Recipe: My ALDI Inspired Bavarian Pizza

*Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post.

ALDI

When friends and family drop in over the holidays a good way to make your guests feel welcome is by treating them to a homemade pizza, besides the usual dishes that you serve whether ham, turkey etc. 

Here is a piece of my Bavarian Pizza up close.

The recipe that I have for you is hardly traditional as you might guess from the name of Bavarian Pizza. Imagine what gently browned onions, sauerkraut along with slices of sausage and Mozzarella cheese with just the right combination of spices would taste about now in a freshly made pizza crust. Making the dough from scratch really doesn’t take all that long and once you top it with this unique topping, you can make their visit a memorable occasion.

All the ingredients that I used can be found at ALDI, my favorite grocery store where I do mostly all my shopping.  With their weekly specials and cheaper prices, I can buy a lot more food without sacrificing taste or quality over other larger stores with name brands.  

Kirkwood Turkey Andouille Sausage is what I used, but I have used other varieties of sausages that I found at Aldi's.

Aldi's sells both the canned and fresh variety like Frank's Kraut, which I often pick up and use half for another meal.

Their five-pound bag of all-purpose flour was just 99-cents this week!  You might want to stock up for your holiday baking.  ALDI also has great seasonal products that can help your celebrations with prepared items as well as ones to pull those holiday dishes together from those baking essentials, cheeses, holiday meat staples, appetizers to sweet treats from Europe with their delicious candies. Browsing their holiday catalog can provide the inspiration you need concerning what you might want to serve this holiday or give as gifts so do check it out! 

Try my Bavarian Pizza because it is delicious and so different.  Honestly, I think that you will love this recipe and–ALDI if you haven’t shopped there yet.  

ALDI Inspired Bavarian Pizza 

Bavarian Pizza

Pizza Dough:

1 cup of water
2-1/2 cups of Baker’s Corner all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of Carlini canola oil
1 teaspoon of dry yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar


Bavarian Topping:

1/2 bag (1 lb.) of ALDI Frank’s Quality Kraut or 1 small can (14-1/2 oz.) sauerkraut
2 sticks of ALDI Kirkwood Turkey Andouille Sausage or  1/2 lb. of your favorite sausage
1 medium red onion, finely chopped 
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon of black pepper
3/4 teaspoon of salt
8-oz. of Mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 cup of olive oil
½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes 

Here's a cut piece of  my ALDI Inspired Bavarian Pizza.

To Make the Dough:

Add half the sugar to your warm water, not hot water, stir trying to dissolve the yeast and let it sit in your mixing bowl until the yeast starts bubbling.  When it has some foaming action, you're ready to add the dry ingredients.

Add the flour along with the remaining sugar, oil, and salt a little at a time.  Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is no longer sticky.  You want a soft, pliable ball.

The weather can influence the feel of your dough.  Some days it may be too humid for example and you may need to add more flour or even less, depending on how sticky that ball feels on your fingers.  Don’t be afraid of adding a bit more flour or even using less if that dough no longer feels sticky.

Let your dough rest and grow, covered for at least one hour to one and one-half hours.

After that time, the dough should have grown slightly.  Take that dough and put it in your greased baking pan and stretch to fit.  (For this recipe, I used a large round 12-inch size  pizza pan).

To Prepare the Bavarian Topping:

Boil the sauerkraut for about fifteen minutes, then drain.

Chop your onions and fry in the olive oil until golden.  Add the drained sauerkraut next, along with the salt, black pepper, and sugar.

Top the pizza with the sauerkraut mixture, then add your sliced sausage, grated Mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with the red pepper flakes.

 Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the bottom crust becomes slightly brown.

ENJOY!

Recipe: Try My Cheddar Pizza for a Delicious Change of Pace!

My Cheddar Pizza is a special treat.

I am a pizza enthusiast.  My love for this sauced up bread with cheese piled high is well known by all that know me.  Therefore, today I have a delightful twist on traditional pizza with all that tomato sauce and fragrant Italian herbs, oozing with lots of Mozzarella cheese that will take your tastebuds by surprise with my Cheddar Pizza.  

