Hartwell here - Last night was a beautiful once-a-month event known as Noble Rot - a wine and food club organized (and often hosted) by Sara Fitzgerald and her handsome fiancé, Ben Moïse. Half the participants are assigned to bring wine, the others food. A theme is given, and wine choices adhere to the theme, while food choices are up to the cook's discretion.
Last night the theme was "Mash-ups" and the wines were all blends. I, for my part, was on food detail, and made the following two pizzas:
Tomato and Mozzarella Pizza
A classic standby, there is nothing simpler than this. If you live by a Trader Joe's, it's even easier. Fresh veggies, a whole lot of garlic, and olive oil make this a vegetarian crowd pleaser. If you're looking to meat it up, add some prosciutto.
serves 8
Ingredients:
Trader Joe's Garlic and Herb Pizza Dough
Heirloom cherry tomatoes (they don't have to be heirloom, but I'd go for grape tomatoes if you're only doing reds)
Crushed garlic (Trader Joe's sells this in a jar if you're too pressed for time to roast and crush your own - I vacillate)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (this provides the base for the pizza, as it's sauceless, or white and so should be good quality - I use Spanish for a little bit of spice)
Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella (Olivine is a great choice, or the small ones also floating in water, but the shrink-wrapped log of mozzarella at TJ's also works great - can you tell there's a TJ's by my office on the way home from work?)
Fresh Basil
Directions:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 450F. Let the dough rest for about twenty minutes, so that it comes to room temperature. This is going to make it easier to work with than trying to ply it cold, but will also make it stickier than normal, so...
2. Lightly flour your surface - I usually use baking sheets, but last night, just pressed out a double-thick rectangle of foil and it worked fantastic.
3. Flour up your hands.
4. Roll out your dough to be about 12-inches in diameter - too thick and it won't cook all the way through, but too thin and it's going to tear when you pick it up.
5. Drizzle olive oil in the middle of the pizza. Use the bottom of a spoon to rub it in ever-widening circles until your pizza is covered in a thin layer of olive oil. You don't want it drenched, but don't leave anything dry but the crust.
6. Take some crushed garlic and liberally apply it to your pizza. Use less if you're terrified of that much garlic.
7. Slice the mozzarella into discs about half a centimeter thick and arrange them on your pizza. If you're using that log from TJ's, you'll use about half of it. If you're using the tiny mozzarella balls in water or oil, just chop those suckers in half. You want some negative space here in your layout. They'll melt down and spread out, and it will be awesome.
8. Slice the tomatoes in half, and arrange on the pizza, on top of the mozzarella and in the nooks and crannies. If they're particularly juicy, go ahead and scoop the middles out of about half of them, just so they don't water down your dough. Put on as many as the square footage will allow. There is no such thing as too many tomatoes. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a bad person.
9. Take leaves of fresh basil, wash and remove from stem. Place about 8 or 9 large leaves on there. It may look like they're taking up a lot of space, but they'll crisp up and shrink down considerably.
10. Slide that pizza into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Check on it at 15, and see if the middle seems done. Try picking it up. If it folds up way too easily, give it another five. Nobody will complain if it's golden brown and those tomatoes cook more.
11. Eat.
The second pizza was an Indian/Italian mash-up. It was delicious.
Chicken Masala Pizza
serves 8
Ingredients:
Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Dough
Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce
Trader Joe's Roast Chicken Breast Strips
Trader Joe's Aged Monterey Jack Cheese (this cheese is tan, with a brown rind, and has a nutty quality to it - it is awesome)
Crushed garlic
Directions
1. Follow steps 1-4 above
2. Ladle masala sauce in the middle. Not too much! You can always add more. It's much harder to remove. Use the back of your ladle to spread it out in concentric circles towards the crust. If you need more, add a little more. It's okay if the crust is visible. You want a thin-layer, not a big glop.
3. Sprinkle some crushed garlic over the pizza. Less this time than with the other pizza. You want the masala and cheese to dominate here.
4. Tear apart the strips of chicken into more bite-sized pieces and arrange on the pizza. You'll probably use about 6 to 8 ounces of chicken here.
5. Grate the cheese over top of everything. You'll know an acceptable level when you see it. Dusted is probably too light a hand, but you don't want a winter wonderland.
6. Toss that puppy in the oven. Set the timer for 12 minutes. Bottom rack is best. This one should cook quicker than the first pizza because it's missing the water quotient the tomatoes add.
7. Remove and slice up. Grate a fresh batch of the cheese on top. This time, dusting is alright. Enjoy!
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