Pizza (and a Friend) to the Rescue!

As I've mentioned before, one of the true drawbacks to having a child is that my brain no longer can manage its usual everyday level of function.  And as such, figuring out dinner can be a really bad scene, especially when I haven't planned ahead.  On this day, I had planned exactly as far as "pizza", which gave me a complete false sense of confidence in dinner because once the appointed hour rolled around I realized I had absolutely no idea what to put on the pizza (given that there were no sausages in the fridge or freezer, something I hadn't bothered to check).  So I did what everyone should do in desperate times, I begged for help.  I e-mailed a friend a short list of what was in my fridge and she sent back a step-by-step list of what I should use and how.  In this list was included absolutely no judgment or shaming for the fact that I needed someone to tell me to move my right foot, move my left foot, just helpful advice.  So, thanks to my friend, I not only made dinner, I made an amazing dinner.  And I will share the love with you.  Just in case you're having the kind of day the necessitates someone else making the decisions for you.


INGREDIENTS:
1/3 recipe dough
3-4 C washed, chopped kale (ribs removed)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 C finely chopped onion
1 T apple cider vinegar
2 C grated mozzerella
6 slices of bacon, crisped (you know, cooked until crispy) and chopped into bits.
5-6 eggs
olive oil
cornmeal for sprinkling on pan.
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 450 F.  Roll out your dough.  Sprinkle your baking sheet with cornmeal.  Carefully place dough on baking sheet.  Bake 5-7 minutes or until it just starts to crisp up (we do like a crispy crust around here).  While the dough is baking, prepare your kale.  In a largish pan, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil.  With the heat on medium low, add the garlic and onion.  The heat is too high if they make any sizzling noises.  You want them to gently heat up and turn pale golden.  Add your kale. The kale will turn bright green and begin to wilt.  I don't like mine cooked down all the way, so I only cook it for a few minutes until it's bright green and tender.  Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Give it a taste and add more salt, pepper or vinegar as needed.  Remove from heat and set aside.  When your dough is done, remove it from the oven and use a brush to brush the whole crust with olive oil.  Lay down your kale evenly over the crust.  Then cover the kale with mozzarella.  Next, sprinkle your bacon over the pizza. Finally, it's time for the eggs.  It's much safer to do your eggs one at a time.  Hit it on your counter, open it into a bowl, make sure you have no shells, then slide it onto the pizza.  Repeat until all eggs are placed.*  Bake 5-7 more minutes until the white of the egg has set and then yolk is just a titch runny (or however you like your eggs).

*If you do not anticipate being able to eat the whole pizza in one night, due to the number of people you're serving, you might only want eggs on the parts you're sure will be eaten so that you are saved the dilemma of trying to figure out how to save (and if it's safe to eat) leftover pizza with an egg on top. Although I did reheat an eggy slice the next day and did not die or get sick.  So there's a sample size of one to reassure you if you want to go that route.

Marching On

These days there is exactly one thing preventing me from becoming a total failure as a food blogger and home cook: Lent.  If it weren't for this whole meatless Friday conundrum I would continue with my downward spiral of leftovers, takeout and waiting for Ryan to get home and cook for me.  But if I want to actually observe the dietary part of Lent, I must take matters into my own hands.  Being not a Christian, much less a Catholic, Ryan finds the whole practice ridiculous.  So to avoid any arguments about whether or not I should be skipping meat (especially hard to win when there's no Pope about) I have to be on my game and have Friday night dinner planned and in progress before he has time to notice or comment on the lack of meat.  This week I needed something fully pantry supplied because with disgusting snowy icy conditions outside there was no way I was venturing to the supermarket.  So despite some initial misgivings about mixing seafood and cheese, I decided on clam pizza.  Ryan was skeptical to say the least (although he hid it well, he's really a saint once I've decided about dinner, supportive, kind and willing to eat it) but it was delicious I think we both wished I had another waiting in the wings.

CLAM PIZZA (no, this will probably not compare to Frank Pepe's in New Haven and any stories I may have about aimlessly driving through New Haven in search of Frank Pepe's will have to wait for another blog post)

