Leek Collard Pizza
Yancey and I got a pizza stone for a wedding present 14 years (!!) ago. Yes, we got married when we were 12. I don't remember who we got it from or why we had the foresight to think we'd need one, but we've been using it since our starry-eyed newlywed days. I remember our first apartment--a daylight basement in Ballard. He'd come home from his job as a server at Stella's Trattoria in the U District (no longer there, sadly) and me from my job as a barista at the Ballard Starbucks. We'd preheat the stone in the cheap oven and start experimenting. Our roles have always been thus: I come up with and prep the ingredients, and he assembles and cooks them. He made a pizza peel from a plywood scrap that we've been using for years.
Wyatt and I had a little date today while Loretta was sleeping and Yancey was studying. We went grocery shopping together. It wasn't the movies-popcorn date of his dreams, but I told him he could get some Cheetos if he came. I am not above bribing my children with junk food. We had a great time together. We hardly ever get to be together without his pesky (albeit cute) little sister.
Our first stop was MacPhersons produce, which I have already mentioned here several times. We loaded up on fruits and veggies. Leeks, collard greens, and (oh no!) more mint! were among them. That's what inspired this pizza.
My friend Sue joked recently that I don't have a problem tooting my own horn. For better or worse, I am definitely going to toot it now and say this pizza made it into the MK Top Five Pizza Hall of Fame. And Yancey's a tough customer.
We've tried many, many crust recipes over the years and never been wild about any of them UNTIL my trusty Gourmet Cookbook came along 3 or 4 years ago. The secret is not the ingredients (how creative can you get?) but in the fact that this dough is not punched down at all. Home ovens just aren't super-powered enough to need that step, and this recipe is the only one I've seen that knows that. Once the dough has risen (only once), you just work with it in its bloated state. Pizza dough is E-A-S-Y to make, but I won't try to convince you of that. I understand the Great Fear of Yeast. If you don't want to take that plunge tonight, you can buy a Boboli crust or some Trader Joe's dough or that great pita I mentioned last week. Unless the crust is First Rate Horrible, it won't matter once you taste this topping. Oh yeah--we made the kids a pepperoni pizza. That photo wasn't quite as tantalizing (though I love pepperoni pizza, I did not touch it tonight).
P.S. I happened to grill a bunch of poblano peppers today just because they looked so luscious at MacPhersons. So of course I added one to this pizza topping. I realize that not everyone in the world chooses to ignore their children while grilling peppers on a Sunday afternoon. They were totally delicious, but you are forgiven if you leave them out.
Best Pizza Dough Ever
(from The Gourmet Cookbook--makes one crust. I always double it, at least. If doubling, put each round into a separate bowl.)
1 (1/4 oz.) package (2 1/4 ts.) active dry yeast
About 1 3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and dredging
3/4 c. warm water
1 1/2 ts. salt
1 1/2 ts. olive oil
Stir together yeast, 1 Tb. flour, and 1/4 c. warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until surface appears creamy, about 5 minutes.
Stir together 1 1/4 c. flour and salt in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture, oil, and remaining 1/2 cup warm water and stir until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour (about 1/2 cup) so dough comes away from sides of bowl. (The dough will be wetter than other pizza doughs you may have made.)
Knead dough on a dry suface with lightly floured hands until smooth soft, and elastic. Put into a bowl, dust with flour, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about an hour and 15 minutes.
TO SHAPE THE DOUGH FOR BAKING: Do not punch down dough. Carefully dredge dough in a bowl of flour to coat and transfer to dry work surface. Holding one edge of dough in the air with both hands and letting bottom touch work surface, carefully move hands around edge of dough (like turning a steering wheel), allowing weight of dough to stretch round to roughly 10 inches.
Lay dough flat on a lightly floured pizza peel and continue to work edges with fingers, stretching it into a 14-inch round.
VERY IMPORTANT: Turn your oven to 500 degrees and put your pizza stone in it ONE HOUR before you plan to eat. That's the secret. If you're using a pre-baked crust, it's still helpful to preheat your oven for a good 15 minutes.
Leek Collard Topping
3 or 4 medium leeks, tough dark green tops cut off, and white/light green parts cut into rings. Cut first, then wash very well. Leek are notoriously dirty.
