Corned Beef and Cabbage Pizza

It's that time of year when we start thinking of St Patrick's day and all things Irish. I came across this pizza recipe on Food Network and thought I would give it a try. It had corned beef, cabbage and potatoes; it fit in with St Patrick's and sounded good to me. Here's my version and opinions on this recipe.

I have a houseful of teens most of the time and of course they all love pizza. My husband is not that crazy about pizza; he mostly objects to the pizza sauce. I have never been able to get many dishes past my family that involved cooked cabbage; this pizza was a challenge. It has no tomatoes but plenty of cabbage and I decided to put it to the test. I did load it up with extra cheese as you can tell by the photo; my crew loves cheese.

I had made plans to make this pizza but my day started to fall apart pretty quickly; so, I cheated and used store bought crusts. That's a whole wheat crust in the pictures, I didn't really burn it!

I will post the recipe as I originally found it but this recipe does need some modifications. This is one of the few ways I have managed to get cabbage by my crew; with summer coming and lots of fresh cabbage soon to be available I will try this again but make some changes. We love to use the grill in the summer to make pizzas, I'll try this again on the grill. It has redeeming qualities but needs a boost. I will post the suggestions I think it needs at the end of the recipe. I also think this recipe will be a great way to dress up some leftovers; it does have possibilities.


Corned Beef and Cabbage Pizza from Food Network

• Crusts for 2 pizzas (your favorite dough or pre-made crust)
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plue more for the pan
• 3 sliced green cabbage
• kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon pickling spices, tied securely in cheesecloth
• 1 large potato, peeled and thinly sliced
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups shredded mozerella cheese
• 3/4 cup monterey jack cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 6 ounces slice corned beef

Heat 1 T olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, season with salt and and cook until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add the pickling spices and just enough water to cover. Simmer over low heat, covered, until the cabbage is tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the cabbage and set aside; discard the spices.

Place a pizza stone in the oven, if you have one, and preheat to 500 degrees. Toss potatoes with 2 T olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in a single layer on a baking sheet until golden, about 15 minutes.

Place a pizza dough round on a pizza peel (if using stone) or on an oiled pizza pan; drizzle with 2 T olive oil. Scatter half of each of the cheeses, corned beef, cabbage and potatoes on crust. Season with salt and pepper. Carefully slip the pizza onto the hot stone, if using, or place pan in the oven. Cook until golden and crispy, 10-15 minutes. Repeat with remaining pizza crust/dough and toppings.


Tips/suggestions:

• Personally I did not find that the potatoes added that much to the pizza. In the future if I have some leftover potatoes in the fridge I may toss them on but I will not go to the effort of peeling and roasting them just for this pizza; not enough of a flavor boost for the trouble.
  

• This could be made with the canned corned beef to make it a little more economical. Also, if you have some leftover corned beef roast, chop the leftovers for this pizza.

• I think it needs some onions added to it for a nice flavor boost. I will add these next time.
  

• I think some russian or thousand island dressing would add a nice flavor also; kinda of add a reuben sandwich flavor to the pizza.

• If you have a tea ball, they work great instead of cheesecloth for the pickling spices.

• If you are a fan of caraway seeds, I think a few tossed on the pizza would be a pleasant addition.

• I was in a hurry and did not make homemade dough and I was out of my stash of homemade crusts in the freezer. I think homemade dough would have been better.

I think this has some serious potential with the right kind of changes. Let me know what you come up with.

I'm glad you're here, pull up a chair and sit a spell.

Mountain Belle

Mock French Cassoulet

This is always a big hit at our house and I usually don't have leftovers. It doesn't photograph like a star but it is one at our house. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.

Have you ever tried a recipe, really loved it and then....promptly lost it? I sure hope I'm not the only one that ever does this.

I originally made a dish similar to this over 15 years ago. We really liked it but the original recipe disappeared. Recipe thief? Since we enjoyed it so much I searched for a copy of the original or a similar one but never found what I was looking for.

This recipe is what finally came about as I played around over the years; I could remember some of the ingredient but no quantities. I tweaked, added and adjusted till I came up with my own version. It was never written down, it always just hung out in the back of my mind. Scary huh? I finally wrote it down so I could share it with you.

This recipe originally started out as a quick version of a French cassoulet. This dish is my speedy rendition of a long lost French cassoulet recipe. The original cassoulets involved a long cooking time, beans and quite a few varieties of meats; this is the busy cook version. I only using 2 varieties of meat and neither one of those are totally true to the original.

There are many recipes for cassoulets and some do contain tomatoes; I have totally crossed the line away from authentic but not from taste. This dish combines the proteins of beans and allows a smaller amount of meat to be used which also makes this a budget friendly dish.We're going to speed up cassoulet cooking; and that's why I call it a mock cassoulet.

This dish is a great change of pace from the usual pasta dish. It's got a sweet/tart taste that is a pleasing contrast with the mild taste of the beans. I hope you enjoy.

Mock French Cassoulet

1 - 12 oz package of bacon, cooked and diced; reserve 2 T of drippings

1 lb of chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks

1 medium onion, diced

1 teaspoon dried Thyme or 1 T fresh

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 - 14.5 oz cans petite diced tomatoes

2 cups chicken broth

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or several fresh cloves, minced

1 bay leaf (optional)

2 - 14.5 oz cans of cannellini or great northern beans

Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the 2 teaspoons of reserved bacon drippings. Put in the diced chicken and onion in the skillet and cook until the chicken is almost cooked through; stirring frequently. If using fresh garlic add it when chicken is halfway done.

While chicken is cooking put the white beans in a sauce pan to heat through.

When chicken is almost done add all of the remaining ingredients to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer till reduced to sauce consistency; about 20-30 minutes. When desired consistency is reached, remove the bay leaf and stir in the bacon.

To serve: Place a serving of white beans in a bowl or on a plate and top with the chicken mixture and serve.

Yield: approximately 6 servings.

Tips:

• I frequently cook my own dried beans for this dish.

• This can be sped up a great deal by precooking bacon ahead of time or using precooked frozen bacon. I tend to keep frozen bacon in my freezer and some bacon drippings in the fridge for emergencies.

• Don't forget the frozen chicken bits to help speed the process. They can be tossed in the pan frozen and will be cooked through by the time the dish has finished simmering.

• If you need to get this dish ready at warp speed you can speed the process by omitting the chicken broth and using chicken bouillon / base required for 2 cups liquid and only adding water if needed to achieve desired consistency; this will allow you to reduce simmering time. It's nice to have the simmer time but you can hurry it along this way when pressed for time.

• This can also be served over mashed potatoes if you prefer those to beans.

• This dish freezes wonderfully.

• Change the meats up; instead of bacon use ham, sausage, kielbasa, or pancetta. Live it up a bit.
  

Play around with it and enjoy.

I'm glad you're here, pull up a chair and sit a spell.

Mountain Belle