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 recipe of dough rolled out thin
2-3 T extra virgin olive oil
pinch + a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (you'll need to follow your own taste on this)
3 cloves minced garlic
1-2 cans chopped clams (We buy Snow's.  Do you have a better brand?)
1 C grated mozzarella
1 C grated parmigiano reggiano
2-3 T clam juice (reserved from cans above)
sprinkle of oregano
cornmeal (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 475 F.  In a small pan, heat your oil, minced garlic and pinch of red pepper flakes on low.  Let that gently cook while you roll out your dough.  Sprinkle your baking sheet with a bit of cornmeal to prevent sticking and then lay out your dough.  Use a fork to poke the dough to prevent bubbles. Brush the dough with the heated olive oil, saving the garlic and red pepper flakes for later (I just dipped the brush in the pan and then basted the crust, no need for formal separation or anything).  Pop the dough in the oven for 5 minutes.  Remove the crust and brush with the olive oil and garlic mixture, this time using the garlic and red pepper.  Poke at it a bit to make sure the garlic is sort of evenly distributed.  Mix together your two types of grated cheese and then lightly sprinkle the crust with it.  I started with a half cup of each and it wasn't quite enough to cover so we grated a bit more.  For how we'd rolled out the dough it was a light covering of cheese.  If you like yours super cheesey you'll need more.  Drain the clams reserving the juice. Sprinkle the crust with the clams.  One can was delicious, but I wouldn't have minded some more.  I think two cans (which was not an option for us because one was all we had might be too much, so eyeball it if you go beyond one can).  Then drizzle over a few tablespoons of the juice (don't do too much, no one likes soggy crust).  Sprinkle the whole thing with oregano (mine has a shaker opening and I just very lightly went over the whole pie).  Then if you like some spice, do a very light sprinkle of red pepper flakes too (these are VERY strong in flavor and heat so be very cautious with them).  Put the pizza back into the oven for 5 more minutes.  Remove, cut, eat and wish you had more.

BLT Pizza

When I was growing up my parents were seriously into food.  Most of the time this meant Julia Child level French cuisine.  When I was particularly lucky, it was various cuisines of the world - my birthday picks were usually enchiladas or moo shu pork.  But I think it was impossible for anyone to make it through the eighties unscathed, and my parents were no exception; they certainly owned cookbooks that were dead on trend (Martha Stewart Entertaining, I'm looking at you).  Among the most dated was a book of pizza recipes.  Shot on a black countertop and served up by a man in a bright yellow short-sleeved dress shirt, the pizzas almost always had the ingredients arranged in geometric patterns.  I can't quite imagine how that works from a flavor standpoint...BUT  despite all that, many of the recipes actually look, dare I say it? tasty!

Although I didn't use the recipe at all (true confession: I also didn't really write a real recipe either), my BLT pizza was completely inspired by this book.  And it was completely amazing. I will make this again, and again and again.  And if it is this good with runty little winter cherry tomatoes, just think of how it will be when the real Jersey tomatoes of summer are in.  I can't wait.

Right. So about that recipe...

BLT PIZZA NOT QUITE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:
dough - buy some or use 1/3 of my usual recipe
mozzarella cheese, shredded (a few cups)
6-8 slices of bacon (or turkey bacon) cooked until crispy
1/2 bag of pre-washed baby spinach
cherry tomatoes (no clue how many)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
olive oil

NOT REALLY DIRECTIONS:
Crumble or chop your cooked bacon.  Set it aside in a bowl.  Rinse and halve your cherry tomatoes.  On a baking sheet, toss them with the garlic and a bit of olive oil.  Put in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.  I'm not sure exactly how long.  You want them nice and roasty.   Roll out the dough and prebake it for 5-7 minutes.  While it's cooking rewash your spinach if you're compulsive like that and saute it up with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Just long enough to wilt it. Pull the dough out cover it with mozzarella.  Then top with the bacon, tomatoes and spinach.  Pop in the oven for another 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melty and delicious.  Enjoy the spoils of the 80s.

Jealous? Who Me? Nah.

I assume you are familiar with my usual Oscar party?  Pajamas, sofa, disinterested husband?  Making scintillating observations about fashion which go entirely ignored?

What I may not have mentioned is that my parents spend Oscar night at a party in New York City thrown by friends of theirs, one of whom is an actual voting member of the Academy (this is simultaneously less cool and more cool than it sounds).  However, I have set aside all feelings of jealousy.  I do not require a party thrown in the city that never sleeps; I do not require a fancy guest list (or in fact, any guest list). So long as my food is better, I have won.  And since I know they had standard issue delivery pizza, I win.  Because my pizza was soooo good. The nutty gruyere was balanced by the gooey mozzarella, the mushrooms sauteed with garlic and oh, the duck.  The sweet, scrumptious duck.  The heavenly crispy duck cracklings.  Now who's jealous?


OSCAR NIGHT PIZZA

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 recipe of dough
8 oz assorted mushrooms (I used a prepacked blend of shiitake, baby bella and oyster mushroom)
1 T olive oil
2 t balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 store-bought fully cooked duck half - see below
1 1/2 T hoisin sauce
1 1/2 C grated mozzarella
1 C grated gruyere
salt and pepper

Store bought duck - you don't need quite this much, but there's no harm in leftovers.

