Smoked Salmon Pizza with Red Onion and Dill

This recipe comes from The Bon Appetit Cookbook.  The idea of this recipe is to mimic blini with sour cream and smoked salmon.  The original recipe calls for a pre-baked pizza crust but to get the final product even closer to blini, I’ve substituted my favorite whole-wheat pizza crust.  Here’s the recipe:

Smoked Salmon Pizza with Red Onion and Dill

For crust:

1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

1 tsp honey

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 T extra-virgin olive oil 

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 to 2 cups bread flour

Combine water, honey, and yeast in a bowl (use the stand mixer bowl if using a stand mixer).  Let it sit for about 5 minutes or until the mixture gets foamy.  Then add the Kosher salt and oil.  Then mix in the whole wheat flour.  Then add 1 cup of the bread flour.  Mix it in completely and then add 1/2 cup more of the bread flour.  Mix that in completely and see where your dough is at.  It should be sticky but not sticking to the sides of the bowl.  (If kneading this in by hand, the dough should be sticky but not sticking to your work surface.)  Knead, adding flour as needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Place in an oiled bowl and let rise until doubled, about an hour. 

Punch the dough down and divide into 4 pieces.  Work each of those pieces into a ball and let them sit on the work surface for about an hour.  At this point, the dough can be frozen or rolled out for baking. 

Roll the dough out until it is about 1/8 inch thick.  Then top it with your favorite toppings and bake in a 500 degree oven on a baking stone.  Or, if blind baking, pierce the dough all over with a fork and brush with olive oil.  Then bake for about 5 minutes or until crisp in a 500 degree oven on a baking stone. 

For the pizza:

1 pre-baked pizza crust, either from the recipe above or a purchased 10 oz fully baked pizza crust 

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup minced red onion

1 T chopped fresh dill

2 tsp finely grated lemon peel

1 tsp prepared white horseradish

6 oz thinly sliced smoked salmon

Bake pizza crust. 

Combine the cream cheese, red onion, dill, lemon peel, and horseradish in a small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper. 

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the baked crust after it has cooled a bit, leaving a 1-inch border.  Top with salmon.  Cut into wedeges and serve. 

Here’s a picture:

What I really like about this recipe, besides the obvious fact that it uses smoked salmon, a favorite ingredient of mine, is the lightness of it.  The fresh dill and lemon zest give it a brightness and levity that prevents the pizza from feeling too heavy from the cream cheese and the salmon.  The onion and horseradish give a pleasant bite.  This is a really good dish.