Crock Pizza Recipe

A few years ago, I started working with CDS on a project to speech enable their IVR system. They're the ones who sent me the key chain for Christmas. Anyway, at the project kick off meeting, they took us to an Itallian restaurant in Ames, Iowa called Lucullan's. I was about to order my usual favorite when someone else is buying- The Heart Attack Platter (that's filet mignon and fettucine al Fredo - not to be confused with fettucine al Frodo, which doesn't taste very good at all). But one item on the menu caught my eye - Crock Pizza. I asked our server what it was, and she said, "Oh, it's great!" Well, that was good enough for me, so I ordered it. A short while later, I was presented with a steaming hot metal bowl which the server slammed down on my plate. The novelty was great - sort of like getting the sizzling fajita platter, or gettnig the guacomole made at your table. Anyway - it was delicious.

I told Rachel about it when I got home and I vowed that I would make it for her. We went on a quest to find a suitable crock. We settled on French Onion soup bowls from Le Gourmet Chef at the outlet mall. Three for $5.00, so we got six. I would like to find suitable metal bowls some time as I think they will work better. But these are OK, and you can use the same. We also got some boxes of "gourmet" pizza crust.

Our first experiment was a giant disaster. The crust stuck to the bowl and I burned my fingers trying to pry it off. And the cheese was all stuck on the inside of the crock and the toppings just oozed out everywhere. It was a mess, but it tasted pretty good.

Which reminds me of a joke - Why is having sex,uh, I mean, making love like pizza?

Because when it's good, it's great! And when it's bad, it's still pretty good.

We had a little more success on our second attempt - this time, I sprayed Pam inside the bowl. The crust still stuck and had to be pried off, and the cheese stuck a little, and toppings came out okay - under the cheese. But it was more of a "Pizza Soup Bowl".

I called the restaurant and explained that I was trying to make it at home and the crust always stuck. They told me I had to liberally spray the crock, inside and out. Our next attempt was better still, and one of them actually came out perfect. I think it was Jake's. Great (now standard) is when the crust dislodges when slammed, the toppings plop in the middle, and the cheese flows down the sides of the toppings evenly. Perfect is when a little bit of sauce bursts through the very peak of Mozzarella Mountain like a little volcano. That only happens once or twice per session.

Over time, we've learned a lot of tricks. Rachel came up with shaping the cheese inside the bowl so that the whole inside is lined. This helps bind the cheese to the crust so it all comes out at once and also ensures all of the cheese gets melted. Three or Four tablespoons of sauce is is about right - and you should be able to make six with one 12 oz can of sauce. We bought a little rubber pot holder for the handles that makes things a lot easier. Also, it is better to put the crocks directly on an oven rack rather than on a cookie sheet. When we used an insulated cookie sheet, the crust got done well before the cheese melted.

IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP!!!

Be careful when serving! I used to serve them at the table. But last Summer, I was serving our neighbor's daughter (the cute little girl from the Gingerbread House post) and piping hot sauce spilled on her leg. It blistered. And was bandaged for about a week. And I felt terrible pangs of guilt. Fortunately, it has healed and there is no scar.

This is without question, my favorite thing to cook for others. It's great for a lot of reasons. First, it's a nice social meal - everyone makes their own, so everyone is around the kitchen. And there are a variety of toppings to choose from, so everyone gets what they want - vegetarians and carnivores alike. Oh, and English people can have tuna and corn for toppings without making anyone else suffer. It's also great to cook for little kids. Scott and Kimra's kids, Cory and Sam had a blast making theirs. They put on chef's hats and everything. I'm hoping to shoot a video some time with cute little kids and send it to Martha's show.

Are there any bad things about crock pizza? Well, prep time can be a little long. And I find that I buy the smallest packet of pepperoni and still have most of it left over. Same witht he smallest can of chopped olives. And I don't know anybody who eats that stuff straight, or even on a sandwich. Leftover salami is fine as I'll make a sandwich. Cleanup is a drag only if you don't clean as you go. It's even easier if you have a great twelve year old like we do who does dishes. And, of course, there's the initial investment in crocks. But over time, it's a lot cheaper than ordering pizza. I guess the return on investment is a little longer if you consider Domino's to be pizza (it's bad cheese and low quality toppings on cardboard in my opinion- tastes about the same whether you remove it from the box or not). That's about it.

