Quarantine has made people do things they've never considered. One of my favorite things about this whole experience is that I'm seeing people explore sourcing their own food. I'm in a few facebook groups about keeping chickens in Alaska and those groups have exploded recently with people learning all about chickens so they don't have to depend on a store for their eggs. The gardening groups are booming with new members learning everything they can about harvesting their own food and it makes me happy. You can't find yeast anywhere right now because people are baking their own bread in their own ovens for their families. Flour is hard to come by! Instagram has a fantastic hashtag #socialdistancingsourdough with people of all ages and all backgrounds all of the sudden baking the most beautiful loaves of sourdough!
Another one of my favorite things about this quarantine experience is that although I now live in Alaska, my church in Virginia has started live-streaming their services. Every year, on the Wednesday before Easter, they hold a special Remembrance Service and we partake in communion. I didn't have a single saltine cracker in this whole house. And I wasn't about to go out to the grocery store just for saltines when all I needed was about 1/4 of a cracker. So I started googling and found a recipe for Matza and I had all of the ingredients for it! Whew! The only "problem" was that it made 8 sheets of Matza and literally only needed two small pieces about the size of your thumbnail. What in the world do you do with a TON of leftover Matza?!?!
The answer is PIZZA!! And not just plain 'ol pizza...I got creative! We haven't been to a restaurant in weeks and we were so craving our favorite pizza place here in Fairbanks. So I decided to make a bunch of different, personal size pizzas for us all to have a delicious pizza buffet at home.
So first I'll put the recipe here for the Matza. Then I'll list all of the different pizzas I made and their ingredients. The possibilities are endless. You can put anything and everything you want on these Matza sheets...they're a blank canvas! Leave a comment with what you toppings you did!
Matza
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup warm water plus a splash more if the dough is too dry
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (I eyeballed it and probably used close to 4...delicious!)
1 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
More extra virgin olive oil for brushing
Preheat an oven or a griddle to 500 degrees.
(If you're using an oven, you're going to cook these on a baking sheet that you've flipped upside down. Stick the upside down baking sheet in the oven while it preheats...you want the baking sheet screaming hot.)
Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. If the dough is too dry, add a splash more water. My dough felt like a tough, yet cohesive, ball that was not sticky.
Divide the dough into 8 pieces.
On a floured surface, roll out each piece until it's cracker thin. Mine looked v rustic.
Use a fork and prick holes all over each piece. This will keep it from rising too much.
Brush a coating of olive oil on top of each piece.
I cooked these two at a time. Slide dough piece onto a large spatula and slide it onto the cookie sheet or griddle. Cook for 2 1/2 minutes on one side, flip with a pair of tongs, and cook it on the other side for another 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 minutes until they're starting to turn golden in places and a hard, cracker like sheet. Remove from the oven to cool. Continue until all pieces have been cooked.
Now, if you're using these for communion purposes, you're technically supposed to do all of the mixing and cooking in less than 18 minutes. After 18 minutes the dough and the water begin to react with the natural yeast and bacteria in the air and fermentation begins which, if you're familiar with communion practices, you need an unleavened (unfermented) bread. (P.S. Christ took care of all of this on the cross for us and we do this out of remembrance for His sacrifice for us...it's all about the heart attitude you have as you partake. If all you have is a piece of sandwich bread...or WHATEVER...that's fine. It's not about the bread.) We can talk more about that if you want. Shoot me an email. Also, these are not technically Kosher so if that's important you, you'll need to find a different recipe.
Ok. So you've had quarantine communion. Now what do you do with the other 7 8/10th's of Matza sheets? PIZZA!!! Amazing, restaurant tasting, pizza! I made 5 different pizzas and had 2 Matza sheets left that my kids ate plain (it's actually really good).
Just build these pizzas as you would any other pizza. Sauce and toppings, pop on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in an oven at 350 degrees. I got kind of impatient and cooked them under the broiler...whatever works for you.
Dilly Dilly Pizza
Ranch dressing
Johnny's Garlic Spread (buy it at Costco)
Shredded Parmesan cheese (the real kind, not the green shaker...the green shaker kind comes later)
Sprinkle of dried dill
Cover every inch of the cheese in dill pickles
Bake until cheese is melted and warmed trough
As soon as you take it out of the oven, sprinkle with more Johnny's Garlic Spread, parmesan cheese (in the green can), and a tiny sprinkle of more dried dill
Taco Pizza
Spread Jacks Cantina Salsa over the crust
Cover in leftover taco meat
Top with shredded cheddar
Bake
Serve with sour cream
3 Cheese Garlic
Olive oil
Johnny's Garlic Spread
Shredded Parm
Shredded mozz
Shredded Cheddar
Sprinkle of pink Himalayan Salt
Bake
Greek
Olive oil
Johnny's Garlic Spread
Parmesan cheese (in the green can)
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Halved kalamata olives
Bake
Egg & Cheese
Olive oil
Shredded mozzarella
Shredded cheddar
2 eggs cracked on top
salt and pepper
(ham or sausage would've been amazing on this too, but I didn't have any on hand)
Bake
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