May 9 2015

Guinness Corned Beef Reuben Pizza

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Irish eyes will be smiling when you serve up all the amazing flavors of a classic reuban but on a delicious pizza!

Okay, I think I really need to start a petition to get pizza and bacon as their own respective food groups. Seriously those are my absolute two most favorite things in the world…EVER!

I always get asked, “TKW, if we ever met and we went out to eat, where would we go?” Easy… a local pizza place in your area that is not a chain/franchise.

Sorry but I’m not a fan of mass-produced/mass-frozen/shipped foods. Hey, it works for them as they are rather successful however when it comes to pizza I want local and good. Then again, even really bad pizza is still pizza.

What I love about pizza is the versatility of it.

From the crust (regular, gluten-free, beer – yes beer, herbed, rye, wheat, whole grain, honey wheat). To the sauces (red, white, garlic aioli, ketchup – yes on a breakfast pizza. To desserty type pizzas. And let’s not forget about the endless toppings.

Yes, they are good however they are not true pizza in my eyes.

My Pizza History

As you may or may not know my freshman year of college my brother opened a pizza shop. Now he and my sister law had worked at one for years and finally decided to open their own.

It became really popular and it was there that I got to “play” with my toppings and adaptations. But my first experiences with making homemade pizza started with I was wee-little and Mom would make it for us.

Anything can go on a pizza!

I am anything but a “Pizza Purist”. Don’t get me wrong, I love a classic pie but I refuse to limit myself …or my toppings!

In our shop days, I was putting fries, onions rings and grilled steak on pizza decades before it became a trendy ‘thing’.

Breakfast pizzas were a norm and cowboy western burger pizzas with bbq sauce, crispy onion straws, bacon, and grilled burgers were aplenty.

BUT… those things were rarely on the menu. Please, my brother would have crapped a brick if he knew (hi Dave!) how much I experimented back then.

One of my top sellers which I finally got him to put on the menu was my pierogi pizza that we sold during lent. Grilled onions and cheddar topped this hefty bad boy to keep all those Catholics in the good graces.

How my Guinness Reuben Pizza came to life

Now, this pizza came about simply because I wanted pizza in the worst way, like most days, only I didn’t want a typical pie. I wanted something different.

As I was rummaging through my fridge I spied about a pound or so of my Guinness Corned Beef just sitting there, begging for some love. Next to it, I spied my jar of sauerkraut and it was on.

I knew exactly what I was making. REUBEN PIZZA baby! Since I had already had the pizza dough made up I just took it out of the fridge to finish its final proofing.

Ingredients needed to make a Guinness Reuben Pizza

Guinness Corned Beef – you can make it in the Crock-Pot or in the Instant Pot
pizza dough– this is my go-to hand-tossed dough that is a crowd-pleaser
Cheese – I went with a mixture of shredded mozzarella and swiss
Sauerkraut – it MUST be well-drained
caraway seeds – optional but I like it
Dressing – I prefer mustard but you can use 1000 island if you wish

Why I didn’t use 1000 island dressing

Simply put, I loathe 1000 island dressing. I love yellow or whole grain mustard on corned beef and my Reubens. Don’t judge me and don’t crinkle up your nose. You, yes you… I see you crinkling. Stop it.

You can most certainly put the 1000 island dressing on it to keep it 100% traditional. I’m just one step above traditional.

Sorry but no Reuben sandwiches today

As I was dragging the stuff out of the fridge Mr. Fantabulous spied the corned beef and kraut and got super excited. He said, “Ohhhh are you making me a Reuben???”

Oh, how I love how he assumes that I never eat and my only purpose in the kitchen is to cook for him. To be fair he looooooooooooves my Reubens. I do as well. Have you tried my recipe yet? No? Dude (yes I dude’d you) you sooooooo have to! It’s epic!

However, I had to break the bad news to him that while I was technically making a Reuben it wasn’t a traditional one; I was making a Reuben pizza. So as I broke the news to him that huge smile turned into a scoff. He wasn’t pleased because again I was “messing with an already perfect thing” and “why can’t I just leave things well enough alone…”

Super ninja towel snapping capabilities

I just grinned and said “You know me I’m a rebel baby and that’s why you love me!” as I whacked him in the butt with a kitchen towel. Yeah… HUGE mistake. See this man possesses super ninja towel snapping capabilities. Over the years I’ve learned to not poke the bear but I had a brain fart because as soon as I heard that ‘crack’ and he go “OWWWW!” I realized “Oh crap, I’m an idiot. RUNNNNNNNNNNN!!!”

