Perfectly baked and delicious!
Why did I bake pizza in my toaster oven?
Well, thanks to Covid I haven't been able to get my standard oven fixed. I've chosen to await repair until I've had my Covid shots, so I've turned to my toaster oven for most of my baking needs.
Up until my standard oven became dysfunctional (the stove top still works), my toaster oven was used to, well, make toast!
Now, I use it for small-batch baking. One post-oven weekend a yearning for pizza led to a successful and tasty experiment.
Hmmm...I see my toaster oven needs a cleaning!
Once upon a time I needed only to clean out a few toast crumbs. Now my toaster oven gets a work out nearly every day!
If you serve a salad or other side dish, this pizza should serve two people, or one really hungry one!
Toaster Oven Pizza Marguerite (serves one or two)
Pizza dough (see recipe further below)
Sliced or slivered tomatoes, fresh or dehydrated and reconstituted in hot water and patted dry
Fresh, whole basil leaves, or dried, crushed basil
1/2 cup of grated mozzarella cheese
2 - 3 TBS grated Parmesan, Romano, or Pecorino cheese
Sliced red onion
Chopped or minced garlic
1/2 TBS olive oil
Salt & pepper
Red pepper flakes (optional)
Set rack and toaster oven to the "bake" cycle. The temperature to 450-degrees and the time for seven minutes.
Roll out your pizza dough to the size and shape of your toaster oven's baking tray. Cut or tear a piece of parchment paper the same size and place the dough on it, then onto the tray.
When the oven is preheated, place the tray in the oven and bake the pizza dough, watching it for large bubbles. Pop these with a fork.
After seven minutes remove the pizza crust to cool. While it cools...
Heat the olive oil in a pan and saute the onion, stove top, until limp on medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for a minute until translucent. Spread this mixture and the oil onto the pizza crust.
Then, sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese. Top with the tomato slices and basil. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and black pepper. Now top all with the grated Parmesan, etc.
Pizza Marguerite assembled and ready to bake. I reuse pieces of parchment paper for small baking jobs such as this pizza.
Set the toaster oven to bake, select 450-degrees, set the time for 15 minutes (your toaster oven may vary anywhere between 14 and 16 minutes for pizza doneness).
When the preheat cycle is complete, slide the tray of pizza into the oven. Watch it the last two minutes of baking time in case its done before the bake cycle completes. Allow the pizza to sit for five minutes before cutting so the cheese doesn't slide off when cutting.
To serve, garnish with red pepper flakes, if desired, and pass the napkins!
Bubbly cheese and perfectly golden around the edges!
This pizza makes four standard size squares of pizza, enough to satisfy two people with two slices and a side of salad.
I whip up the pizza dough in my bread maker, let it rise. After removing it onto a floured bread board I cut in quarters, wrap the quarters in cling wrap and store them in a plastic bag in my freezer.
When I want a personal pizza I remove one ball and let it defrost on my kitchen counter in its cling wrapper. Then, with a bit of flour and a rolling pin I form it to fit the toaster oven tray.
Homemade Pizza Dough (makes enough for two large pizzas or four personal, toaster oven-sized pizzas)
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 TBS olive oil
3 loosely spooned and leveled, not packed, cups of flour
2 tsp machine or instant-rise yeast
If using a bread machine add the ingredients in order listed and press the "dough" cycle.
If making by hand, mix two cups of the flour (reserving one cup of flour aside) and all dry ingredients together, adding the water and oil last. Add the remaining cup of flour a little at a time until you have a semi-stiff, malleable dough. Knead the dough on a floured board or counter until it springs back when poked with a finger. Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl and cover with cling wrap and top with a towel. Set the bowl in a warm spot and let the dough rise until double, approximately one-and-a-half hours.
Cut and store, or use as indicated above.
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Bon appetit!
I've learned that I can bake anything in my toaster oven that I once baked in my standard oven...just less of it!
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