Figgy Piggy Pizza

I'm just popping in to say hi. This week is a crazy one as we are wrapping up our lives here in California and preparing to make our annual summer trek eastward. No, we are not driving again...that was a one-time deal. But there is still a heck of a lot of preparation involved. Whew.

So I'm spending my week packing and going to each and every play, recital, choir show, meeting, team party, class party that I can, all the while trying to get my house (and pantry) ready for my sister's arrival. She has graciously agreed to take care of this place (and my doggy) while we are gone, and I don't want her to find out how big a slob I actually am.

Things are going fairly well, except for that I think that each and every one of my heirloom tomato plants is suffering from early blight. Does this mean the end for them? Does anyone know what to do about this? Help! I guess I just need to add this to the list of things to do....

I will say, that despite the craziness of that last few weeks, I have managed to get dinner on the table occasionally, and we have all taken comfort in our Friday ritual--pizza. Last week, I was invited as a fundraiser to teach a group of moms how to prepare six different kinds of gourmet pizzas. We had a blast (and quite honestly I can't believe I pulled it off). This fig and goat cheese pie was one of the recipes I shared with them, and it's one of my absolute favorites. The sweetness of the fig jam is a perfect foil to the tartness of the goat cheese, the sharp bite of the arugula and the saltiness of the prosciutto. I love it also, because it's a complete meal...pizza and salad in one!

It was the last pizza I baked for them, and everyone was stuffed...but there's always room for one more slice, yes?

Fig Pizza with Goat Cheese, Prosciutto and Arugula

Printable Recipe

This is one of our favorite grown-up pizzas. The creamy goat cheese, spicy arugula and salty prosciutto pair perfectly with the sweet fig jam.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Yield: serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 pound of fresh pizza dough

1 (8.5 ounce) jar of Dalmatia Fig Spread (found at Whole Foods) or other similar product

1 (5 ounce) log of goat cheese

1 (7 ounce) ball of mozzarella, sliced

1 (3 ounce) package of sliced prosciutto

1/2 (5 ounce) bag of arugula

Olive oil, for drizzling

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees one hour before you plan to bake the pizza if you have a pizza stone (which should be on the bottom rack of the oven). If you don't have a pizza stone, just heat it right before you bake the pizza.

2. Carefully stretch or roll the dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. If the dough seems tight, let it rest for 5 minutes, then try stretching it again. Cover with a clean cloth and set aside for 10 minutes.

3. If you're cooking the pizza on a pan, lightly flour it and place dough in the pan at this time. If you are using a pizza peel, lightly flour the peel and set the dough on top of it now.

4. Spread the contents of the jar of fig spread evenly over the dough, leaving a one-inch border. Crumble the goat cheese over the spread. Place the slices of mozzarella evenly over the fig spread and goat cheese.

5. If using a peel, carefully shake the pizza back and forth over the peel to make sure it will easily slide into the oven. If it seems stuck, carefully lift the edge in a few places and blow some flour under it. Carefully shake it again. It should slide easily. If not, repeat with the flour. Slide the pizza into the oven directly on top of the stone. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is crisp and blistered. (If you're using a pan, just place the pan on top of the pizza stone).

6. Meanwhile, as the pizza bakes, toss the arugula with a couple of splashes of olive oil. Remove the pizza from the oven, top with prosciutto slices and arugula, slice into 8 slices and serve immediately.

Tomato Time!

When we got home, not only were we greeted with a whopper of a zucchini, but also 7 tomato plants that were bursting with gorgeous tomatoes. Home-grown tomatoes are a bit like crack. One bite is simply not enough....nor is one tomato. I have a tendency to overdo it when it comes to tomatoes and often the roof of my mouth ends up raw and peeling from all the acid. But so much pleasure comes from the pain.

If there is a better way to use up fresh tomatoes than this incredibly simple salad, I haven't found it. It's kind of like a Caprese salad, but so much more. The light vinaigrette combined with the tomato juices makes it explode with flavor. And the cheese...well, the cheese is just divine. If you add in some olive oil and garlic-rubbed, grilled sourdough bread, it would be a complete meal in and of itself. We had it for dinner two nights in a row. Quiet honestly, I could probably eat this every day until the end of time....





