The comeback kid

So I mentioned how I haven’t cooked a proper meal (or even an egg) in about a month. Not to mention the last time I really made something and wrote about it on here, I think I was having a bad cooking day. Well, last night last Tuesday I came back and I came back strong. Inspired by one of my fave girl crushes, Deb, of Smitten Kitchen, I used her latest pizza recipe, added a salad, a couple sage suggestions from my big sis, and came out with the most delectable pizza I have eaten in a long time.



A simple, straightforward pizza that skips the traditional cheese and sauce and instead layers thinly sliced veggies on lemony goat cheese and chopped fresh basil. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I am strongly pro-goat cheese and even more strongly (guh, my grammar) pro-pizza.



I made this last night and I am already plotting on how to use the extra dough in my freezer for a second round. Should I stick with the tomatoes and summer squash? Wait a tick, I just had a thought: peppadew peppers. Have you experienced these little nuggets of taste sensation lately? Holy crow. Go get some. They are hot and sweet and the spelling of their name is so adorable. I just want to shuck them under the chin and give ‘em a quarter for mowing my lawn. Peppadews were recently brought back to my attention when I had a pizza at Serious Pie in Seattle with peppadews and fennel sausage. Next time I make this pizza I’m going to make the goat cheese base and then top the mo fo with caramelized onions and chopped peppadews. My mind just EXPLODED.

Whoa, sorry about getting distracted there for a second, but really, amped is not the word for how I feel about this pizza. Sometimes when you make a store bought pizza dough without the fancy aids of pizza stones or gas grills, it ends up heavy and gluey and not feeling like a light meal. The combination on this pizza though, of the lemon spiked goat cheese, the fresh veggies and herbs is so simple and perfect it just ends up amazing.



I ate a leftover cold slice for lunch and seriously almost pulled a muscle patting myself on the back. So easy. We had this with arugula, red onion, goat cheese and crumbled fried prosciutto in a sherry vinaigrette. Hello kitchen. It’s good to be back.

Since you can find the recipe for this pizza on the interweb here, I will give you the recipe for my salad. It was a bold one and so pretty.



BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL SUMMA SALAD

Three slices prosciutto, crisped in a pan with a little olive oil
1-2 tbs. goat cheese
Bunch arugula, washed and dried
¼ purple onion, diced
½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved

LEMON SHERRY VINAIGRETTE
1 part sherry vinegar
2 parts extra virgin olive oil
1 squeeze fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt, pepper
Pinch sugar

Crisp your prosciutto slices in a sauté pan over medium high heat, using just enough oil so that they don't stick (you won't need much). Once they have crisped up enough to be stiff, drain excess grease off on a paper towel and then crumble them into bits. Meanwhile, prepare vinaigrette. I like to combine all the ingredients in a glass jar, throw the lid on and shake aggressively. Emulsifies like nobody’s bidness. Toss prosciutto crumbles and remainder of salad ingredients in salad bowl, drizzle of the vinaigrette. Toss well to incorporate the goat cheese, it nicely mellows out the sharpness of the arugula.