tarts and pizza
Vincent and his “lait ribot” – Wild mushrooms, rutabagas quiche with farmer’s cheese and buttermilk
Mar 4th
Vincent et son lait Ribot – Quiche aux champignons sauvages, rutabagas, fromage frais et lait ribot
I made this post, essentially for Vincent (oui rien que pour toi!), our dear friend from Bretagne (Brittany) and originally from a small town of Malestroit who introduced me to lait ribot very recently. I had no idea what lait ribot was before that night. He was making something très Breton, like crunchy buckwheat galettes soaked in lait ribot, and I was so skeptical and curious at the same time. I thought “Lait quoi??” “lait ribot? c’est quoi ca?” (lait ribot, what’s that?). He said, “c’est breton, en Bretagne ca se mange comme ca”. So let’s eat it the Breton way!
When I tasted it, I loved it. It was love at first bite! Lait Ribot is a specialty milk from Bretagne, that’s why I never heard of it (in France, outside of Bretagne, it’s almost impossible to find) and is wildly used there to make crêpes, galettes and so many other dishes but it’s also consumed as a refreshing drink. It’s basically a fermented milk that you get after the fabrication of the butter (in French you can also call it petit lait, or babeurre, literally meaning beating the butter, or beated milk) and its consumption is retraced back to the Gauls! Every country has its own version of fermented milk, and in the US it’s called buttermilk.
If it was not for Vincent, I would not have bought buttermilk…so I owe him this one.
Call me ignorant but I had no idea lait Ribot was similar to buttermilk. I had no idea about the existence of lait ribot, and I had no idea what buttermilk was either. So pardon my ignorance…Usually when I see the word “butter” on a bottle, I don’t bother. I stay away from butter.
After drinking lait ribot and thinking about its use, I decided to try it in a quiche and substitute it to cream which would probably make the quiche less rich and of course lighter.
I made an olive oil wholewheat crust instead of a traditional pâte brisée which gave the quiche a wholesome and hearty flavor and texture. I usually love root vegetables with wild mushrooms, they complement each other very well.
The farmer’s cheese comes from my Greek grocery store, Taki the owner sells the most unique and unexpected products, this cheese looks similar to ricotta but is not salty, more tangy and lighter in calories. So needless to say that this quiche is very light…and so delicious! Ils sont forts ces bretons!
MERCI VINCENT!
Ingredients for 6 people
For the crust
- 4.23 oz (or 110 g) wholewheat flour
- water
- 4 tbs olive oil
- salt
For the filling
- 1 large shallot, chopped
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 lb mixed wild mushrooms such as chanterelles, shiitake, oyster’s mushrooms, etc…
- 4 medium size rutabagas
- 5 large tbs farmer’s cheese (or ricotta)
- 1 tbs mixed herbs (chives, parsley, thyme, etc…)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 eggs
- 1 2/3 cups buttermilk
- 3 tbs Gruyère cheese, grated
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the crust
Place flour in a mixing container, add olive oil, water and salt and mix to form an homogeneous dough. Add enough water to allow the dough to form a ball, non sticky and smooth.
For the filling
Wash rutabagas and peel them. Boil them in water until tender. Cut in 8 mm slices crosswise. Set aside.
Clean and wash the mushrooms, Cut them in medium size pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook until the water evaporates. Set aside.
In a bowl, mix farmer’s cheese with herbs, salt and pepper using a fork.
Roll the dough and place in a non stick round tart pan. Spread the cheese mixture on the bottom. Add a layer of rutabagas on top of the cheese, then mushrooms.
In another mixing container, beat eggs and buttermilk, salt and pepper. Pour on top of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with gruyère cheese and cook in the oven for about 35-40 min at 370F or until the top is golden. Serve hot with an endive salad.