Jamie Oliver's Awesome Tomato Salad

This recipe is so easy to make, and so easy to eat. For a lovely, rustic look use all different kinds of heirloom tomatoes, some sliced, some quartered or halved.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes
Yield: serves 4 (or two piggies like us)

Ingredients:

2 pounds of mixed heirloom tomatoes
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup best extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 clove of garlic, grated
pinch of dried oregano
1 ball or log of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 teaspoon of fresh spicy red or green chile (seeded and de-veined)
sea salt and pepper, to taste
handful of basil leaves, torn into smallish pieces

Preparation:

1. Cut the tomatoes into halves, quarters or slices, depending on the size and place in a colander over a bowl. Sprinkle with sea salt and toss with your hands. Let drain for 15 minutes to concentrate the tomato flavors.

2. Meanwhile whisk the olive oil, vinegar, garlic and oregano in a small bowl.

3. Slice the mozzarella and place on one side of a medium platter. Arrange the tomatoes next to the cheese. Drizzle the cheese and tomatoes with the dressing and sprinkle salt and pepper over the cheese. Sprinkle the minced chile and the torn basil over the top of the platter and serve immediately.

Pizza Margarita

This is perhaps the most simple and most delicious of all the pizzas I make. Just tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, this pizza is pure and uncomplicated, and was a special request by my ever-so-patient husband (who is willing to taste all my experimental pizzas).

Pizza Margarita

Preheat oven to 500° for one hour, with pizza stone in the oven.

Stretch out one recipe of pizza dough (on floured parchment paper) and spread with freshly sliced tomatoes (or tomato sauce of your choice), slices of fresh mozzarella (home made, of course), and slivers of fresh basil (use it up before the first frost!). Drizzle with olive oil. Slide the whole lot (parchment paper and all) onto a hot pizza stone and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust is as crisp as you'd like. Drizzle with more olive oil and slice and serve.

The Big Cheese

OK...I know that I have asked a lot of you lately; making pasta from scratch, making your own pumpkin puree and making your own bread. And I know that this may way over the top, and that some of you are going to think that I am totally crazy, but...I make my own cheese. Although it sounds impressive, it is really not. It is quite simple actually. I started making my own cheese after reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which details her life over the course of one year of eating locally. She and her family have pizza every Friday, like my family does. And so she took a weekend course on cheese making by Rikki Carroll (of New England Cheese Supply, where you can order all your cheese making ingredients), and began to make her own mozzarella cheese at home, with just a few simple necessities.

It takes about 30 minutes to make cheese from scratch. All you need is a gallon of whole, organic milk (NOT ultra-pasturized), some rennet (which I found at Whole Foods) and some citric acid (the same sour salt that is used on sour candies...I found it at another health store), a large pot and a thermometer and you are ready to go. Part science lab, part chef, your family (and you) will be so impressed with this new skill that you might just have to throw a party to show it off...after all, who makes their own cheese?

The recipe is simple (mozzarella recipe); heat a gallon of milk until it is 55 degrees, add 1 1/2 t of citric acid dissolved in 1/4 C water. When the temperature reaches 88 degrees, add 1/4 t liquid rennet dissolved in 1/4 C water. When the milk reaches 100 degrees, it will be thickly curdled and pulling away from the sides of the pot.

The whey will be clear. Scoop out the curds into a microwaveable bowl and squeeze out excess whey. Microwave for 35 seconds and squeeze and repeat. Eventually you will have a pliable, stretchy mass of cheese that is ready to be salted and shaped.

It is so simple and so delicious.

The first time I made my own cheese, I held the two balls of fresh mozzarella in my hands and cried. It may not be quite an emotional experience for you as it was for me, but it is so fun, and so rewarding that I hope you all will try, at least once, to make your very own cheese.