As Promised

I couldn't post the salad with the picture of that glorious pizza and not tell you about it. I was having a beverage with my bestie at our favorite bar/pizza joint, and although we weren't eating, the special that day was a similar pizza. It sounded somewhat interesting, but I'll admit slightly boring. However, I'm a sucker for anything goat cheese, so I thought it might be worth recreating.

What came out totally blew my mind. I don't think I've ever run across a bad recipe that included caramelized onions. Add the salty tang of goat cheese and... yes! Seriously, just make this. Have it with a salad or eat the entire pizza. That is not a decision I can make for you.

Billy Goat Pizza
sort of adapted from Brixx

1 pizza crust
2-4 tbsp. tomato sauce
4 oz. (at least) mozzarella
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 small or medium onion, slivered
1 - 2 tbsp. pine nuts, toasted
2 oz. (at least) goat cheese
parsley, to taste

Toast the pine nuts. I prefer to do this in a dry skillet on the stovetop. I find whenever I put them in the oven I inevitably burn the nuts. Add the olive oil to a pan on the stove. When hot, add the onions. Heat the onions on medium heat until softened and lightly golden brown.

Prepare your favorite pizza crust (which should obviously be this one). This worked perfectly on the grill, so if you use that method, grill one side of the pizza dough first. If not, proceed with topping as directed. When you are ready to top the pizza, add the tomato sauce to taste. Top with mozzarella and add the caramelized onions.

When we do this on the grill we cook the pizza for about 5 minutes and as it is coming off, complete the toppings. If you cook your pizza in the oven you may want to add the remaining topics with 3 - 5 minutes left. At that point, sprinkle on the goat cheese and toasted pine nuts. At the very end, sprinkle on a bit of parsley.

Freak out at the amazing combination!

A Bribe

I was given a copy of the Smitten Kitchen cookbook for Christmas by some wonderful friends as what I think amounts to a bribe. They've been asking for updates, and I am pretty sure that they thought if they gave me some new recipes I would HAVE to put them onto the blog.

Luckily they are pretty great (the friends and the recipes!), so here I am posting something after eight million years. It seems only fitting that I would post a Smitten Kitchen recipe from the new book. I have tried a number of things, and of course they have all been delicious.

I'll start out with a simple lettuce wedge we had for dinner one night with a homemade pizza. A wedge salad seems pretty simple, but one thing I have always loved about Smitten Kitchen is that she shares the same taste for certain textures and flavors as I do. As such, I loved the addition of radishes, and I loved the light dressing.

Stay tuned for an amazing pizza recipe to follow!

Iceberg Stack
semi-adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic (minced)
salt & pepper, to taste
4 oz. bacon, sliced
1 celery stalk
1/3 c. radishes, diced
1 head iceberg lettuce, sliced into 1-inch rounds
1/2 c. blue cheese
1/4 c. chives, chopped

This salad can be served either as a traditional "wedge" or sliced into rounds, which allows the goodies and dressing to drip down in between all the lettuce leaves instead of cascading over the top.

Fry the bacon in a pan until crisp. Drain it and crumble the bacon. In the meantime, make the dressing. Whisk together the buttermilk, mayonnaise or yogurt, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Place your largest round onto a plate and add radishes, celery, bacon crumbles, and blue cheese. Drizzle with dressing and top with blue cheese. Stack another round on top and again add the radishes, celery, bacon, and blue cheese. Top off with dressing and chives.

Relish in the glory of a simple iceberg salad! (Also, don't forget to enjoy with pizza!)