Imagine a thin homemade crust with just enough pizza or spaghetti sauce to moisten over that unbaked dough before loading it up with an avalanche of your favorite Cheddar cheese while finishing off that wonder with some freshly cut slices of Jalapeno peppers.  This may seem foreign and not what you expect, but I assure you that its golden cheesiness is guaranteed to win you over.

I must be truthful with you.  Making a pizza crust at home is the easiest raised dough that you could ever try. The secret of success is following my recipe because it is foolproof. Your biggest obstacle is just making sure not to kill the yeast when you proof it in some hot water with some of the sugar.    

I promise you that once you start making your pizza dough from scratch that you will wonder how you ever put up with that cardboard like crust that you may pick up in your freezer section when shopping. Furthermore, you will save yourself money from the need to buy your pizzas ever again.  

All I say is to give it a try. You will LOVE the delicious results!  

Mary's Cheddar Pizza

The taste of my Cheddar Pizza is yum, yum, good!

Pizza Dough:

1 cup of water
2-1/2 cups of flour
2 tablespoons of canola oil
1 teaspoon of dry yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar


Cheddar Topping:

3-1/2 cups of grated Cheddar Cheese
3 tablespoons  of pizza or spaghetti sauce (or just enough to moisten the dough) 
2 Jalapeno peppers, cleaned and cut into pieces (you can remove the seeds, but I leave them in for an extra nip)



To Make the Dough:

Add half the sugar to your warm water, not hot water, stir trying to dissolve the yeast and let it sit in your mixing bowl until the yeast starts bubbling.  When it has some foaming action, you're ready to add the dry ingredients.

Add the flour a little at a time along with the remaining sugar, oil, and salt.  Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is no longer sticky.  You want a soft, pliable ball.

The weather can influence the feel of your dough.  Some days it may be too humid for example and you may need to add more flour or even less, depending on how sticky that ball feels on your fingers.  Don’t be afraid of adding a bit more flour or even using less if that dough no longer feels sticky.

Let your dough rest and grow, covered for at least 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours.

After that time, the dough should have grown slightly.  Take that dough and put it in your greased baking pan and stretch to fit.  (For this recipe, I used a large round 12-inch size  pizza pan).

Top with just enough of the pizza or spaghetti sauce to moisten the dough.  You don’t want the same amount of sauce as you would a traditional pizza.

Then load up with all that grated Cheddar Cheese (you can even add more, if you like) and your peppers.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the bottom crust become slightly brown.

ENJOY!

Use Ground Beef Leftovers in My Meat Lover's Pizza Recipe

This pizza recipe is easy to make and a great way to use your ground beef leftovers.

You will be surprised at how much money that you'll save making your own pizza over buying one.

Food rarely goes to waste in our house unless one of us becomes sick.  Unlike some, we make use of leftovers either reheating the dish for another dinner or reinventing something new with what's on hand such as this terrific homemade pizza topped with the rest of my Texas Hash, which I will share with you in a future post.

Texas Hash is one of the easiest casseroles with ground beef or turkey, rice, lots of onions, tomato soup and some spices that you can make.  However, any ground beef or ground turkey casserole like a chili work just as nicely in this recipe.

You simply follow my simple recipe for homemade pizza dough.  Let your dough grow accordingly.  Grease your pan and shape.  For this particular pizza, you want the crust to be thicker than traditional pizza to hold those leftovers easily.  

Once your dough is ready to bake, it's time to recycle those ground beef leftovers and spread on top, add some pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce if your casserole is not the red sauce variety, some grated Mozzarella cheese (as much or as little as you like) and veggies of your choice.  I love hot peppers in mine.  Bake your pizza at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the bottom is slightly brown.

Trust me, you will feel good about stretching those leftovers, saving money, and making this delicious pizza.  Watch how quickly your family will show up at the table once they know this pizza is now on the menu.