Spicy Shrimp Stove Top Pizzas

Spicy and savory toppings on fresh-crusted pizzas. This sounds like a lot of steps, but it's really not that complicated. Also, you can prepare the crusts and toppings earlier in the day and then assemble the pizzas when you need them. These are fairly small thin-crust pizzas, so they are probably best as an appetizer or as one part of a meal that includes a few other dishes. Submitted for the Ready Set Cook Contest #7, June 2005.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 10 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 4 pizzas

Ingredients

• Crust

• 1 (1/4ounce) package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1  cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
• 1  teaspoon sugar
• 1  cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1⁄2 cups white flour, approximately
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  teaspoon salt

• Topping

• 3⁄4 lb shrimp, medium or large, shelled & deveined
• 2  lemons, juice of
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2  red bell peppers
• 3  roma tomatoes (3/4 pound)
• 4  garlic cloves, chopped
• 1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4  ounces feta cheese, crumbled fine
• 3  tablespoons olive oil (or more)
• 16  kalamata olives, pitted & diced
• 4  teaspoons capers, rinsed & drained

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the yeast and 1/3 cup of the water, then stir in the sugar.
2. Let the mixture stand until it becomes foamy, about 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the remaining water, the whole wheat flour, 1 cup of the white flour, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and the salt.
4. Stir or knead until combined into a soft dough.
5. Place on a floured board and knead for 4 minutes, adding in more flour as you go, to make a dough that is soft but not sticky.
6. Place in a greased large bowl and cover with a kitchen towel.
7. Put in a warm place and let rise until doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.
8. For the toppings:
9. Whisk together the lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil, the thyme (crush a bit between your fingers), and the black pepper.
10. Briefly marinate the shrimp in this mixture (don't leave it more than a few minutes, or it will start to "cook" a bit, like ceviche).
11. Clean, cut off the ends, and quarter the bell peppers and tomatoes.
12. All broilers are a bit different, so adapt the following instructions to what you have.
13. Preheat the broiler.
14. Spray a broiler pan with olive oil.
15. Place bell pepper pieces skin side up on broiler pan.
16. Place tomato pieces pulp side up on broiler pan.
17. Place shrimp on broiler pan.
18. If not everything fits at once, you may need to work in batches.
19. Broil the whole pan about 4 minutes.
20. Turn the shrimp over.
21. Broil about 4 minutes more, until the shrimp are fully cooked (opaque throughout).
22. Remove everything and let cool.
23. Put the roasted tomatoes, the chopped garlic, the oregano, and the red pepper flakes in a blender and puree for a few seconds; set this tomato sauce aside.
24. The skin of the bell peppers will have blistered and charred; when cool, pull it off.
25. Chop the shrimp and bell peppers into small pieces.
26. Back to the dough: For a 10 inch skillet, divide the dough into 4 pieces - you can also make more smaller pizzas. Roll out each piece on a lightly floured surface until it is the size of your skillet. Stack between pieces of wax paper; at this point you can cover them tightly and store in the refrigerator until you need them.
27. To assemble the pizzas:
28. Heat a cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium-low heat.
29. Reduce heat to low and brush with olive oil.
30. Place a round of dough in the skillet, cover, and cook for 1 minute - the dough will rise and have bubbles in it.
31. Remove the lid and then cool over low heat until the bottom of the crust is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
32. Turn the crust over.
33. Brush very lightly with olive oil.
34. Add 1/4 cup tomato sauce, and spread around with the back of a spoon.
35. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the finely crumbled feta cheese.
36. Sprinkle with shrimp, peppers, capers, and olives; add additional red pepper flakes if desired.
37. I like the crust a bit charred on the bottom - use your judgement.
38. Repeat with additional pizzas.