Smoked Salmon and Arugula Pizza: Part 1

We are moving soon, so the time has come to eat our way through the freezer. A couple months back we bought 24 oz. of smoke salmon from Costco (cause, well... that was the smallest size they had). I froze half of the salmon and happily forgot about it. However the time of reckoning has come. Yesterday morning I decided to tackle the salmon so I started to poke around online for good a smoked salmon recipes (one's that used a LOT of salmon). and found this one for Grilled Smoked Salmon and Arugula Pizza. It looked really good but we don't have a grill so I had to modify it to work in the oven (our apartment complex doesn't allow us to own a grill... but YAY we are moving!!).

The crust on this pizza is whole wheat and very thin and crispy (kind of like a cracker). You could easily use store bought dough instead though to make an even faster pizza. :)

This was my entry in our weekly Bales Dinner Competition. Nathan says I won this set. :)

Ingredients (for making two personal sized pizzas):

Dough:

2 cups - whole wheat flour

1 tsp - salt

2 tsp - dried basil

1 tsp - dried oregano

1 tsp - onion powder

1 tsp - dried yeast

1/3 cup - oil

1/2 cup - warm water

Toppings:

6 oz. - smoked salmon

1 Tbsp - capers

2 Tbsp - thinly diced onions

Handful washed and dried arugula

1 - thinly sliced tomato

2/3 package cream cheese.

Pepper

Directions:

1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water (and preheat the oven to 350 F).

2. Add remaining dough ingredients and mix into a ball. If the dough seems too dry add a bit more water.

3. Kneed dough on a floured surface until well mixed and then let rest for 30 min.

4. Separate the dough into two even size balls and roll them out two make two pizza shapes.

5. Brush with olive oil and pop the crusts in the oven for 10 min.

6. Pull the crusts out and place 1/3 of the cream cheese package on each. Don't worry about spreading it out yet.

7. Pop the pizzas back in for about 2 minutes (we are getting the cream cheese to soften up so that it will be easy to spread).

8. Spread the warmed cream cheese over both crusts and add the tomatoes, 1/2 of the arugula, onions, and capers.

9. Bake in oven for another 10 minutes

10. Split the salmon evenly between the two pizzas and then add the rest of the arugula. 

11. Grind a bit of pepper on top and serve! 

Ok! Just one more close up! :D

Even though I made a double recipe I still have over half a package of smoked salmon left, so stay tuned to see smoked salmon pizza part two: the taste test battle.

<><Elizabeth