Pizza, Pizza!

Well, I've been a bit busy these past few days, but did end up making some homemade pizza tonight. By all means, the dough is great, and the toppings can be anything you like. I just needed to use up some leftover chicken, and had some homemade pesto hiding in the freezer. So, I came up with this.

The pizzas were served with a 2008 Fielding Pinot Gris - a great match for the chicken pizza....perhaps a cold beer would have been better for the spicy genoa salami pizza! Spiciness and wine don't match very well, unless it's a sweeter wine. I really enjoyed this wine, from one of our very favourite wineries in Niagara. This was a drier Pinot compared to past years, and it paired quite well.

Also, a couple of days ago, James and I were all set to make some mussels, and I was going to share a great way to serve them that I was taught by my dear friend and lab buddy, Andreea. However, the mussels were 'bad' and we had to throw them out! But, I will include the starter we had for that meal....which I also learned from Andreea. She's a glorious cook!

As for the flowers...I picked them up the other day....don't they just scream out 'summer'? :)

Kohlrabi & Roasted Asparagus Soup with Taramosalata & Cold Beef Tartines

1 bunch of kohlrabi, leaves removed, bulbs peeled and chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, or butter

1 bunch of asparagus, washed well (to remove sand), bottoms trimmed, and roasted in 350-400F oven for 10-15 min (add 1 tsp olive oil, salt & pepper to asparagus on sheet pan)

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth, or enough just to cover vegetables in pot

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tsp dried

1 bay leaf

kosher salt & pepper

In a large pot, add oil or butter over medium high heat. Add onion, and cook until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, bay leaf, and dried thyme (if using; if you are using fresh, add it when the soup is finished cooking). Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add kohlrabi, asparagus, and cover with broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer for about 20 minutes with lid on.

Remove bay leaf, and puree soup. Taste for seasoning, and add salt & pepper if needed. If using fresh thyme, add it now. Add some water if you like a looser consistency.

Serves 4 - 6

Taramosalata

1 heaping spoonful of carp caviar (Krinos brand)

1 small slice of white bread, crust removed

juice of half a lemon

sunflower or canola oil, about 1 - 1 1/2 cups

2-3 tbsp freshly minced white onion

Place caviar into a large, glass bowl. Soak white bread under running tap water, and squeeze out water. Add bread to caviar in bowl, ripping it up into very small pieces. Using a hand mixer, beat caviar and bread together to form a uniform paste. Very slowly, in a steady stream, begin to add oil. This is very similar to making a mayonnaise, so it is important to add the oil slowly in order to form a mayonnaise-style spread.

Continue to add oil while mixing with hand mixer. When mixture had increased in volume by about double or triple, add lemon juice and onion. Continue to mix well. Add more oil, and the contents will really begin to increase in volume and become 'fluffy' in texture. If mixture seems a bit 'tight' after adding more oil (following the lemon juice and onion addition), add a dribble of cold water to the mixture. This will cause the dip to 'balloon', and you can then add oil. You can do this several times (2-4) in order to achieve your desired texture and flavour.

Taste the dip, it should be plenty salty, but good flavour from the onion and tang from the lemon juice. It should resemble 'fluffy' mayonnaise, and be speckled pink from the roe.

Transfer to a container with a tight fitting lid, and let sit in fridge for about 1 hr to help integrate the flavours.

***I served the taramosalata on thinly sliced french baguette, with a slice of cold, leftover NY striploin from the other night (see 1st blog post for recipe). Drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of fleur de sel, and garnish of fresh thyme sprig.***

Smoked Chicken and Pesto Pizza

For the dough - makes enough for 3 - 12 inch pizzas (you can freeze whatever you don't use after the dough has risen)

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/4 cup warm water (40 C)

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp olive oil

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

In a medium bowl, add warm water and sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add yeast, let sit for 10 minutes for yeast to activate and grow.

Meanwhile, in a food processor (using a dough blade), or in a large bowl, add flour, salt & oil. Combine well. When yeast is ready, add to processor while running. Let run for about 1 minute to knead the dough. If you are not using a processor, add yeast to bowl, and incorporate well with hands. Turn out onto counter, and knead manually for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth.

Oil a large bowl with 1 tsp olive oil. Place dough into bowl and cover with damp towel or plastic wrap. Place in oven with light on for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400F

Roll out pizza and place onto a pizza pan or clay pizza stone.

Add pesto sauce onto the dough. Follow with cooked chicken, sliced bell pepper, sliced sweet onion, sun dried tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese.

Cook in oven for about 15 minutes, or until edges of crust and cheese is lightly browned.

Hot Genoa Salami and Golden Mushroom Pizza

Brush olive oil onto the dough after forming onto a pizza pan or stone. Add pizza sauce followed by a single, overlapping layer of hot genoa salami, sauteed mushrooms with garlic and butter, sliced sweet onion, mozzarella and aged gouda or gruyere cheese.

Follow cooking instructions above.