The Little Things: Artisan Pizza Topped with Figs, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Truffle Honey

This past weekend was lovely. Not because of any spectacular event, but because of all the little things. The kind that are easy to miss, and so important not to. Lazy mornings in bed drinking tea and eating croutons. Soaking up the sun at the park while the dogs run as though their hearts might burst. Dinners that creep into the wee hours with new friends. Rediscovering a song you loved back when life was simpler, but didn’t seem as such.

A perfect Sunday breakfast.

Similar to how some create a sound track for their lives, I inevitably find myself creating meals. Breakfasts that comfort or inspire, lunches that speed along or stop to pause, dinners that celebrate simplicity or boast grandiosity.

No weekend is complete without eggs..hard boiled, deviled, scrambled, over easy. I like them all.

This pizza somehow manages to span nearly all of these. While making your own dough might seem intimidating at first, it is surprisingly easy and delivers a much more complex and affordable canvas than the store-bought variety. Easily enjoyed over a long dinner with lots of wine, it is also perfect for a bite on the go, and while there is something undeniably impressive about anything involving the word “truffle”, the minimal number of quality ingredients makes this weeknight friendly as well.

What are the little moments that you most enjoy?

Artisan Pizza Topped with Figs, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Truffle Honey

The drizzle of truffle honey is really what takes it to the next level.

• 2, 1-lb loaves Olive Oil Dough (recipe follows)
• Olive Oil for Brushing
• 1/2 lb sliced fresh buffalo mozzarella
• 1 cup figs, cut in half
• Truffle Honey for Drizzling

Utter simplicity, and yet so good.

1. At least twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven with a baking stone to 550 degrees or whatever is your oven’s maximum.
2. Dust one of your loaves with flour and dust a work surface as well.
3. Flatten the dough with your hands to produce an 1/8-inch-thick round.
4. Place round onto a liberally cornmeal-covered pizza peel (note…if you don’t have one pre-cooking the crust slightly is helpful)
5. Brush with olive oil, and top with half the mozzarella and half the figs.
6. Slide the pizza directly onto the stone (I find this scary AND I’m bad at it, so I usually try to coerce someone else into doing it). A number of back and forth shakes may be necessary.
7. Check for doneness after 8 – 10 minutes, rotating if browning unevenly. Continue cooking until light golden brown, up to another 5 minutes.
8. While pizza one is cooking, prep pizza two to minimize time sitting (and therefore STICKING) on the board.
9. Allow to cool slightly, drizzle with truffle honey, and serve.

Olive Oil Dough
From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Makes four 1-pound loaves. Recipe easily halved or doubled.

• 2 and 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 2 packets granulated yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, and olive oil with the water in a heavy-duty stand mixer if you have one.
2. Mix in the flour until well incorporated.
3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
4. You can use it immediately after that, although it’s easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 12 days.

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When I Grow Up: Grilled Pear & Bacon Pizza with Balsamic Reduction

1. Dolphin Trainer
2. Jazz Singer
3. MAC Make-up Counter Woman that sprays you with perfume
4. Famous food blogger

So went the list of jobs we would have if money was no object, talents endless, and our lives different. We were five women in a minivan (so hot), headed away from the reality of our lives and towards Walla Walla, WA for a weekend of food, wine, and general gluttony (with a little karaoke and dancing thrown in for good measure).

Becky, Erina, Andrea, and Anna-Lea at Saviah Cellars (so good!) The Lovely Ila must be taking the pic.

TruCellars

 You can just imagine how many stops five women require (there’s coffee, snacks, and the comically unending stream of “10 minute warning until I need the loo!” shout-outs). Fortunately, one of those stops included Wine O’Clock in Prosser, WA. Once we got ourselves off the highway and began the highly sophisticated process of “follow the dot, follow the dot…nope, we’re going away from the dot…turn around” iPhone navigating, we finally found it. It is a darling spot and an excellent way to break up the drive. The wines are sold at retail prices, so they are very affordable and the menu itself boasts a great selection.

Perhaps the best item on the menu is their sweet and savory pizza, a pear, bacon, and cheese concoction that absolutely delights.

Having returned home and (not-so) stealthily snuck all my wine into the house so Matt wouldn’t see it, I set about re-creating this. The combination of the sweet pear, with the salty bacon, and pungent sheepsmilk is an absolute hit.  Throw that on top of a store-bought dough and you’ll seem pulled together and glamorous enough to maybe be one step closer to your dream job…whatever it may be.

Grilled Pear & Bacon Pizza with Balsamic Reduction

Grilled Pear & Bacon Pizza

1 store bought pizza dough, thawed and allowed to stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes

8 pieces bacon

1 medium Walla Walla Sweet Onion, sliced into thin rings

3/4 TB Brown Sugar

1/3 lb cheese (you can do different options here. A gorgonzola would be good, although I opted for something a bit subtler and did a raw cowsmilk cheese from Switzerland that has some bite, but isn’t overpoweringly stinky)

2 pears, ripe but firm

4 TB Olive Oil

Balsamic Reduction Sauce

1. Cook the bacon until crispy. Remove from the pan and set on paper towels to absorb grease. Coarsely chop. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, on very low heat in a small frying pan, cook the onions and brown sugar in 1 TB of olive oil until soft and carmelized. About 10-15 minutes. Set aside.
3. Shred the cheese and thinly slice the pear. Set aside.
4. Turn your grill on, and get as hot as possible.
5. Divide the dough in half and on a floured surface roll out until about 1 cm thick.
6. Brush one side with 1 TB olive oil, reduce flame on grill to medium, and put on grill, oil side down. Close top and cook 3-4 minutes until golden and puffing up. Remove from grill, brush 1 TB oil on un-grilled side, and put on a plate, grill marks up.
   

