How to Make a Greek Pizza

I know you're thinking that Greek and pizza don't go together in the same sentence... but that's what makes pizza so great! You can make pizza any way you'd like, with any THING that you'd like (within reason of course). If you like Greek food, then I'll show you one way you can make a great Greek pizza.

1) Replace the typical tomato sauce with tzatziki sauce

No matter what background you come from most pizzas are made with a tomato sauce of some sort. From what I've seen tomatoes aren't a major component of Greek cooking, so that's why I recommend using tzatziki sauce. Tzatziki sauce is comprised of cucumbers, dill, sour cream (or plain yogurt). Its flavor is not terribly pungent but use a lot of it and your mouth will definitely notice the difference. I'd recommend to spread it around your crust with medium liberality; enough to coat the crust but not heaping it on either.

2) Replace the typical sausage and pepperoni with lamb and chicken

Sausage and pepperoni are my favorite, but for our Greek pizza we're going to try one of two other meats - lamb and chicken. In Greek dining, from my experience these are the two meats that are most used. You'll notice lamb if you've ever eaten gyros, although Greek cuisine goes much farther than gyros. I've also had some great Greek chicken dishes including a lemon dill chicken. Either of these meats will go well on your pizza.

If you're using lamb, bake it in the oven with some olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and onion until it is medium well. You don't want to cook it until it's well done or else it may not come out tender. The goal here is to be able to make strips out of it to put on our Greek pizza. If you're using chicken, I'd recommend using thighs and marinating with lemon, dill, salt, pepper, garlic, and onion. If you can get boneless, skinless chicken it is even better. Place in a skillet on medium heat and cook until no longer pink in the center.

3) Replace herbs and spices such as oregano and thyme with dill and black pepper

If you have to have oregano on your Greek pizza then use Greek oregano if possible... if not, regular oregano is fine. Replace the thyme and rosemary you'd typically use in Italian cooking with dill and parsley. Remember, we're cooking Greek, not Italian. It won't come out very Greek if you're mixing it with traditional American ways of making a pizza.

4) Replace your mozzarella cheese with feta cheese

I like feta cheese because it has a bit of a salty taste to it, at least from my experience. You can crumble the feta cheese on top of your pizza after the sauce and meat have been added. This is the only cheese we're going to use for our pizza, so hopefully you like it. If you really don't like feta cheese, then you can perhaps try Telemes cheese which is similar to Feta except it's made with cow's milk... or cottage cheese. If you use cottage cheese, then add salt to it as you place on your Greek pizza.

5) Consider adding the following: black olives, tomatoes, spinach, onions

White onions, black olives, red tomatoes, and green spinach... a colorful ending to our Greek pizza. It not only adds color but adds vegetables. Be sure your tomatoes are sliced thin and add a layer. I'd recommend using fresh spinach instead of frozen, but there's nothing wrong with using cooked spinach that was previously frozen; just drain the excess water from it and season it a bit. White onions, slice them then before using, and make sure black olives are pitted before adding to your Greek pizza.

If you wanted to be really ambitious, you can make your crust out of pita bread instead of a traditional pizza crust or a store-bought crust (which is what I usually do). Maybe instead of an entire pizza, you do pizza pockets... something small enough that everyone can customize it however they want to. For our final toppings let's add a little dill (and just a little because dill is powerful), a little lemon juice, a little parsley, some oregano, some salt and black pepper to finish. Adding crushed garlic is not a bad idea, either; too much though and no one will come near you.

I hope you like this variation to a traditional meal. If you're a Greek food lover, then hopefully you'll be able to appreciate this. If you've ever done anything like this, let me know how you've created it... I may be willing to try it myself.

Sources:

Feta - Greek Cheese - Buying and Cooking Guide - Learn about Greek Feta Cheese
http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcheeses/p/prof_feta.htm