beef stroganoff pizza

One thing that will be hard for me to give up in the kitchen is the constant need to experiment with new ingredients and to try out new flavor combinations. We enjoy making pizza at home and have tried a few techiniques and new ideas. The inspiration for this came from a Philly cheese steak pizza from a chain we used to order from but has closed. We thought about reacreating one of our favorite beef dishes and channeling the idea into a pizza. The result was this beef stroganoff pizza that I must say turned out pretty well. It was rich no doubt, with sliced browned beef, a cheesy and creamy pizza sauce topped with extra grated cheese. For the pizza dough, I rely on a standard whole wheat recipe which I got from one of the foodblogs in my list, Culinary in the the Country. I altered the recipe so I can use my sourdough starter and come up with a chewier crust. For the beef, I used a lean cut which I sliced very thinly, pan fried in a little olive oil until browned. To the pan drippings, I sauteed some finely chopped onions then added about 2 tablespoons of flour which I cooked for a few minutes. Then I gradually added some sour cream and half and half, water or beef stock, about 1/4 cup of Velveeta cheese then I seasoned it with salt and pepper. Set the sauce aside or refrigerate until ready to use.

PIZZA DOUGH:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup sourdough starter*

1/2 to 3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten [optional bread improver]

Mix water and sourdough starter in the bowl of a bread machine. Add the olive oil. Add the flours, salt, sugar and yeast. Use the Dough setting of the machine. If not using a bread machine, knead by hand until dough is smooth, about 10 minutes. After 1 1/2 hours in the bread machine, the dough will be ready for rolling out. Roll out dough to fit pizza pan. Brush with olive oil. At this point, pre-baking the pizza crust is an option but I may try it next time just to see if this will prevent the middle of the crust from getting soggy from the sauce.

Spread the cheesy pizza sauce and evenly lay out the cooked beef slices followed by sliced mushrooms [I used canned but drained well] and sprinkle with chopped parsley and grated cheese. Bake in a preheated 450F oven for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*If not using sourdough starter, use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose flour with 1/2 cup water and 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast. Add more water if mixture is too dry.