Try This Pie

Twelve nights ago I had a dream involving pizza.

Rather than falling asleep thinking about what I didn’t get done the past twenty-four hours, I fall asleep planning meals for the following day. It’s my happy place - thinking of all the meals I can make with that shrimp stock I made from the leftover shells, deciding if pine nuts or macadamia nuts would make a better chicken breading paired with the day old bread headed for my Cuisinart…I fall asleep with a smile on my face just about every night, and it’s not because I’m pleased with who got voted off what show. It’s far more likely that Nigella just gave me a fabulous excuse to buy more butter.

And the other night at bedtime, I must have been thinking about a cornmeal dusted, fennel-seed crusted pizza, glued to itself with mounds of cheese, a silky tomato sauce peeking from under the cover of Mozzarrella, and my favorite toppings resting on the throne of this masterful food.

What are your favorite pizza toppings? It’s almost like a personality quiz, it definitely gives insight into your exposure to different places, how you ate pizza as a child, and probably, what night of the week it is.

I told my Editor that I liked pineapple and Canadian bacon on my pizza, known in Southern California as the “Hawaiian”. She had never heard of the “Hawaiian”. However, she lives in Vermont, and the revolutionary pizza chain California Pizza Kitchen hasn’t gone north of Massachusetts. I understand the quandary.

And I realized the dilemma that is facing much of America – we’re stuck in PepperoniLand. Make no mistake, the traditional pizza has a circle shaped place in my heart, but we need to branch out, people – for fun, for nutrition, for an easy dish to get our kids familiar with cooking, to name a few reasons.

I encourage you to design your own pie. Take your favorite toppings and give it a try! Don’t be limited by tomato sauce or meat in casings. I’m going to give you one of my recipes for a distinctive pizza pie, devoid of pepperoni or sausage, endorsing flavorful, albeit non- traditional toppings. Traditionalists, here is your defense: “Some food columnist from California said this was good.”

Let’s start with Sun-Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pizza.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pizza
Ingredients:

(1) Ready-to-bake Pizza Crust
3 cloves minced garlic
(1) cup shredded Mozzarrella cheese
(1) 4 oz. container goat cheese
(1 ½ ) cups sun dried tomatoes (oil packed, julienned work best)
Diced Italian parsley for garnish
Optional: artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives, Prsociutto, Pancetta

Prepare uncooked pizza crust to package instructions (usually meaning unroll, place on greased cookie sheet and cook at 400º for six minutes or until crust browns slightly).

When crust begins to brown, remove from oven and add the following toppings in order:

Minced garlic
Mozzarrella cheese
Sun dried tomatoes
Goat cheese
Any optional ingredients

When all toppings are on pizza, put back in oven at 400º until all cheese is melted and outer crust is brown, about 10-12 minutes.

Remove pizza from oven and top with diced Italian parsley.

This article was written by Samantha Gianulis
for Family Food Network.
(You may not reprint this article.)

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