Whip It Up! Make Your Own Takeout Edition

Guys, I think Rachael Ray has a cute/annoying little nickname for this, right? MYOTO? Fine, I confess, I own her 365: No Repeats...in fact, I can see it from where I sit this very second. Luckily, my recipe this week did not rely on a "30 minute" time frame (which, come on Ray-Ray, let's be honest, is completely unachievable), and so I sought inspiration elsewhere. A staple when we are trying to eat through what's left over in the fridge before a trip to the market is pizza-- and no Boboli for this girl, I usually use a super-easy from-scratch recipe from Smitten Kitchen. The problem with this is that, with yeast involved, there is a lot of (albeit hands-off) time involved (while I wasn't in a rush this week, I am too impatient most of the time to allow things to rise adequately). The solution? Something that I've enjoyed in many store-bought pizzas and have been itching to try myself: cornmeal crust! I combined a couple recipes that I found online, with delicious results...

Clean-Out-the-Fridge Sausage and Mushroom Pizza with Cornmeal Crust

Ingredients
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal or polenta
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil

Method

Place the polenta, flour, baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt onto your work surface. You could also combine the ingredients in a food processor or a bowl.

Make a well in the center and add the water and olive oil.

Combine and knead for about 8 minutes until the dough is elastic and shiny.

Top pizza and bake on a baking stone or greased pizza sheet in a 400 degree oven for 15–20 minutes

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Yup. You can't beat a 6-ingredient recipe!

Did the dish taste good?
Certainly. I loved it (I've eaten many cornmeal-crust pizzas-- blame the uppity Italian grocery store where I worked during high school for that one), and even got GP's grudging approval (I made him his own traditionally-crusted Smitten Kitchen-style pizza). If you're not an absolute pizza purist, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy this (bonus: it is wonderful for the more impatient among us).

Would you make it again?

I certainly plan to! Pizza is one of our go-to recipes, and I'm happy to add this variation to the rotation (I am less pleased about my accidental rhyme there, but what are you going to do?).