3 cups collard greens, de-ribbed, washed, and finely shredded (or kale or swiss chard)
1 large garlic clove, minced
salt
pepper
olive oil
1 roasted poblano pepper, peeled and coarsely chopped (technique for that later)
squeeze of lemon juice
1 1/2 c. Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 large ball fresh mozarella, sliced
2 Tb. finely chopped mint
In a large skillet, pour a couple good glugs of olive oil and heat on medium-high. Add leeks, collard greens, garlic, salt, and pepper and saute for 15-20 minutes until soft. Add poblano. Squeeze lemon in at the end and let cool a bit.
To assemble the pizza: Put your pizza crust on a floured pizza peel. Brush it with a bit of olive oil. Line with Gruyere, then add the leek mixture. Top with the fresh mozzarella. Slide onto the hot stone and bake at 500 for about 10 minutes until it's bubbling and bottom of crust is golden.
Scatter fresh mint over the top and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.
April 26, 2009
Reader Comments (12)
Have you every tried the pizza dough from Borracchini's? Great stuff, and good for those of us who don't want to play with yeast.
Yes, Priya! Thank you for mentioning that. Borracchini's has great pizza dough. I've used it several times.
we just finished an incredible meal of "fear-not salmon" + broccoli. YUM!! i have always been nervous about fish + by following your directions, it was perfect!
can't wait to try this pizza!
j.
sounds so delicious...i even have some collards and leeks in my garden. so, this may be on the menu for the week. i made your barley salad (with just a few substitutions due to my pantry being low on essentials) and it was DELICIOUS!!! one recipient, who doesn't like kale, had two plates of it and forced me to swear i wouldn't tell his wife he ate kale and liked it! :) you've done it yet again sarah.
I can attest the deliciousness of Bethany's salad. Yum. Daphne finished her whole helping while showing off her strong kale muscles.
so, i just used your leek/collard inspiration and tossed the greens with pasta tossed with feta and served over mixed greens with grilled chicken and that dressing from the 'blasted broccoli bowl.' may sound like too many things going on, but it was yummy. after looking at all that green on my plate i decided to add some halved grape tomatoes...to add a splash of color. mind you, i just used what i happened to have in my fridge...no grocery shopping for me today with 3 kids on my hands. oh my, i am turning into a leftoverist! yeah! so great talking to you today and i plan to journal my daily food starting...tomorrow!!
great! we've been using yancey's pizza dough recipe from 10 years ago. so happy to try to new and improved version!
Yes, your pizza dough is fabulous and easy. Have used your recipe many times. Even without a pizza stone...and it is still tasty! I have a confession. I couldn't think of what to make for dinner + didn't feel like figuring anything out...even with your unending food wisdom here...so I bought a Safeway pizza. I can't say "don't tell anyone" because I just told all of you...I will say that the ease of no dishes and no cooking was worth it...even though I KNEW I could make a much better and cheaper one from scratch. Guess that's the difference between foodies & me!
Better late than never, right?
Ok, so first off, we didn't do anything in this recipe except follow The Leftoverist™ advice to clear out the fridge. I bought the dough from Borracchini's some weeks ago, and today I pulled it out. I forgot that it not only needs to defrost but should be left somewhere warm for some time. As such, the dough wasn't particularly workable, but we made due.
We took the two rounds and I fashioned them into 4 small pizzas.
On top we added what few veggies we had left in the fridge: one onion and a nearly dead red pepper. We sauteed those together for some long bit of time until the onions were really caramelized and lovely.
We don't have a pizza stone, a cookie sheet, or a regular-sized oven. So we preheated the oven to as high as it could go and pre-baked our crusts for 4-5 minutes.
We then topped it with the onion, pepper mixture, goat cheese, potato (nuked and then sliced), salt and pepper. It was rather dry (it's the first pizza I've made in at least 7 years) so I topped it with our best-est extra virgin olive oil at the end. Still a little dry, but quite tasty nonetheless.
What I love about this blog is the perspective on food, both practically and emotionally. You help me think about what I do have on hand and making something from nothing. I love that. This has happened several times this week, feeling a bit in despair, and yet we have had an abundance of great flavors and combinations that we hadn't ever created before.
It's easy to get into a groove with the same ten ingredients over and over again. It's rejuvenated my outlook on ingredients, incorporating a single potato and pepper and onion into something quite tasty.
Love this story! And your pizza sounds delicious. Ha ha on the "TM, " by the way.
Sarah- Finally tried the pizza dough and it was fantastic! We got a pizza stone and peel for our 10th anniversary and I am so excited to keep at it! Also made my first galette this week and it was delicous! Thank you! P.S....been meaning to tell you that I have a baking sheet of yours...
Needed a recipe for my CSA share this week that happens to contain leeks and collards,love the pizza idea.
Thanks