But I couldn’t run. See I possess that gene that when I realize I do something stupid like this I become paralyzed and begin to beg, plead and pretty much ask God to help me out.

As he turned around the look of shock on his face was more than I could bear as I immediately stood there belly laughing because:

I’m an idiot
His face was too funny
I’m an idiot.

I started to say “Noooooooooo see I get a one-time idiot pass so you have to let me go. Hey wait, what are you doing? Leave the towel alone. PUT DOWN THE TOWEL!!!” again as I stood there, paralyzed and laughing uncontrollably. Seriously I was laughing so hard I almost peed my damn pants!

And he just stood there twirling it up to make it nice and tight – you know that tightness that you know it’s gonna hurt like an SOB and leave a mark.

It’s going to crack like a whip and there isn’t jack squat you can do about it as you deserve it because again, you’re an idiot. It’s like you challenging Mike Tyson to a boxing match – you’re gonna lose so just lie down and play dead already.

The funniest part of it all is he just stood there, gave me that look while twirling that towel. I was the babbling idiot.

Then he just stopped, set down the towel and then started to walk away. I got super quiet and said, “Hey, are you mad???” He just stopped, looked over his shoulder and said: “Nope, just realize it’s on my dear and gave me a mischievous wink” and walked away with such an evil sinister laugh. We’re talking “MUAHAHAHAHA!” deep sinister laugh. Oh crap, I was in trouble.

However, I started to get hungry and went to making this pizza. About every 10 minutes he’d wander back out to the kitchen, look at me, give me a smirk look, raise his brow while looking at me and then the towel. He’d then just walk away muttering “soon…” LOL Such a brat!

Tips on making this Guinness Reuben Pizza

Drain, drain and drain your sauerkraut! It needs to be as dry as possible otherwise it’ll weep into the dough and make it soggy.
Make sure your corned beef is super cold, heck you can even partially freeze it, as you want to slice it thin. Now if you’re a fan of the chunks of corned beef then just roughly chop it but I prefer mine super thin.
Don’t be an idiot and towel crack the Ninja Towel Crack Master like me *wink*
Shred your cheese! Do not buy pre-shredded.

Don’t buy pre-shredded cheese

Now folks, let’s talk about pizza cheese in general. Do not ever, EVER buy pre-shredded stuff.

Why? Did you ever buy a bag of shredded cheese and notice that powdery type stuff on the cheese and in the bag? Bet you think that’s cheese dust, right? Hate to inform you all but that’s not what it is.

It’s not cheese dust. It’s Cellulose powder. Cellulose powder is a food additive that has become popular recently because it has unique properties that allow food makers to thicken food, replace fat, raise fiber content and decrease the need for ingredients like oil and flour.

Although cellulose is commonly found in all kinds of plants, do you know where the most popular and economical source for cellulose is? Are you sitting down for this one? Are you sure? It’s predominately from cotton and wood pulp. No for real. Pretty nasty, huh?

So yes, please buy block cheese and shred it yourself. So there are some must-do tricks when it comes to making this pizza turn out perfect.

Let’s make a Guinness Reuben Pizza

Place a pizza stone on the lower third rack of the oven and set it to 550F.
Stretch the dough out on a cornmeal/semolina coated pizza peel or parchment paper.
Add some sauce, sliced meat, well-drained sauerkraut, caraway seeds, and cheeses.
Bake ~8 minutes or until golden brown and the cheese is melted.
Use a pizza paddle/peel to pull the pizza out of the oven, slice and enjoy with a cold Guinness!

This pizza turned out better than I had expected and while I ended up eating the whole thing myself (no, not at once people… lol) because Mr. Fantabulous refused to step out of the norm, I did make him his very own traditional Reuben. That saved my butt… literally.

No for real! No towel cracks that night or to date (*crosses fingers to not jinx herself*) But make this when you want to step away from the norm and be adventurous!