DIRECTIONS:
Heat up the duck as directed on the package.  Remove the skin, and cut the rest into bite sized bits. Toss the bits with 1 1/2 T hoisin and set aside.  Increase the oven temperature to 450 F.  Take the skin and slice it into 1/4" strips.  Place the skin on foil, sprinkle with salt and pop in the oven for about 5-10 minutes or until crispy. Set these duck cracklings aside (really, they are SO good). Rinse your mushrooms off.  Chop them into smallish pieces. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil to medium.  Add the minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Then add the mushrooms and cook until soft. This should take 5-8 minutes.  You want them tender.  Add the balsamic and some salt and pepper (taste to see how much you need).  Set the mushrooms aside. In another bowl mix your mozzarella and gruyere.

Roll out your dough.  I usually sprinkle some cornmeal on the bottom of the pan I'm using to make the pizza, so do that, then transfer your dough.  Top it with the cheese mixture.  Then even sprinkle the mushrooms over, then then duck bits and finally the cracklings.  Cook at 425 or 450 for about 7-8 minutes depending on how done you like the crust.

Out Like a (Really Angry) Lamb?

Hold on a minute. Where in the Sam Hill did Spring go? I swear, last weekend as I was lying in bed moaning a soft warm breeze gently wafted through the room. And of course, now that I'm mostly recuperated, it's back to bleeping cold. It SNOWED Friday. It didn't stick of course, but I reserve the right to be hostile. I'm not unfamiliar with the whole warm up-cool down phenomenon. The year I turned 25 it was 45 degrees on my birthday which falls smack in the middle of June - not exactly ideal for the pool party I had planned. But I no longer live in the frozen tundra that is Boston and I expect my weather to be a bit kinder here. Do you hear that March? Also, if I'm not mistaken the month started with some roaring blustering winds. Where's the damn lamb I was promised?

For anyone who's feeling the cold as much as I am, here's one more wintry recipe to get you through these last chilly days: A nice toasty sausage and cheese calzone. All the oozy goodness of the pizza parlor, none of the leaving the house.


SAUSAGE AND CHEESE CALZONE
makes 2 calzone

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 recipe dough
1/2 lb sausage, casing removed
1 C ricotta
1/4 C Parmiggiano-Reggiano Cheese
pinch of salt and pepper
1/8 t nutmeg
2 cloves garlic
1 C shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 475 F. Place the sausage in a warm pan and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook for 5-7 minutes until crumbly and nicely browned. Remove to a plate covered with a paper towel so that the grease drains off.

In a large bowl, combine the cup of ricotta with the parm, a pinch of salt and pepper and the nutmeg. Then use a microplane and shave the garlic cloves into the mixture. If you don't own one, you can mince the garlic. Mix well. Then add in the sausage bits and again mix well.

Divide the dough in half. Roll out each piece in a circle, roughly 8" round. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on top then cover with half of the mozzarella cheese.

Fold the top down over the bottom to form a semicircle, then fold and twist the edges to seal.
Repeat with the second circle of dough. Sprinkle a bit of cornmeal on a baking sheet and place the calzone on the sheet.
You can brush with olive oil if you like, or just pop in the oven. Bake at 475 for 10-12 minutes, until nicely browned. The crust should be hard and the middle should be deliciously gooey.

How Close Are We?

People. Are we close enough yet that I can just post this recipe with no story? I'd like to think we are. I certainly hope we are anyway, because at this point I feel lucky that I can string two words together much less put together something that is coherent, much less interesting. It's been a long few days, highlighted by 10 hours in the ER and losing 7 pounds. I'm on the mend, but just barely, and of course am being stubborn and delusional about what I can actually do. Not so delusional that I think I can either cook or eat, but delusional enough to think I can just type a bunch of crap up with some pictures and a recipe and call it a blog post. So that's what we've got folks. And I hope at this point we're close enough that you won't mind.




ARTICHOKE "PESTO" PIZZA

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 recipe dough from here (again, make a full recipe, and freeze the other 2 thirds)
1 C frozen artichokes (defrosted)
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 t salt (you could start at 1/2 t and then sprinkle more if needed, 1 t was liberal)
1 T olive oil
pepper
1/4 C Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1-2 t lemon juice
4 strips bacon
1/2 - 1 C ricotta cheese
sprinkle of cornmeal

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 475 F.
In a cuisinart like device, whir up the artichokes, garlic cloves, salt and pepper, and parm. If you have a handy-dandy, spot in the top where you can pour liquids whilst it blends, please, add the olive oil this way. Taste. Overcome the urge to find things in your kitchen you can spread it on, so that you'll have some left to put on the pizza crust. Slice the bacon into smallish bits, and cook it in a non-stick pan for about 5 minutes or until delicious and crispy. Roll out the dough. Sprinkle a giant cookie sheet with the cornmeal and then place the rolled out dough on top. Spoon the artichoke deliciousness over the top. Then sprinkle the bacon on top of that. Finally, Add rounded tablespoons of ricotta all over for extra creamy goodness. Pop into the oven and bake for 7-10 minutes (you want cooked crust and warmed toppings).

