Sunday, June 30, 2013

Pizza Experiments with Chebe

For months, I've been admiring a variety of pizzas made with Chebe on my Facebook home page.  After a shopping trip to Chamberlin's in Winter Park last night, I was finally in possession of the key ingredient I needed - Chebe Pizza Crust Mix!


After a trip to Publix for Boar's Head mozzarella and provolone, and San Marzano tomatoes, I was ready to get started.  
I preheated my oven to 450 degrees, and prepared the mix as directed.  I blended 2 T of extra virgin olive oil, 2 large eggs (beaten), and 1 cup of Organic Valley Mild Cheddar Cheese (packed well) with the Chebe mix.  


I then added 1/4 C of water.  After kneading the dough until smooth, I pressed it onto my 14" Williams-Sonoma cast iron pizza pan with my hands.  We like to rub a little olive oil onto our cast iron pan with a paper towel before we use it and after we clean it.  


Next, I par baked the crust for 12 minutes without toppings on the bottom shelf of my oven.  While the crust was cooking, I minced one large clove of garlic in my garlic press, then added it to a bowl containing 1 1/2 T of extra virgin olive oil.  


The par baked crust emerged from the oven with a big bubble in the middle!  I then spread the mix of oil and garlic on the pizza, before adding a generous sprinkle of Romano, followed by mozzarella and provolone.  Next up, San Marzano tomatoes I had cut into thirds and removed most of the seeds from.  Lastly, I added some chopped basil, another sprinkle of Romano cheese on each tomato, and kosher salt.   


I put the pizza with toppings on the bottom shelf of the oven to bake for 10 more minutes.  


I love a thin crust pizza, and this certainly fit the bill.  It was so good, my husband and I ate the whole thing for lunch!  This pizza was the best gluten free pizza that I've ever made, and it was so easy to make!  

Chebe pizza experiment #2 -- I will be using the Chebe Original Cheese Bread Mix instead of the Pizza Crust, because it doesn't have oregano, onion, and garlic in the mix.  We prefer our crust to be free of seasonings.  According to several blogs I've read, you can also make pizza crust with Chebe Focaccia Mix or Chebe All-Purpose Bread Mix.  


I will probably make some simple pesto out of basil, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and Romano for experiment #2.  I'll keep you posted!  

Chebe is free of gluten, soy, corn, rice, potato, yeast, peanuts/tree nuts, and sugar.  It is also non GMO.  The Pizza Crust Mix is lactose/casein free, but the Original Cheese Bread Mix contains dry milk.   "So what is in Chebe?" you might ask.  The main ingredient is tapioca flour.  

My cast iron pizza pan might play a role in the success I have making this pizza.  Pans do make a difference.  My husband's grandmother makes the most amazing pizza on pans a family member made for her in the steel mills of Pittsburgh decades ago.  My husband and I learned to make her pizza, but could never replicate her crispy crust on our aluminum pizza pans.  Amazon sells cast iron pizza pans at a very reasonable price and the reviews are great.  


We made pizza tonight with Chebe Original Cheese Bread Mix and added some feta, in addition to the other cheeses.  Because the feta is a bit salty, I did not sprinkle this pizza with kosher salt.   It was amazing!  


Ready to go in the oven for its final bake


The finished product!  

7/4/13 Update

Pizza Experiment #3 - I used oil/garlic, Romano, fresh mozzarella balls (sliced), San Marzano tomatoes, basil, and feta.  We had to put the pizza under the broiler for a few minutes to brown the top.  The crust was much soggier using fresh mozzarella balls.  My husband said it was his favorite pizza, but I still prefer #2.  


Our 4th of July pizza ready for its final bake.


It was good, but I think I will stick with my Boar's Head mozzarella/provolone combo instead of using fresh mozzarella balls.  They make the pizza a little too soggy for my taste.  

8/10/13 Update - I did some research on using fresh mozzarella on pizza.  It is important to slice it at least 15 minutes before adding it to the pizza.  Place the mozzarella slices between paper towels to remove moisture.  


We had some leftover homemade pesto that I added to the crust after I parbaked it for 12 minutes.


