Blue Cheese Apple And Spinach Pizza Recipes

SPINACH & BLUE CHEESE PIZZA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and place a baking sheet inside to get hot. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the mushrooms and garlic, stirring frequently, until softened. Add the spinach, a handful at a time, and cook until just wilted but not soggy. Add the onion and stir it through, then turn off the heat.
• For the base, tip the flour and baking powder into a bowl, and stir in the yogurt mixture with the blade of a cutlery knife to make a ball of soft dough. Dust a sheet of baking parchment with flour, put the dough on top and press with floured hands to make a flat 20cm round. Top with the spinach mixture, scatter over the cheese and walnuts, then bake on the hot baking sheet for 12 mins or until the dough is cooked through and golden.

BLUE CHEESE, APPLE AND SPINACH PIZZA

Steps:

• Coil breadstick dough into a spiral.
• Flatten to a 12-inch circle.
• Place on a greased 12-inch pizza pan.
• Arrange spinach, then apple, then cheese over dough.
• Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes or until crust is golden.

SPINACH AND BLUE CHEESE SALAD WITH SLICED APPLES AND SPICED CARAMELIZED PECANS

Steps:

• Cut the apple into quarters, remove the stem and the seeds, and cut into very thin slices. Sprinkle lemon juice over the slices and set aside.
• When ready to serve, in a salad bowl, combine the apple, spinach, radicchio, and blue cheese. Season lightly with salt and pepper and toss with the dressing. Adjust seasoning, to taste.
• To serve, divide the salad among 4 plates and sprinkle the pecans around each salad.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots and the mustard. Whisk in the vinegars, and then the olive and vegetable oils. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until needed.
• Yield: 1 1/4 cups
• Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck, "Adventures in the Kitchen", Random House, 1991
• In a deep-fryer or a deep pot, heat the oil to 350 degrees F. (A deep-frying thermometer can be clipped to the side of the pan so that you can tell when the proper temperature has been reached).
• Meanwhile, in a large saucepan bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add the pecans and boil for 2 minutes. Drain in a large strainer, shaking off all excess water. Sprinkle the salt and cayenne pepper over the nuts and then coat with the confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, allowing the sugar to melt into the pecans. Toss the nuts by shaking the strainer, adding a little more sugar each time, until all the sugar is used and all the nuts are coated. Do not use hands or a spoon to toss. The nuts should have a glaze of sugar.
• Carefully add the nuts to the heated oil, keeping the oil at 350 degrees F. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon to a baking tray to cool.
• Yield: 2 cups
• Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck, "Pizza, Pasta & More!," Random House, 2000

CHICKEN & BLUE CHEESE PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°. In a large skillet, heat butter and 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and onion; cook and stir until tender, 4-6 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add spinach; cook and stir over medium-high heat until wilted, 1-2 minutes., Stir in chicken, salt and pepper. Unroll and press dough onto bottom of a greased 15x10x1-in. pan. Spoon chicken mixture over dough. Bake until crust is lightly browned, 14-16 minutes., Sprinkle with cheese and bacon; drizzle with remaining oil. Bake until heated through, 3-5 minutes. Freeze option: Prepare pizza as directed, decreasing bake time to 10 minutes. Top with cheese and bacon; drizzle with remaining oil. Cool. Securely wrap and freeze partially baked pizza. To use, unwrap pizza; bake until crust is lightly browned and toppings are heated through, 15-20 minutes.

BLUE CHEESE, WALNUT, AND PEAR PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Place the pizza crust on a pizza pan. Bake in the preheated oven until just crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the garlic, Dijon mustard, rosemary, and vinegar in a food processor or blender. Turn on, and drizzle in the olive oil slowly until the dressing has thickened. Quickly pulse in 1/4 cup of blue cheese; season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Spread the vinaigrette over the pizza crust. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of blue cheese evenly over the crust, followed by the mozzarella cheese. Arrange the sliced pears over the cheese, and sprinkle with the toasted walnuts.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese has melted and is bubbly, 7 to 10 minutes. Let cool slightly before cutting into slices.

FOUR-CHEESE SPINACH PIZZA

Steps:

• In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, saute spinach for 2-3 minutes or until wilted; remove from the skillet. Cool slightly; chop. , In a large bowl, combine 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese. Stir in the spinach, salt and pepper. Spread over crust to within 1/2 in. of edge., In a large bowl, combine the tomato, onions, olives, basil, oil, vinegar and garlic; sprinkle over spinach mixture. , Top with the feta cheese and remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400° for 12-14 minutes or until cheese softens and is lightly browned.

SPINACH AND THREE-CHEESE PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 550 degrees (or highest temperature) with a pizza stone placed on lowest rack for at least 30 minutes. Top a pizza peel with parchment paper.
• Working with one piece of dough, flatten dough into a disk that is thicker in the center than at the edges. Using your fingers, gently pull on the edges of the dough to form a 12-inch circle; dough should still be thicker in the center. Transfer dough to prepared pizza peel.
• Top dough with one-quarter of the cheeses, spinach, and sliced garlic. Season with pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
• Transfer pizza along with parchment paper to pizza stone and bake until spinach is wilted and slightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Using pizza peel, remove pizza from oven and top with one-quarter of the mint. Serve with lemon wedges. Repeat process with remaining dough and toppings.

BLUE CHEESE AND PEAR PIZZA

Steps:

• Put the water in a warm bowl and sprinkle the yeast and brown sugar on top. Stir to dissolve and set aside.
• Combine the rye flour, all-purpose flour, salt and olive oil in a mixing bowl and blend well. Add the yeast mixture and blend. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead about 10 minutes. The dough should not be sticky. Add a litle more flour if necessary.
• Shape the dough into a ball. Lightly oil the inside of a mixing bowl, place the dough in it and cover closely with a sheet of clear plastic wrap. Let the dough stand in a reasonably warm place until it is doubled in bulk, 45 minutes to an hour. Punch the dough down, shape into a ball and return it to a clean, lightly oiled bowl. Let stand again until doubled in bulk, 30 minutes or so.
• Meanwhile, peel the pears and rub them with the lemon to prevent discoloring. Cut the pears in half lengthwise and remove the cores with a melon-ball cutter. Cut the pear halves into the thinnest possible slices. There should be about six cups.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
• Punch the dough down and divide it into thirds. Roll out each third into a 10- to 11-inch circle. Sprinkle three pizza tins or baking sheets lightly with cornmeal and place a circle of dough on each.
• Arrange a first layer of pear slices close together in concentric circles on each round, leaving a margin of about one inch from the outer rim of dough. Scatter a third of the grated Gruyere over each. Cover with a slightly smaller portion of pear slices and sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese. Brush the rim of each pizza with melted butter.
• Place the pizzas on a rack in the oven and bake 10 to 12 minutes.