Rueben Pizza

Three things.

First, I know that I have had a serious shortage of blog posts in the last couple weeks.  Sorry, all!  Work got crazy busy, and to be truthful, I wasn’t cooking anything all that exciting – I was too tired!  But now work has gone back to regular crazy so I’m back on my regular schedule.  I have a couple of things on tap for this week, so look out!

Second, Happy (belated) St. Patrick’s Day! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed all your favorite St. Patrick’s Day traditions (wearing green, eating green food, drinking green beer – the important stuff.)

Third, pizza.  Yes, again.  I have not yet gotten tired of pizza!  I think I’m more surprised at this than anyone. but I’m rolling with it.

Truthfully, I may have gone a little pizza crazy this weekend.  I almost hate to admit it, but here goes:  I made pizzas three days in a row.  Yep, you got that right – all weekend it was pizza, pizza, pizza!

Friday, I made a Spinach and Artichoke Pizza (pictures and recipe coming later this week) for my sister, Laura, and my best friend, Kara.  We hung out, ate pizza, drank wine – it was a lovely night.  I also tried a dessert pizza with Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam, chocolate chunks and marshmallows.  Not bad, but not as good as the Spinach and Artichoke main course.

As a matter of fact, the Spinach and Artichoke Pizza was so good that I made it again Saturday night so Brian could try it.  Yep, I’m not too proud to admit it – I ate it both nights.  (And I’d do it again! So there!)

But this post is about my St. Patrick’s Day pizza – corned beef and sauerkraut.  All the tasty ingredients of a Reuben sandwich – on a pizza.  And it was good!  Really good!

I’m going to tell you a secret.  I don’t like to talk about it, but St. Patrick’s Day is one holiday that I am not good at cooking for.  There.  I admitted it.  Whew, that feels better!  For the past several years on St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve made some kind of sauerkraut and pork crockpot dish in different variations.  Inevitably, Brian isn’t all that thrilled about it and I end up with a bunch of leftovers that no one wants to eat.  Not my finest moments.  But not this year, my friends!  This year, he ate three pieces of pizza – success!!!

I’m a huge fan of cold toppings on hot pizza (See my California Chicken Pizza for one example, or try a hot pepperoni pizza with cold, crisp banana peppers if you don’t believe me…yum!)  So for this Reuben Pizza, I decided to leave the Thousand Island Dressing off until the end for that hot/cold effect.

This pizza was simple, but had big flavors.  Deli sliced corned beef, sauerkraut, and good swiss cheese made up the bulk of this hearty pizza, which was then topped with good ol’ Thousand Island Dressing and served with a big @ss deli pickle.  Awesome!

Here’s the deal. This isn’t the prettiest picture I’ve ever taken. I need a squeeze bottle for decorating plates so I can feel like one of them thar’ fancy TV chefs.

Reuben Pizza

• One 12 inch pizza crust, whatever your favorite recipe or kind of dough
• 6 oz deli sliced corned beef, rough chopped
• 4 oz swiss cheese, grated
• 1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, rinsed and drained well (nobody likes a soggy pizza)
• garlic infused olive oil
• Caraway seeds (about a teaspoon)
• Thousand Island Dressing (for topping or dunking)
• Pickles (Half-sour pickles would be great, but any good crispy deli pickle will do)

If you’re me, preheat your oven and pizza stone at the highest heat for at least 20 minutes.  (To be fair, my oven is old and takes awhile to get to temp.)  Prepare the pizza on a pizza peel for easy transfer to the pizza stone.  (Or use parchment paper and transfer pizza and parchment paper to the pizza stone – great tip, Kirsten!)

Brush the pizza dough with a small amount of garlic olive oil.  (Yes, you could use regular olive oil, but if I can add garlic to just about anything, you better believe I will!)  Top with corned beef, sauerkraut and swiss cheese.  Sprinkle Caraway seeds over the top.  They’re pretty and they add that bit of rye taste that you expect with a Reuben.

Transfer to pizza stone and bake for 8-10 minutes.

When the pizza is done, remove from oven and let cool until the cheese sets.   Slice , top with the Thousand Island, serve and eat! I recommend alternating bites of pizza and pickle for the best balance of flavors.

Did you spice up the traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal this year?   What’s your opinion of the contrasting hot/cold ingredients on pizza? 

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