Neglect

I'm sorry. I feel as though I've been neglecting you. I can look at the main page and see that I posted Wednesday, so I do have evidence that I haven't abandoned ship, but mentally, I'm afraid I've been a bit off. Not a single thought has entered my mind about how to tell you about this pizza, other than the usual: Tomatoes. Mmmm. Drool. The cause of my distraction is my new blog Between the Pages, in which I use my amazing teacherly reading skills to tell people what is up in kids' books these days. If you have kids, or need to buy books for them sometimes, check it out! If you have no interest whatsoever in children's books, then let's just pretend this little digression never happened.

It's still summer. There are still tomatoes to be eaten.

TOMATO AND BACON PIZZA

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 recipe dough - this makes a pizza for 2, maybe about a 10" or 11" had it been round - I did not 1/4 the recipe, I made a whole recipe a long time ago and portioned it out and froze it.
2 tomatoes, sliced thin
1 1/2 C grated mozzarella
1/2 C parm (divided into 1/4 C and another 1/4 C)
4 slices bacon

2 cloves garlic
3 T olive oil.

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 475 F. Put the pan in the oven to preheat as well. Chop up the bacon, I liked mine big enough to taste, so not a small dice or anything. Pop the bacon in a hot pan and cook until crisp. Remove when done and put on a paper towel to drain a bit. In a small pot, heat up the olive oil and garlic together, for about five minutes. Roll out your dough. Transfer your dough to the pan. Brush on the olive oil that you've infused with garlicky goodness. Cook for 7 minutes or until the bottom is firm. This is not a dough that you want crispy or it will be like a cracker. Top it with the mozzarella and the first 1/4 C of parm. Then add the tomatoes and bacon. Add the rest of the parm. Stick it back in the oven for 4-6 minutes or until the dough is lightly golden brown and the cheese is melty. Bite. Sigh at how good real tomatoes are. Steal the leftovers from your husband the next day at lunch.

Power of Suggestion

As soon as I saw Ina Garten make this on her show, I knew I wanted it. Right now, right now. Luckily enough, it was a Saturday, so I could rush out, gather up the ingredients and make my own dreams come true. The pizza is topped with goat cheese, fontina and mozzarella and is creamy and rich and delicious. Then you top it with a lemony salad to balance all that cheesy goodness. So freakin' good. Also, major props to Ina for a pizza dough that only needs a half hour rise. That is something I can get behind.

WHITE PIZZAS WITH LEMONY GREENS
from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

INGREDIENTS:
for the dough:
1 1/4 C warm water (110 to 115 F)
2 packages dry yeast
1 T honey
4 C all purpose flour
olive oil
2 t Kosher Salt
for the cheesy topping:
1/2 C olive oil (you can probably get away with a 1/3 C)
4 sliced garlic cloves
5 springs fresh thyme
1/4 t red pepper flakes
fresh black pepper
3 C grated Fontina
1 1/2 C grate fresh mozzarella
1 small package cream goat cheese crumbled
for salad:
1/2 C olive oil (again, you can probably get away with less)
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
8 oz baby arugula (I used fresh spinach, since it's what Ryan prefers. It was also delicous).

DIRECTIONS:
for the dough:
Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 T olive oil in the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook attached. When the yeast is dissolved add 3 C of flour and then 2 t of Kosher salt and mix on medium low. Add up to 1 more cup of flour, enough to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Then turn the dough out onto a cutting board and knead by hand until smooth and elastic. Put in a well-oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel. Leave to rise for 30 minutes.

for garlic oil:
In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 C olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Watch carefully that the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside for later.

back to the dough:
Preheat your (clean) oven to 500F. Cut the dough in as many pieces as you would like pizzas. We make 6 as Ina suggests, but you could just make maybe 4? I don't know about getting a whole one on one cooking sheet. Feel free to try it and report back. Place your dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment and cover again with the towel and let rise/rest for 10 minutes. If you're not using immediately, refrigerate for up to 4 hours. If you do refrigerate, allow dough to come back to room temperature before working with it. Press and stretch your dough balls into small pizza-y shapes and place on baking sheets.


pizzamaking time:
Brush the dough of each mini pizza with the garlic oil. Sprinkle each pizza with equal amounts of mozzarella, fontina and goat cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the crust crips and the cheese is delicious and melty. SEE?

salad topping:
Mix the olive oil and lemon juice together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Dress only the greens you're using right away then place them on on hot pizza and enjoy!!