In case you haven’t heard, we’re hosting an #ATKQuick Cooking Instagram Challenge! Each week, a winner will take home a copy of our super-speedy, and incredibly time-saving cookbook, The America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook. Many of the these recipes require only a handful of ingredients, and all are guaranteed to be on the table in 45 minutes or less. Creamy Spinach Lasagna that bakes in 15 minutes? 3-Hour French Beef Stew in just 45 minutes? We’re talking big flavor, in short order.
With typically time-consuming and labor-instensive recipes, homemade bread doesn’t seem to fit into a weeknight menu. All the time mixing, kneading and proofing just doesn’t seem to make sense for busy schedules. So we got creative, and decided to take store-bought pizza dough to a whole new level. Salty, sweet, tangy and ready to pull-apart; these recipes make excellent accompaniments to any dinner, and add a homemade, fresh feel to many dishes. Plus, we found a way to transform pizza dough into a sweetly satisfying dessert, so there’s really no excuse to pass up this week’s theme! Just remember to scroll to the bottom for details on how to participate in the challenge, and happy baking!
The Secret Behind Our Speedy Bread?
Store-Bought Pizza Dough
Grease 10-inch pie plate with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Press 1 pound pizza dough into pie plate and dimple surface with fingers. Brush dough with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives, 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bake in 400-degree oven until golden, about 30 minutes, rotating pie plate halfway through baking. Serve warm. Serves 6.
Buttery Mall-Style Pretzels
Divide 1 pound pizza dough into 4 even pieces and roll each into 36-inch rope. Shape ropes into large pretzels and lay on 2 parchment paper–lined baking sheets. Brush with 1 large beaten egg and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt. Bake in 425-degree oven until deep golden, about 25 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking. Brush pretzels with 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter and season with extra sea salt to taste. Makes 4.
Carnival Fried Dough
Heat 1 inch vegetable oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. Roll 1 pound pizza dough into 12-inch round on lightly floured counter; cut into 8 wedges. Working in 3 batches, fry dough in hot oil until crisp and browned on both sides, about 5 minutes, flipping dough halfway through cooking; transfer to paper towel–lined baking sheet. Dust with confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar. Serves 8.
Other recipes pictured above: Salt and Pepper Grissini and Braided Dinner Loaf, available in The America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook.
Visit the Community Page on The Feed every Tuesday to find the new Quick Cooking Instagram Challenge Theme. Then get cooking, and share a photo through your personal Instagram account, mentioning @TestKitchen and using the hashtag #ATKQuick in your caption. Once you’ve published the photo on Instagram, it’s up to our judges here at the Test Kitchen to pick a winner. Participants will be judged on 25% creativity/artistic ability and 75% originality of their recipe’s photo.
The deadline for entries will be at 11:59 P.M E.S.T. Monday, March 11, 2013, and we’ll be selecting a winner that Tuesday morning.
Be sure to check back every Tuesday to see who has won the past week’s challenge, and for the current week’s theme.
We were thrilled with the amount of submissions to our #ATKQuick Instagram Challenge! Our winner this week was sherry_courtney! She won a copy of our America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook. Be sure to check out this week’s theme Swift Spinach Sides! #ATKQuick Instagram Challenge, and thank you for participating!
THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED
About the Author: Lindsey Slack
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Don’t tell me you made a loaf of Challah with store bought pizza dough! Lol. Definitely going to try it out for myself. <3 Thanks!