I then added San Marzano tomatoes that I cut the tops off, squeezed the seeds out of, and cut in thirds.  Finally, I added fresh mozzarella and a generous sprinkle of Romano.  


It doesn't look like much, but it was delicious! 

9/17/13 Update - Pesto Chicken Pizza

Tonight, we made a pesto chicken pizza using a rotisserie chicken from Costco.  


After par baking the crust for 12 minutes, I brushed it with pesto before adding San Marzano tomatoes (sliced and seeds squeezed out), chicken (cut into small cubes or shredded), fresh mozzarella, feta, and Romano/Parmesan.  I baked it with the toppings for 11 minutes, then turned the oven on broil for another minute or two until the mozzarella started to brown.  Everyone loved it!  Pesto Chicken Pizza now has its own blog post.  You can view it here.  


Chebe pizza is great left over.  I like to eat it right out of the fridge, or if I have patience, I will let it sit out until it gets to room temperature.  


Pesto Recipe

Ingredients

1 C fresh basil - packed
2 T pine nuts
1 clove garlic - minced
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp coarse ground black pepper 
1/3 C extra-virgin olive oil 
1/4 C grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Directions

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a food processor, and pulse until they are well combined.  Add the oil and cheese.  Pulse until smooth.  

This recipe makes enough pesto for 2 pizzas.  

October 20, 2013 Update

Yesterday, I purchased some jalapeno pork sausage from Whole Foods after sampling it at the meat counter.  My husband removed them from their casings and partially cooked the sausage before we put it on the pizza.  


Today, I decided to use BelGioioso Fresh Mozzarella Pearls (8 ounces) on our pizza.  It saved me the trouble of slicing the mozzarella.  I did separate them and lay them between paper towels to remove any moisture before I made the pizza crust. 


This spinach sausage pizza was inspired by a pizza my husband's grandmother makes.  It was always a favorite of mine in my gluten-eating days. 


My husband declared this spinach & sausage pizza to be his favorite Chebe pizza to date.

I used Chebe Original Cheese Bread Mix for the crust, prepared according to package directions.  I par baked my crust for 12 minutes on the bottom shelf of my oven before brushing on an olive oil/garlic mixture (1 1/2 T olive oil, 1 large clove of minced garlic) and adding a single layer of fresh baby spinach.   Next, I sprinkled on a generous amount of jalapeno pork sausage, the mozzarella balls, Parmesan/Romano, and feta cheese.  I baked the pizza on the bottom shelf for 11 minutes before moving it to the upper shelf and putting it under the broiler for a minute or two, until the cheese browned.  You can view my post about our Chebe Sausage & Spinach Pizza here.  It has detailed instructions for how I made my Chebe pizza dough.

Here are some other Chebe pizzas we make with links to their blog posts:


Pesto Pizza with a Balsamic Glaze



BBQ Chicken Pizza


7 comments:

  1. Points well made. I used the Cheese bread w/ 1 cup of 6 cheese Italian Shredded cheese from Giant Eagle Market District. Toppings were Tomato/Basil/Green Pepper Sauce cooked down on ver low heat for 5 hours. Your mixing points were well taken. Mine came out a little extra thin, which was no big deal. All in all a great recommendation. ......Pops Pgh

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  2. Do you prepare the cheese bread mix as the package says for the pizza crust?

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  3. Since I am more of a "simple" cheese pizza girl (either real or Daiya 'cheese'), I like the Chebe focaccia bread for my pizza crust. I don't know how the price compares to Chamberlin's, but I usually buy them in bulk on Amazon. However, it is great to know if I run out where to find it locally! Last night, though, I went out on a limb and tried something I'd never done before. I cooked the focaccia bread as a pizza crust, then topped with cut up pre-cooked shrimp, onions, garlic, tomatoes and Daiya cheese and put it back in to melt the cheese and heat the mixture up over all. It was actually pretty good! Thanks for this post, though...I may try some of them out when I decide to get creative again!

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  4. Will regular tomato sauce work as well? Thank you.

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    1. Kathy - Absolutely! I would use it if I liked tomato sauce, but I am a white pizza kind of girl.

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