Thin Crust Shrimp Scampi Pizza

If you like thin crust pizza and shrimp scampi, you'll love it even more when using Lavash flatbread to make a pizza! It takes only minutes to prepare and the edges become super crispy. I read this recipe on Pinterest through Care’s Kitchen blog and wasn’t even sure what Lavash was, but thought I’d give it a try since I saw Skinnytaste also using it in a flatbread pizza recipe.

Lavash is a Middle Eastern flatbread, thinner than a pita and not as doughy as Pillsbury pizza dough. You usually find in the deli section of your supermarket or you can find it at Trader Joe's for $2.29 for (6) if you have one nearby! You can use these for sandwich wraps too!

I changed some things from Care’s Kitchen and added some spinach and more garlic. I also used Trader Joe’s packaged pesto but feel free to make your own as well!

I strongly encourage you to use a pizza stone if you have one (I use the Mario Batale Pizza stone from Crate and Barrel-best wedding gift ever, thanks Lindsay Lee!), but be careful when taking that big stone out when it’s hot, I received an oven wound and burnt my thumb by accident, owwwwwwww!

 Ingredients: 

• Lavash Flat Bread
• 4 cloves fresh Garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
• 1 Package of frozen, peeled, deveined, tails taken off TJ’s medium shrimp (or use fresh of course if you can)
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tablespoon Flat leaf Italian parsley
• 2 tablespoon chopped spinach
• Prepared Pesto
• 8 oz part skim Ricotta Cheese
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Red Pepper flakes (optional)

 To Prepare Pesto/Ricotta Mixture: 

Take Prepared pesto and Ricotta Cheese and mix together in a bowl until well combined and tastes delicious! Set aside.

To Prepare the Shrimp:

1. Take thawed shrimp and marinate in EVOO, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes if you choose, and a touch of salt and pepper for at least 10 minutes.
2. Heat a pan over medium-high heat.
3. Add shrimp with garlic/EVOO to hot pan and flash cook about 3 minutes (the shrimp do not have to be cooked all the way as they will finish cooking in the oven.)
4. Remove from the pan and once cool enough, chop up the shrimp, set aside

 Time to make the pizza:

I know this may seem like it's a lot of instructions, but it's very simple, and after you make it once, you'll know what to do and you can use the Lavash bread with any type of pizza type that you love, ie: margherita, prosciutto, four cheese, pepperoni, etc...

Right out of the oven

1. Place a pizza stone or cookie sheet in the middle of your oven and preheat to 425.
2. Once it's reached temperature, place (1) piece of Lavash Flat Bread onto the stone or sheet and cook for 2 minutes.Keep in mind that when the Lavash is cooked, it has a chewy but delicate cracker consistency, so when spreading your toppings just be sure not to press too hard or it can crack – that being  said - it can handle as many toppings as you choose! 
3. Carefully remove the Lavash Flat Bread from the oven and place on a flat surface. (watch your thumbs people!)
4. Take a garlic clove that's been cut in half and gently rub one side of the bread with the exposed fresh garlic - all over the bread. 
5. Brush entire bread with thin coating of EVOO
6. Spread your pesto ricotta mixture liberally over the top (you will have a lot of this mixture, don’t use it all on one piece of bread, just make more pizzas with it)
7. Place desired amount of prepared shrimp over the top.
8. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over the top.
9. Chop up some fresh flat leaf parsley and spinach leaves and throw onto the pizza.
10. Add some crushed red pepper flakes if you desire a bit of heat.
11. Drizzle Pizza with a bit more olive oil.
12. Place pizza back in the preheated oven and cook an additional 3-4 minutes or until the edges look crispy and browned.
13. Carefully remove pizza from the oven.
14. Add fresh shaved Parmesan as a garnish if desired.
15. Let sit a minute or two, then cut with a pizza cutter and serve! 

These will become a household favorite! 

I made a second one with the remaining shrimp scampi ingredients and made the other half a bruschetta and mozzarella pizza, so good! Get creative!

*If you want each piece of bread to have  crispy edges all around, cut your pieces prior to placing on pizza stone in step 2

Venetian Rolled Pizza

This past Saturday was made up of house hold chores, gym, playing with Hailey, and then meeting our friends at Creamy Acres in Mullica Hill, NJ for some Haunted Hayride adventures. I had seen Giada make this dish on Everyday Italian on her recent episode for Kids Camping and thought I would test it out before unveiling it as an appetizer for Thanksgiving. Helpful tip-I went to our favorite pizza shop and asked for a pound of dough in which most restaurants will sell it, and its typically less expensive than buying dough at the store and not so chaotic as making your own-1 pound cost me $2!! Plus, if you get it at your favorite pizza place, you already know
it’s going to be good!

Ingredients

·         Flour, for dusting

·         1 pound pizza dough

·         2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

·         7 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced

·         1 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) torn baby spinach

·         1 table spoon EVOO

·         Kosher salt, for seasoning

Directions

·         Position an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.

·         On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pizza dough to a 12 to 14-inch diameter circle, about 1/4-inch thick.

·         Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella over the dough.

·        Arrange the prosciutto over the cheese in a single layer. Sprinkle with the spinach. Top with the remaining cheese.

·         Take 1 end of the circle and roll the dough up into a thin cylinder, gently folding in the ends.

·         Brush the dough with the olive oil and season with the salt (I also added some oregano to the top of it, your choice!)

·         Place the dough, seam side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 23-25 minutes (pending on your oven) until the top is golden brown.

·         Allow the pizza to cool for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the pizza into 3/4-inch pieces and serve.


Total Time: 36 minutes

Prep: 6 minutes

Cook: 30 min

Level: Easy

Yield: 18-20 slices