Catfish Out of Water

I've been making a lot of pizza lately. I'm one of those people who'll get in the mood for something and then make it for a month straight. This is my third batch of Pizza Dough in the last couple of weeks. I might be running out of ingredients. My last pizza was entirely made out of leftovers that I had lying around in my refrigerator, which explains the Pizza w/ Refried Beans, Wild Rice, Apples, & Crema (although it was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend both Mexican-style pizzas and utilizing leftovers in new and interesting ways!). This time around, all I really have prepared is the dough and Roasted Garlic. I could make an entirely new dish, but I also have a bunch of avocados and cheese. So, here we have it: Pizza w/ Roasted Garlic, Avocado, & Fresh Mozzarella.

Gallery

Variations of Avocado Pizza

Within the abundance of pizza that I've been making over the last couple of weeks, there are a lot of fun toppings to choose from. Although, I tend to use recipes more as inspiration for dishes than I do exact copies. You can use any pizza dough recipe that you want and mix and match any of your own favorite toppings. I like raiding my refrigerator and pantry to try and find disparate ingredients that might be good together. There aren't many things that aren't delicious on top of dough and drowned in cheese! Feel free to mix and match your own favorite ingredients to make it your own. Pizza is a surprisingly easy recipe to toss together. Even bad pizza doughs are still going to make something that resembles pizza. They're incredibly forgiving and a great starter recipe if you're just getting into doughs.

Pizza w/ Refried Beans, Wild Rice, Apples, & Crema

Roasted Kuri Squash, Apples, & Fresh Mozzarella Pizza

Pizza w/ Avocado, Spinach, Roasted Potatoes, & Fresh Mozzarella

Pizza w/ Roasted Garlic, Avocado, & Fresh Mozzarella

This Avocado Pizza recipe consists of homemade flatbread crust, roasted garlic, avocado, shallots, gruyère, and fresh mozzarella.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian, Latin American

Servings 8 servings

Equipment

• Large Bowl
• Oven
• Griddle (optional)
• Rolling Pin
• Pizza Peel (or Cutting Board)

Ingredients

  

Pizza Dough

• 472 ml. warm water ~100°F (2 c.)
• 7 g. instant yeast (2 ¼ tsp. or 1 package)
• 7 g. sugar (or 2 tsp. brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey)
• 625 g. all-purpose flour (5 c.)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Roasted Garlic

• 1 head garlic
• ~1 tsp. olive oil

Pizza

• 1 head garlic roasted
• 1 avocado sliced
• 1 shallot sliced
• 8 oz. gruyère shredded (optional)
• 8 oz. fresh mozzarella

Instructions

 

Proof Dough

• Combine warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let rest for 15 minutes, or until the yeast begins to bubble.
• Meanwhile, whisk together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and salt in a large bowl.
• After the yeast has proofed, stir yeast mixture into the flour. Mix until roughly incorporated and the dough has a shaggy appearance.
• Add in the olive oil and mix until all of the ingredients are combined.

  In a mixer with a dough hook attachment, this only takes a minute or two. By hand, this takes about 5 minutes. It's a no-knead bread recipe, so you're not necessarily looking for soft and pliable dough. Really, you just want all of the ingredients to be mixed thoroughly at this point! Which does make it a great recipe to make by hand if you prefer or don't have a mixer.
• Cover dough and let proof for 6 hours, or until doubled in size. Alternatively, place in the refrigerator for 1-3 days.

  A quick pizza dough proof can be done in about 6 hours. Ideally, the dough is made 2 days ahead of time and proofed in the refrigerator for that time. However, I almost never know that I'm going to make pizza 2 days ahead of time! And 6 hours is perfectly adequate.

Roast Garlic

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Remove excess skin off of the head of garlic and cut off the top. Place face-up in a garlic roaster or center of enough aluminum foil to cover completely. Drizzle with olive oil to coat.
• Cook in the oven for 45-60 minutes, or until soft and golden brown.

Cook Dough

• Preheat the barbecue to medium-high heat.
• Alternatively, you can do what I did today and cook the pizzas on a griddle in the oven. Preheat the griddle in the oven at 550 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
• Divide the dough in quarters. Lightly flour a large, flat surface and roll out each dough until roughly 1/4-inch thick.
• It can help to let the dough proof for another 15 minutes. Although this is entirely optional. It will make a fluffier, rather than a crispier crust. If you want something more like a flatbread pizza, cook immediately. You can even spritz it with a little bit of oil for a little extra crunch.
• Carefully pick up the dough and drop it onto the grill or griddle. Grill until the dough just begins to char and grill lines begin to form. This takes about 1-2 minutes on the barbecue and 3-5 minutes in the oven.

Cook Pizzas

• Spread a light coating of olive oil across the pizza. Then, add garlic, avocado, and shallots.
• Top with gruyère and fresh mozzarella.
• Return to the oven and cook for about 6-8 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown.
• Since the crust has already been cooked slightly, make sure that it doesn't burn on the bottom before the cheese melts. If there is any doubt, look to the crust to determine doneness.
• Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

• For more tips and tricks, I also have entire articles on the following ingredients:
  • Double Batch Pizza Dough w/ All-purpose Flour
  • Roasted Garlic