Pizza

Here’s what I’d do for a veggie pizza and not.

You know my pizza dough recipe, right? I’ll assume you’re cooking for two. Please try to find a local Italian market for OO flour. It’s a dream to work with.

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup OO flour or unbleached white flour, plus more for rolling out

1/2 tsp. salt (I use kosher salt)

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 Tbsp yeast

1 tsp of your “bench flour”

pinch of sugar

In a measuring cup place your tepid water, teaspoon flour, pinch of sugar and yeast and let bloom. I like to add about a teaspoon of good olive oil.

In a food processor (I’m giving you the quick method, not the hands-on one or stand mixer version) with the steel blade place the flour and salt and mix.

Stir the yeast mixture and pour it in, not all at once. It all depends on temperature and mostly humidity. I usually have to add more water until it forms a non-sticky ball. 20 times around. Off. Go take the dog for a quick pee and come back. 25 times around, take out to a floured board or clean countertop and knead and make into a ball. Place into a bowl with a wet towel on top.

I place it in the microwave so it is not disturbed my me, the dog, air and mostly because it is off the counter. Do NOT turn on the microwave. Set your timer for 90 minutes. Take it out to a floured board or counter and knead again, make into a ball and place the bowl it was in over it, turned upside down of course, for 20 minutes. Roll out and you’re good to go.

For this pizza, my husband is not vegetarian but there were only a few tiny crust crumbs left. The OO flour gives this dough nearly the texture of a deep dish pizza crust without all the fat!

1/2 butternut squash, roasted 45 minutes to 1 hour, until soft, seasoned with S/P, and olive oil, face down on a baking sheet. May as well cook the whole thing and save half for later. Take it out of the skin and mash it. I added a bit of ancho chili powder to it for a nice kick.

That was your first layer. Next is 2-4 oz. of a good drier Mozzarella cheese, grated.

Then I sauteed some cavolo nero, also called Black Kale or Dinosaur Kale because of the leaf texture. The kids will love it. Add garlic if you like. That’s the next layer.

Crumbled feta cheese was the final layer, with a grind of fresh black pepper. I would love to cook my pizza in a wood-fired oven or at least 450 degree home oven but if I put my oven over 400 smoke alarms go off, not because the oven is dirty but the heat and design of our home makes it impossible to cook at a higher temperature.

Cook five minutes, turn around for another five. Take it out (potholders, kids) and place on a sturdy trivet for 3-5 minutes. Slide onto a cutting board, get out your pizza roller and cut it any way you want. Mangia bene! Thank you Epicurious for this idea!

Oh, for meat lovers, for the last two minutes in the oven add about four slices of (imported) proscuitto on top. If you don’t want to have a salad with it, add a few handfuls of baby arugula after you take it out of the oven. First, toss the greens with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper, sprinkle over pizza then serve. Enjoy, dear reader. Dee