On to the recipe...

Summary:

Crock Pizza is a unique and delicious pizza dish. It is baked inverted in a crock - cheese on the bottom, then sauce, then toppings, then crust. It is served by slamming the crock on to a plate so that the crust is on the bottom and the cheese is on top.

Ingredients:
Basic Pizza Dough for two pies
2 lbs shredded mozzarella
2-3 cups of pizza sauce
Pizza Toppings (anything you or your guests like on a pizza)

Toppings we've tried:

Ground beef (pre cooked)
Ground Suasage (pre cooked)
Canadian Bacon
Ham
Salami
Pepperoni
Pineapple Chunks
Sliced Mushrooms
Sliced or Chopped Olives
Fresh Garlic
Choopped Onions (white and green)
Artichoke Hearts
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Diced Roma Tomatoes

Directions (With Pictures)

First, make the dough. It needs to rise for an hour to an hour and a half and you can prep your toppings in that time. I always add something to the crust - usually a little more oil, some garlic, and some spices - typical Itallian Seasonings and such. Let the dough rise for 45 minutes to an hour, then poke it down and let it rise a second time for 15 minutes to half an hour.

Make sure you activate your yeast before adding it.

In our house, you need to pay attention to which olive oil bottle you use.

Rachel thinks, and I agree, that an olive oil bottle is more attractive in the kitchen than a plastic bottle of dish soap. So you have to be careful. You want the oil, not the soap. We now use blue dish soap. Why? You can write that story yourself.

Anyway - while the dough rises, prep your toppings of choice. Get some help if anyone offers.

Then just hang out with your family and guests until the dough is ready. You could even give your friend Ted his birthday present.

When the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. I wrote out degrees because I don't know how to get that little circle degrees sign in there. Maybe I could superscript an 'o' or something.

Spray each crock liberally on the inside and the top of the outside with cooking spray.


We did have one minor catastrophe this go round. I put the dough in the oven to rise, covered with plastic wrap. The first time, I turned the oven on for just a few seconds to make it warm. On the second rise, I did the same thing. But the second time, I forgot to turn the oven off after a few seconds. So it rose. and baked a little. And I am not sure what happened to the plastic wrap. I actually said,


"The dough! Doh!"


I consulted with Rachel, and she agreed that there was no plastic on the dough. We believe it expanded, popped, and adhered to the outside of the bowl. And nobody got sick. So I think we were right.

Anyway - line each crock with shredded mozzarella. I forgot to take a picture of this step. You should not see the inside of the crock, except the lip. Add more or less cheese depending on taste and Weight Watchers points available.

Spoon in pizza sauce. Again, more or less according to taste. Two to three tablespoons will do.

Then add the toppings.

But wait - how will you be able to tell which pizza is which? Well, here's the really fun part. Let each person prepare their own crock one at a time. Grab a wad of dough and toss that person's crust while they make their pizza.

Then let each person pick a "marker". This can be one of the toppings they used. Or you can make a little letter out of dough - little kids love that because of the nursery rhyme (roll it, pat it, mark it with a 'P'). Or whatever. Jake is in something of a minimalist phase right now, likes only cheese, and insists on marking his with nothing. Maybe it's a nihlist pahse.

Anyway - when they are all done, you will know which is whose. See, I made a little 'E' out of red peppers. Which reminds me - I left peppers off of the list of ingredients.

Pop them in the oven. 10-12 minutes will usually do it, but it depends on your oven and how often you open the oven to peek. The crust should be golden brown. And you might here a little bubbling sound.






The next step is pretty critical. You need to get the crock from the oven to the plate as quickly as possible. If you don't, the cheese will congeal and give you pizza soup bowls. I slam the crock right side up on a wooden board then upside down on to the plate. It took a little practice for me.






Repeat for the remaining crocks. Oh, and if you made a couple of extra, you'll want to get them out of the crock and wrap them in foil for reheating the next day. If you leave them in the crock and put them in the fridge over night, they are impossible to reheat properly.

Anyway - that's it. Time to enjoy and listen to people tell you how much they like it and what a great cook you are and all of that. That's usually the best part of cooking for me. But Crock Pizza is so good, praise is second to the eating for me.













Oh - one last thing - do the remaining dishes (you cleaned as you cooked, right?), or engage the services of your tweelve year old and his faithful assistant.