BBQ Salmon Pizza

This ended up being a pantry meal, only buying the cilantro.  I wouldn't have had to do even that, but my only current plant bolted.  The next round will be ready in a few weeks.

I haven't made pizza from scratch in ages, maybe a year.  I forgot how amazingly soft the dough is.  Of course, you can make this with store-bought bases, which will take a whopping 5 minutes to prep and 10 in the oven.

The flavors for this are a cross between BBQ Chicken pizza and a Mediterranean theme.  I used canned salmon to guarantee it would be sufficiently cooked by the time the crust was done.  If using fresh, I would recommend no more than half a pound for the entire recipe.  You never need as much in toppings as you think you do.

Crust

1 C 100º water
1 Tb honey
1 Tb olive oil
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
3-ish C flour

1.  Stir together water, honey, oil, and yeast.  Allow to sit until foamy, 5-10 minutes.

2.  In stand mixer with the paddle, beat together water and 1 C flour until smooth.  Add salt and another cup of flour and beat again until stringy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in enough additional flour to turn it from a batter to a dough, about half a cup.

3.  Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  I decided to take a photo of the underside of what that looks like.  Everyone shows the smooth side, but this is what you're looking for on the not-pretty side before it is rounded into a ball.  Turn over in a lightly greased bowl to coat all sides, cover, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

4.  Punch down dough and divide into 4 portions by weight.  Mine were a surprising 6 ounces each, which explains why pizza puts on weight.  I could have made 6 lunch-sized pizzas instead, but I didn't have enough cheese for that.  Round each into a ball and allow to rest while you prepare the toppings.

Toppings

Cornmeal for the pan
*1/4 C BBQ sauce, plus more for drizzling
8 oz (2 C) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 5 oz can salmon, drained
1/4 C Kalamata olives, slivered
1/4 C cilantro leaves

1.  Drain salmon well.  If using fresh, slice thinly into bite-sized pieces.  You could even sear them first.  Drain olives and cut into slivers or cross-slices.  Tear cilantro leaves off the stems.

2.  Scatter a generous amount of cornmeal on two baking sheets, about a tablespoon on each.  This is to prevent sticking and give the bottoms a little crunch and stability.  Roll out each dough ball into a 6" round for thick crust or 8" for thinner and place on baking sheets.

3.  Spoon a tablespoon of sauce onto each crust, leaving an edge clean for holding.  Sprinkle each pizza with 1/2 C of cheese, then evenly divide salmon, olives, and cilantro between them.  Allow to rest in a warm spot for half an hour, turning on the oven to 400º halfway through.

4.  Once oven is preheated, place pizzas in them and bake for 10 minutes.  Rotate pans and continue to bake until crust is lightly golden and before the bottoms turn dark brown.  You're only cooking the dough and melting the cheese here if using canned salmon, so it's only 10 minutes total if using pre-baked pizza crusts.

5.  Allow pizzas to sit 5-10 minutes before slicing and serve with additional sauce on the side for dipping or drizzling.

Difficulty rating  :) (π if not making dough)