September 5, 2022
Having a baby in the house sure does make time fly right by. As I’m typing up this post, I still can’t believe September is already here. One moment Z is a tiny baby and the next she has grown into a tiny human. Yes, she’s still relatively tiny, but she’s definitely longer and heavier than she was just a month ago. It has become increasingly more difficult to hold Z for long periods of time. Looking back on the past month, Z already had two milestones. One was turning three months old. The other was reaching one hundred days. Reaching one hundred days is a big deal in our family and thus we had to celebrate in a special way. Everyone knows how much I love pizza. It’s often my go-to party food. So, why not bake up a colorful pie to celebrate Z’s one hundred days? My latest creation is a colorful pizza comprised of an assortment of diced meats and veggies. I named this latest creation celebration pizza because of all the wonderful colors spread out evenly across the pie. The pizza looks almost like artwork once it comes together – colorful like confetti, perfectly round, and beautiful in every way. Aside from looks, the pizza also tastes really good. The foundation for a delectable pizza begins with the dough. For a truly good pizza, the dough must be prepped in advance. I usually like to prepare pizza dough the night before, but if I’m crunched on time, I like to give the pizza at least two hours to rise in a warm place and swap out active dry yeast for instant yeast. Leaving the pizza dough to rise in a warm spot allows the yeast to work its magic and the dough to develop all the lovely bubbles which in turn yields a fluffy, chewy pizza. Unlike traditional pizza, this version doesn’t have a sauce. I know pizza purists would argue pizza has to have sauce for it to be called pizza, but I promise this version still tastes very good without tomato sauce. Quartered tomatoes replace the typical tomato puree I would often use as a base for the pizza sauce. Parm rounds out the cheese component of the pizza. The celebration part of the pizza comes in the form of diced ham (browned on a skillet ahead of time), cooked and chopped bacon, diced red pepper, quartered rainbow cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced scallions (for topping before cooking in the oven and for topping at the end), tons of freshly grated parm, and multiple grinds of freshly cracked black pepper. All of these ingredients are gently tossed evenly over the stretched-out pizza dough and popped into an oven preheated with a pizza stone. I set a timer for ten minutes and walk away to let the oven work its magic. In ten minutes flat, I have a steaming hot pizza ready to go. I also cooked up some corn on the cob directly in the oven to serve alongside the celebration pizza as a side. The corn is topped with some sriracha mayo, thinly sliced scallions, freshly chopped cilantro, and a gentle shake of smoked paprika. The rest of the meal is rounded out with some lemon iced tea. This simple meal for Z’s one-hundred-day celebration is finally ready. My parents took turns snapping pictures with Z while I finished up the decorations for her special day. Z was decked out in her all-pink outfit complete with a pink headband. We had to take photos quickly in between her awake windows. Otherwise, when she gets tired, she becomes fussy. Luckily for us, we were able to capture quite a few photos of her when she was smiling. After our quick photo session, Z let us know she was tired by yawning a couple times. We quickly placed her gently to sleep in her bassinet and enjoyed the celebration pizza, loaded corn, and lemon iced tea for lunch.
For the celebration pizza:
For the dough:
· 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading the dough
· ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
· ¾-1 cup water
· 2 teaspoons olive oil
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the rest of the pizza:
· 2 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
· ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ ham steak, diced and browned all over
· 3 strips thick cut bacon, cooked until crispy and chopped
· 1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
· 8 rainbow cherry tomatoes, quartered
· 3 stalks scallions, thinly sliced, divided
Directions:
1) Prepare the pizza dough the night before (or at least 2 hours before). In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Stir to combine all ingredients. Gradually add in ¾ cup of water to the mixture. Begin kneading the dough. Gradually add more water, if needed. Add the two teaspoons of olive oil. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes directly in the large bowl or on a lightly floured surface. Drizzle the tablespoon of olive oil in the large bowl. Coat the dough in the olive oil and let it rest in the bowl. Place a sheet of plastic wrap (or a fitted plate) over the bowl. Let the dough rise undisturbed overnight (or for at least 2 hours).
2) When the dough has doubled in size (and at least two hours has passed), preheat oven to 500°F with a pizza stone placed on the center rack. Place a sheet of parchment paper over a pizza peel. Sprinkle some flour onto the parchment paper. Transfer the dough to the lightly floured parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a large thin circle.
3) Gently sprinkle the grated parm all over the pizza dough. Sprinkle on the freshly cracked black pepper and kosher salt. Evenly distribute the diced ham, chopped bacon, diced red pepper, quartered cherry tomatoes, and half of the thinly sliced scallions all over the pizza dough. Carefully transfer the parchment paper and pizza onto the pizza stone and let the pizza cook for about 10 minutes.
4) Remove the pizza from the oven once the crust begins to turn golden brown. Let the pizza rest for a couple minutes before topping with the remaining thinly sliced scallions. Cut the pizza into slices and enjoy.
Z with her parents!
Z with her grandparents!
Takeaways: I’ve made versions of my celebration pizza for breakfast (topped with sunny side eggs pre-pregnancy of course), lunch, and dinner. The pizza comes together fairly quickly and makes for an easy meal. When rolled out, the pizza did extend past the edges of the pizza stone. This caused the edges to be a bit uneven, but the pizza itself did still taste very good. The parchment paper can be removed about 6-7 minutes into the cook time to allow the bottoms and edges of the pizza dough to crisp up even more in the oven. Enjoy!