Mailing in my final post for 2016 in the name of Christmas and family.
Happy new year everyone and happy cooking.
Month: December 2016
Week 51: 30 Minutes or Less – Quickie Midnight Pizza from Scratch
The trick to making a quick pizza from scratch is not caring if the dough rises fully. The pizza below, dough and sauce included, was created from scratch in exactly 30 minutes. I have a time-lapse video that I didn’t realize wouldn’t upload so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
It admittedly took a bit of behind the scenes prep.
The wine played a supporting role during the mad dash around the kitchen to meet that 30 minute mark, but I made it. And celebrated with more wine and an entire midnight pizza to myself.
Week 50: Umami – Mushroom Parmesan Pizza
I’ve been hoping for a pizza assignment like this since I first began this challenge. Umami is an attractive force in my food world with tomatoes ruling the majority of my cravings. While tomato finds its way into the sauce here, mushrooms are the focal point of this pizza.
Shiitake and crimini mushrooms, while making up the whole of the toppings, remain just a portion of the umami bomb that was dropped.
Tomato snuck in with a hearty rendition of my usual sauce. Parmesan was shaved over top.
Oh and then a quick spritz of black truffle salt, a drizzle of white truffle oil and then a dash of MSG just for kicks.
Fearing another salt overload as seen in last week’s pizza, I added a moderate amount of salt and chose to apply truffle salt to each individual slice.
Then I ate the whole pizza.
With a good burgundy nearby, this is not a difficult feat.
Week 49: Spanish Tapas – Boquerones Pizza
Anchovies were once so repellant to my sensibilities that I ate caesar salads sans dressing for many dumb years. Servers would repeat my order back to me in disbelief and only now do I understand why: caesar dressing is fucking delicious.
Shockingly, I came around to anchovies some time in my adulthood for seemingly no reason at all, and not just in their invisible form as salad seasoning. Like soon turned into love and I found myself slamming strips of anchovies with an accompaniment crispy sage or parmesan.
Staring down this week’s tapas challenge, I couldn’t resist but to do as ninja turtles do and put some damn anchovies on some damn pizza. And it began with some flash marinating.
Parsley and garlic were chopped up for some classic accompaniment.
White anchovies were marinated in champagne vinegar and olive oil for an hour.
The marinade was sufficient enough to provide a base for the pizza. Parmesan finished the pizza before the super hot oven hugs ensued.
The oblong shape was designed to provide tapas-sized pizza bites in the final presentation.
More parmesan and parsley helped spruce up the pizza tapas before they met with their hot sherry date for the evening.
Lustau’s “Papirusa” Manzanilla was a dry and saline style of sherry that tamed the inherent saltiness of this pizza. Even with its presence, it was hard to ignore what a nightmare this pizza was to eat despite no additional salt. Please think twice before trying this style at home because I’m certainly never making this again.
pizzasomm 