   One-Side Grilled, One-Side To Go

7. Brush remaining 1 TB olive oil on top of pizza and top with cheese, carmelized onions, bacon, and pear. Return to grill and cook another 3-4 minutes.
8. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Drizzle with Balsamic Reduction Sauce if you like and enjoy.

I dream of pizza: Zucchini Pizza with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Olive Tapenade that is…

I work with a tremendously impressive group of people who I know for a fact regularly stay up thinking about how to improve the human condition. They think about how to eradicate polio, how to improve the education system in America, and how to ensure that the poor in developing countries have access to the financial services they need to get ahead. The most interesting fact about these people, is that they’re actually doing it. They actually are finding ways to get vaccines to the people who need them most, developing ways to measure teacher effectiveness, and designing mobile banking programs that are helping people put their kids through school. They actually are making a difference. Which is incredible…and very humbling.

As for me when tossing and turning late at night? I dream of pizza.

This morning, while laying awake having been woken up by both dogs who were now promptly snoring away, I couldn’t fall back asleep. At 4a I began thinking about what to make for dinner tonight. Doing a mental checklist of what was in my fridge, I came up with the perfect idea. Grilled pizza with an olive tapenade base topped with grilled zucchini, buffalo mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, and homegrown basil.

This one may not save the world…but it certainly will make it more enjoyable in the meantime.

Make this when your garden is exploding with zucchini and you don’t know what to do with it. The smokiness from grilling it makes it much more complex and paired with the mozz/basil/tomato/olive combination is quite delicious.

Zucchini Pizza with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Olive Tapenade

Serves 4. Pair with a moderate red wine such as a Moltepulciano

1 pizza dough, store-bought is fine. I like Trader Joes

6 ounces red pitted olives

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil + 3 TB

1 garlic clove

Salt and Pepper

1 large zucchini (about 1 – 1.5 lbs)

1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, thinly sliced

1/2 cup packed fresh basil, coarsely chopped

Tapenade -Add the olives, garlic, and lemon juice to a food processor, and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of olive oil in a steady stream while pureeing the mixture, and continue until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Zucchini – Thinly slice the zucchini lengthwise, with a mandolin if you have it. You want pieces to be fairly thin. Brush with remaining 3  TB of olive oil, and sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Grill the zucchini over high heat for about 5 minutes or until tender and slightly charred. Set aside.

Zucchini, Tomatoes, Mozzarella, Basil

Pizza Dough – On a floured surface, stretch out the pizza dough to about a 10-12 inch circle. If you like, you can divide the dough before spreading it and make two smaller pizzas which will render it easier to manage on the grill. Brush one side with the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes. Add the dough to the grill, oil side down, and cook over high heat with the lid closed until dough has set and is beginning to bubble. Note: You’ll want the grill quite hot when you add it so that it immediately starts puffing up versus falling through the grates. Once the first side is crisp and golden, add remaining sun-dried tomato oil to top side (the un-cooked side) and flip over. Cook 2-3 minutes, just until firm enough you can pull it off the grill.

Assembly – Spread the tapenade on the pizza (the side you cooked first). Layer with the grilled zucchini, mozzarella slices, and sun-dried tomatoes. Return to grill and cook another 5-7 minutes or until dough is completely set and cheese is bubbling. Allow to cool 3-5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with fresh basil.

With toppings, before being returned to the grill

Voila

Note: You’ll see in these admittedly mediocre pix that I did fresh tomatoes the first time I tried this. They over-powered the smokiness of the zucchini, so I made it again with sun-dried which I think were much more successful.

The postings on this site are my own and do not represent the positions, strategies or opinions of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

The Culinary WonderBra: Grilled Fig and Prosciutto Flatbreads

Sometimes we all need a little pick-me-up. Something to make us feel like a million bucks. These moments can happen in our personal lives, in our careers, and if you’re a passionate, but albeit, untrained cook, in the kitchen.

If ever there was a comparison to the WonderBra in the kitchen, these grilled flatbreads are it. They are easy, fun, delicious and sure to impress a crowd.

Make them when you’re looking for the culinary equivalent of a double take. These babies are guaranteed to deliver it.

Grilled Fig and Prosciutto Flatbreads

Serves 3-4. Can easily be doubled for a crowd.

Pair with a champagne or sparkling wine for the ultimate gourmet, chic, (and effortless) meal.

Ingredients:

One 12-ounce ball of pizza dough, at room temperature (the plain dough from Trader Joes is super cheap and easy)
All-purpose flour
1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fig jam (from a 6-ounce jar)
1/4 pound Mozzarella
3 ounces sliced prosciutto
2 cups arugula

1. Turn your grill on and allow to get quite hot (about 500 degrees).
2. Divide the pizza dough in half and on a floured surface roll out into two, 12-inch circles. Lightly brush one side of the dough with olive oil.
3. When the grill is to the desired temperature, put the pizza dough rounds on the grill, oil side down. It may look like they are going to do terrible things like fall through the grates or make a big sticky mess, but they won’t. Close the grill and cook until bottoms are golden brown and beginning to puff up. Flip the dough and allow to just slightly cook on the other side (you’re essentially just getting it firm enough that you can handle it). Remove from grill and transfer to a plate.
4. Top the pizza (the first side you cooked) with a thin layer of fig jam, prosciutto, and mozzarella.
5. Return to the grill and allow to finish cooking (the dough should be slightly blackened in spots and the cheese should be fully melted and bubbly).
6. Remove, top with arugula (allowing to slightly wilt) and serve.