Hummus Pizza

This pizza is made with homemade dough and hummus. For a quicker version, buy store bought dough and hummus. I also grill the veggies but instead you can sauté them in a pan with some olive oil.

Bread:

1.5 C warm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
½ tsp. granulated sugar
4.5 C flour
3 T EVOO
2 tsp. kosher salt

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Stir briefly and let stand for 5 minutes or until the top surface has a thin, frothy layer. Add the flour, oil, and salt. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and mix on low speed for about one minute or until the dough begins to come together. Increase the speed to medium. Continue to mix until the dough is slightly sticky, smooth, and elastic, about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Turn it over to coat all sides and tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, 1.5-2 hours.

Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Lightly brush eight squares of parchment paper on one side with oil. Using your fingers flatten each piece of dough on a sheet of parchment paper to create 8 rounds. Each round should be about 1/3 of an inch thick and 6-8 inches in diameter. Lightly brush the tops with oil. Let the rounds sit a room temperature for 5-10 minutes.

Heat the grill to medium. Brush the cooking grate clean. Working with four rounds at a time, place the dough on the cooking grate with the paper side facing up. Grill over direct medium heat with the lid closed as much as possible until the dough is well marked and firm on the underside, 2-5 minutes, rotating as needed for even cooking. Peel off and discard the parchment paper and flip the bread onto the other side. Cook the other side.

Vegetables:

1 red bell pepper
1 onion
Mushrooms
Garlic
EVOO
Salt/pepper

You really can use any veggies you like, the trick is to make sure they are all the same size so they cook evenly. We have a grill basket that we use for this part of the dish.

Line your grill basket with tin foil, making sure that the sides of the foil are high, this ensures that no veggies or oil spill out. Cut the vegetables into slices making sure they are cut appropriately for their size and firmness. Place the veggies, oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl and toss to combine. Spread them out evenly in the grill basket and cook over the grill until they are done to your liking. Do not flip the basket as the oil and moisture will be lost to the fire and you will get a lot of ash on your food.

Hummus:

There are a couple of different ways that I make hummus but this is the easiest.

2 C canned garbanzo beans

1/3 C tahini (cannot leave this out!!)
¼ C lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
1 pinch paprika
1 tsp. fresh parsley

Place the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and garlic in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

I only put parsley on top if I have it. The paprika I blend in with the rest of the mixture instead of sprinkling on top but it is an option. Fresh hummus tastes much better than the store bought variety but not everyone can get tahini in their local supermarket. Really none of the ingredients (except the parsley and paprika) can be left out. They are all essential to the flavor of hummus.

Making the pizzas:

Smear on hummus and put as many or as few veggies on top as you like. Variations include putting cheese on top and different veggies like asparagus, zucchini, squash, and others. Grilling is essential for this dish to have the best flavor profile.

Note: If you have leftover bread rounds (we usually do) freeze them and use them as sides to other dishes. I also use these rounds to make regular pizza. Put your favorite marinara sauce on the round, top with mozzarella cheese and bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Voila! Homemade pizza that is very quick and easy to make.

This recipe is a mish mash of ideas but the basic pieces came from the following books/web links:
http://www.amazon.com/Webers-Way-Grill-Step---Step/dp/0376020598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342284487&sr=1-1&keywords=weber%27s+way+to+grill

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hummus-iii/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=hummus&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe