edamame pizza

DESCRIPTION

the measurements here are rough. aside from the dough, these are essentially just toppings. leftover stuff sitting in the freezer/pantry.

the crackers are kind of a peasant-type trick for "stretching out" the cheese. it kind of creates a secondary thin crust. the pumpkin seeds add a little extra nuttiness.

you can use a range of shredded cheeses. they're pretty easy to find at a semi-decent grocery store. cheaper and easier to use than a regular hunk of cheese. for added ghetto-ness -- and because i hate going to the grocery store regularly -- i started buying a few packages of shredded cheese and just throwing them in the freezer. that's what you'd do with a frozen pizza...

for the chili sauce, i use this shit i pick up in chinatown, cheaply. you can find it elsewhere, for a buck or two more. or you could use some other hot sauce you like (if you wanna be a jerk about it). it's a decent replacement for a traditional tomato sauce, when you don't have it...

i know this sounds strange, but it was pretty good in a pinch...

INGREDIENTS

basic pizza dough
corn meal
1 cup frozen edamame (without shells)
1 cup frozen peas
10 whole-wheat crackers, crumbled
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
extra virgin olive oil (e.v.o.o.)
chili sauce (substitute some tomato sauce, if you can't stand the heat)
some sea salt
1 package shredded cheese (something with mozzarella works nice)

DIRECTIONS

preheat the oven to 500 degrees F, or as high as it goes.

if the pumpkin seeds aren't toasted, toast them a bit in a dry pan over medium heat. just until they're a little brown. it releases oils or something, makes 'em tastier.

throw the toasted pumpkin seeds and the crumbled crackers into a food processor. cover it up and give it a few pulses till it's all crumbs. pour in roughly a tablespoon of e.v.o.o. give it a few more pulses. dump in your shredded cheese. pulse it till it's all incorporated. empty the crumbly mixture into a separate bowl.

you don't even have to bother washing out the food processor -- throw in the shelled edamamme and the peas. add a pinch or two of good sea salt. give it a few good pulses till it's all shredded together. set that aside.

now clear off your cutting board and sprinkle a liberal amount of some nice coarse corn meal on it. grab about half your dough and slap it onto the board. start working it into a disc. (or a rectangle; whatever shape your target pan is.) flip it over and work it with your fingers. sprinkle more cornmeal if it gets too sticky. start using a rolling pin to get that crust REALLY THIN.

sprinkle your target pan with more cornmeal. place your rolled-out dough on top. press it out a little more if you like. give the pan a little shake to make sure that this dough won't stick when you try to get it out later; the coarse cornmeal should keep it from sticking and should absorb some extra moisture so your crust will be nice and crisp.

now's the good part. drop a few tablespoons of the chili sauce on top of the dough. (to your liking.) pour a little e.v.o.o. on top of that and spread the whole thing around with your fingers. next, sprinkle half the cracker/cheese mixture evenly over the top. then sprinkle half the edamame/peas mixture over that. give a final dash of e.v.o.o. over everything and pop it in the hot oven.

ovens vary but give it about 10 minutes, or until the crust is light brown and everything's a bit bubbly.

repeat the process with the other half of the dough. let it all cool a bit. go nuts and/or freeze for another day. don't forget to turn off that oven... or blow out the pilot light if you just want to end it all...