definitely something that I’ve never thought to put pb on before :) Sounds… interesting for sure!
Looks delicious! Bbq pizza is always the best!
Don’t forget Nick that ten years ago you were playing saxophone with The National Wind Ensamble at Carnegie Hall. You were by far the youngest person there! It was wonderful! And you were wearing your first tux!
Haha, hi from another mechanical engineer who grew up in NY and went to school in California! How funny! I’m back in NY now, though, and if anyone tries to take away my bagels again I will NOT be happy.
This pizza, on the other hand, sounds like it would be worth trying even with the tasty options available here… the typical tomato sauce and cheese can get a little repetitive and who doesn’t love BBQ sauce?
I totally agree! I am originially from NJ, now living in SoCal. I MISS PIZZA!!! BENNY’S IS THE BEST!!!!!!! My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Interesting take on bbq pizza. I like the Trader Joe’s dough as well but we finally resorted to just making our own to get one we like best.
I was so shocked when I read the post and you said you grew up in Long Island. I live in Nesconset in Suffolk County! Such a small world.. i too love PB haha and I am also 23. Love the blog
celine, no prob! But what do you mean by “dark-ish”. Do you eat even darker chocolate? I have a Lindt 80% Peru that I keep in stock, but above that and it’s not always enjoyable, although it really depends on the brand and quality at that point. For example, my sister brought me a %90 cocoa bar from Xocoa in Barcelona that was incredible. Apparently the brand is well known for extremely high quality chocolate because generally 90% is a bit high for me.
Naomi, Yea the final project was intense. It took me the better part of a week to fully understand what was going on. I was really impressed with myself, by the end I fully understood what was going on and the results I got made sense.
About the billionaire thing, I asked the same question of myself – did I truly mean it? But when I first read the question it’s the first thing that came to mind so I think so.
Yes I do speak some Spanish! I actually studied abroad in Madrid for 4 months. But one of my favorite places I visited was Barcelona. I absolutely love that city. Sevilla is very nice, that’s actually the first vacation my girlfriend and I went on together (we met while studying in Madrid). This was 3 years ago, so my Spanish is a bit rusty but I maintain a decent amount of it.
Nobody shall know except for me and the 3 other people that read this blog =)
veggiegirl, You’re crazy! I had clicked publish instead of save draft and had to add in the other parts but already noticed a comment before I was done, what crazy timing! I always assume I have like 10-15 minutes at LEAST to edit my posts in case I make some big blunders or leave out half of it or something!
recipegirl, Interesting and delicious! I recommend putting the “peanut butter spiked” sauce on like 1/4 of the pizza to try it out, then use it next time if you like it. Although I don’t see how anyone couldn’t =).
mom, Yes, but I thought that was in 9th grade, not 8th. Either way it was definitely close to that time, something I’ll never forget!
joanna, Haha, yea it’s amazing how different food can be from one coast to the other. You would think someone would figure out how to make them like NY, unless it really is the water in which case I guess there’s nothing you can do.
kat, Yea I prefer homemade, but for only $1, it’s just so much quicker! Given the time though, I’d make my own too.
Christie, I’m from Huntington. Funny how two same-aged peanut butter lovers from the same island can come together out of the blue. Go to Little Vincent’s pizza if you get a chance, there’s one in Huntington town but another one in Ronkonkoma I wanna say.
Hey, check out my blog. I just came up with a recipe for homemade doggie treats and I used peanut butter! Hum, wonder where I got that idea! LOL! Of course, the smelled wonderful cooking and my dog loved them!
Lisa :)
http://www.glutenfreelicious.blogspot.com
Ok, now I think I have seen it all! Peanut butter pizza!
Round Table used to be good but isn’t anymore. If you see a place called New York Pizza Kitchen, give that a shot! Their pizza rocks but there aren’t many of them. I’ve had authentic pizza in New York and very little on the West Coast even comes close!
Pizza with bbq sauce and pb sound pretty good!
YUM! I saved this recipe for my sister and I. We will make it on our next Movie night! She loves PB as much as I do!
Dude! Weeks after you tag me, I finally dish the dirt. Through some electronic magic, my post has already announced itself as linked to yours: To the Limit.
I really think you ought to review The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book. It seems only fitting. Have you flipped through it at all?
And just for more tagging fun, I’d like to hear about your cookbook collection. Culinary bookworms everywhere need to know!
http://lifeloveandfood24.blogspot.com/2008/06/gastronomic-hedonists-library.html