NOVEMBER 8TH, 2008
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This weekend’s culinary adventure was a cooking party with a secret ingredient. Twenty-four hours before the party began, our host reveled we were to battle for the palate with carrots. Fall icicles of sweetness (too much? But so true!) in dizzying orange, white and purple, the carrots from our garden could have made any recipe amazing. One friend was making sweet potato carrot cake; another took the Bond/bunny route and mixed up carrot martinis (–as you drank them, your double vision got better). As for me, by the seat of my pants, I made a Carrot Pizza. For the dubious and the brave alike, here’s how it goes—–
–——-Topping——
To make the topping, I tossed diced carrots and hakuri turnips in butter, diced about 2 tablespoons of parsley, sage, oregano, and garlic chives; crumbled goat cheese feta atop it all, and drizzled salt, pepper, and honey sparingly on top. Carrots can be made sweet, spicy or savory with great ease. I wanted them soft enough to be a flavor, not a strange crunchy texture, so that I could use them as a backdrop to a canvas of salty cheese, sweet honey and cornmeal crust, and savory herbs. The turnips matched, without overshadowing, their flavor, and bulked up the slice. If I could have added anything else, I would have buttered up some onions, too.
——-Pizza Crust——
In a cup of warm water, mix 1 package of yeast. Stir; let sit for ten minutes. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup white flour, 2 cups whole wheat flour, and a dash of salt and sugar. Combine yeasty water, flour, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Form a ball of dough. Grease a fresh bowl with olive oil, place dough inside, cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Knead the dough until elastic. With floured hands, work the dough into a pizza pie (or square, as you like it). When pizza crust is laid out, spread olive oil lightly and add your toppings.On a baking dish dusted with cornmeal, bake at 400*F for 15 minutes.