Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Whole Wheat Mashed Potato Pizza Dough

BLT Pizza

A workday generally means a cup of tea in the car, followed by a couple of meeting in the office, lunch with coworkers, a few hours of email and catching up with the latest work literature, a late afternoon meeting, a bit more reading if I am lucky and then home. It is a life marked by relative quietude, intellectualism at some junctures, and caffeine at all times.

The home life cannot be more dissimilar. Here we have a one-month old, the Tiger, who nurses every hour and cries as if she has never been fed if I should dawdle before latching her on; a 2 year old, Belle, who has learned climbing the walls is not just a charming turn of phrase; and an old dog, Coyote, who has lost her mind. All three are in diapers—and I am never nearly caffeinated enough. Mind you I have a ridiculous amount of help with my brood, so we can spend a great deal of time cooking and enjoying food.

Of late, I have started thinking about the food of my childhood and what elements should make it to my daughter’s plates. My mother was an excellent cook who made dinner nearly every night. She kept a number of dishes, sambar, dal, potato upkari, in regular rotation and then switched it up with more time consuming dishes likes pathrado and sanna pollo. In the upcoming months, J— and I have decided to start making and documenting our family favorites, so that the girls will them as part of their lives.

J—is up first with pizza. Belle would eat it morning, noon and night. Pizza toppings change by the season though generally the adult, and ideally not me, rolls in out and places it in an oiled round pan or on a pizza peel and then Belle tops it with Mommy-cut toppings. Right now, corn is a particularly popular topping. Fruit is another.

We made two BLT pizzas with homemade bacon (thanks to my Ruhlman challenge) and homegown tomatoes. The first was confit of green tomatoes, figs, gorgonzola and bacon; the second, tomatoes, basil, bacon, provolone and cheddar. Belle was first rooting for the former as it matched her new purple crocs but after one bite felt the red one was more her speed.

Next Family Recipe—Sambar

DSC_0130

Recipe
Whole Wheat Mashed Potato Dough
Make 4 medium pizzas or 2 large

In a stand mixer with its hook attachment, combine
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 tsp yeast in 1 cup warm watter
3 cups whole wheat flour
¾ cup wheat germ
Salt

Knead. Add AP flour until you get a smooth (non-sticky) dough. Let rise 1 hour. Beat down. Let rise again.

J—‘s other dough
In a stand mixer with its hook attachment, combine
3 cups AP flour
1 cup warm water with 1 packet yeast
1 T olive oil
Salt

Knead. Add flour until you get a smooth (non-sticky) dough. Let rise 1 hour. Beat down. Let rise again.

21 comments:

Joanne said...

I love the idea of making memories with food and instilling your family favorites in your childrens' minds. Homemade pizza is the best! My dad used to make it every Friday evening as a special treat. You should check out Meeta's Monthly Mingle this month since the theme is Heirloom Recipes! I love the sound of the fig and gorgonzola pizza. Mmmm.

chakhlere said...

I am sure this will be really yummy!!
I loved the recipe.

grace said...

i just got an amusing mental image of a dog in a diaper, so thanks for that. :) thanks also for the suggestion to put figs on a pizza--it's brilliant!

lisaiscooking said...

The dough must be delicious with the mashed potato in it. Great looking pizzas too!

pam said...

Those pizzas look great!

Kana said...

My mom made sambar every Friday and I looked forward to it every time!

Rachael Hutchings said...

What a great idea to put your homemade bacon on pizza! I'm totally stealing that idea! :)

FoodJunkie said...

Wow! You have A LOT on your plate and still manage to cook! My friends have had babies recently and they use it as an excuse to stay away from the kitchen despite the fact that they don't work. I find that appalling, but now that I think about it, they weren't cooking before the babies either... Using potato in a dough is completely novel to ma but quite intriguing. I will give it a try next time I make pizza.

angela@spinachtiger said...

I have never heard of mashed potato pizza dough. Sounds intriguing. I love your toppings and they look quite delicious.

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of a crust with mashed potatoes, I bet those pizzas are fabulous!

Sophie said...

I bet your mom's home always smelled heavenly! I think it's so neat that you added potato to the dough, oh how I miss whole wheat! :)

Cynthia said...

I love that idea of adding the potato to the dough.

Anonymous said...

Lovely rusty looking pizzas!

cm said...

your pizza dough looks fabulous! how long does it take to get crispy in the oven?

i have a great olive oil pizza dough recipe that is a wonderful standby and it only rises once before baking and i'd be happy to share if you're interested.

happy baking!

Alicia Foodycat said...

That mashed potato dough sounds really good - as does the fig & gorgonzola pizza topping! Wow!

Madam Chow said...

I love the idea of this recipe - mashed potatoes! Yay! PIZZA! Double Yay!

Hungry Huy said...

Wow, gotta try this. They look great!

Johanna GGG said...

That dough looks fantastic - I love bread with mashed potato in it so I want to try this pizza dough!

Aggie said...

Your pizzas look great! How interesting to use potato in the dough! I love it!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Two beautiful pizzas! That dough is interesting!

Cheers,

Rosa

Zoƫ said...

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! It is just what I was looking for. Perhaps this weekend... hmmm... I have some tomatoes that need munching and basil that needs serious picking.