When you have too much dough – Mini quiches with zucchini, olives, feta and mint, wholewheat crust with herbes de Provence
Jul 29th
Quand on a des restes de pâte – Mini quiches aux courgettes, olives, feta et menthe, pâte brisée complète aux herbes de Provence
I made a large quiche just like those mini ones for a dinner party, and I had leftover dough…which I did not want to throw away. Why throw away food that you enjoyed making and put time into it? I love to play with crusts, quiches and tarts, after all, they’re the basics of French cuisine. For savory tarts, I love to use olive oil instead of butter in the crust, and make it wholesome. Olive oil adds a wonderful flavor to crusts and cakes and make them lighter. Of course traditional French cuisine uses more butter, but this blog is not about traditional French food.
I love the combination of zucchini, feta and mint, they pair so well in almost anything such as in savory cakes, flans, couscous, etc…The crust and its herbes de Provence flavor, gives you a kick of Southern French cuisine, with all its aromas, and fragrant scents. Yes indeed, these quiches will bring some warmth and will brighten your day, as Southern French food does, it’s filled with flavors, colors and freshness…so isn’t this a bit of happiness too?
I am one of those crazy people that get affected by the weather, and a bright day with natural light gives me so much happiness. If I could chose the perfect weather it would be a sunny day with 80F temperature, with a light breeze. If anyone of you live in that particular climate, please let me know and I will just move there!
(no humidity please). There is a French expression that most old people would respond to when asked, comment allez-vous? “How are you doing?” most of them respond, oh comme le temps!, meaning “like the weather”, which really can show you how much the French are truly “doing” like the weather! so if it’s raining, you can just imagine how they’re doing! Ask no more…
Ingredients for 4 mini quiches
For the crust
- 4.4 oz (or 125 g) wholewheat flour
- 1.69 fl oz (or 50 ml) olive oil
- 1 tsp herbes de Provence
- water
- a pinch of salt
For the filling
- 2 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
- 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced with a mandoline
- 2 tbs feta, crumbled
- 1 tbs mint, chiffonade
- 2 eggs
- 4 tbs heavy cream
- 4 tbs milk
- cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the crust
Place flour in a mixing bowl, then add herbes de Provence, salt, oil, and start mixing, add water gradually enough to make the dough elastic and not crumbly. Mix well to form a ball. Wrap in a plastic film and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Divide dough in four parts and using a rolling pin, roll into 4 round sheets. Lay flat inside four tart molds.
For the filling
Place sliced zucchini in a bowl and sprinkle with coarse salt, mix well to coat. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Rinse under cold water, squeeze extra water using your hands and pat dry using a paper towel. Cut roughly.
Place olives on top of crust. Mix zucchini, feta and mint and put mixture on top of olives.
Beat eggs with cream and milk, a little salt (not too much since the feta is salty and the zucchini have absorbed some salt too), and cayenne pepper. Pour on top of zucchini mixture.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 20-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the crust is cooked on the bottom.
A quiche unlike others – Cauliflower-camembert quiche with chili-poppy seed crust
Jun 30th
Une quiche pas comme les autres – Quiche de chou fleur au camembert et pâte aux graines de pavot-piment
A good friend of mine just had surgery on her foot, and is staying at home recovering, so when I asked her if she wanted me to bring her something, she responded “a vegetable quiche”! So here we are…The worse thing about foot surgery is that you are stuck in bed or walking with crutches, and there is not much activity you can do…so I made the quiche ready to bring it to her, then one of those unexpected things happened, I had to take my car to the garage, so the quiche had to stay with me.
I love to flavor my crusts and doughs, it adds a lovely flavor and character to the dish…you can use anything you like to flavor the crust, herbes de provence, parmesan, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, etc…in this particular one, I added poppy seeds and chili flakes, and really makes a great balance with the quiche filling. I used olive oil instead of the traditional French pâte brisée made with butter, and a mixture of wholesome flours such as kamut and spelt which gives this crust its beautiful dark color. Also, traditional quiche has crème fraîche, I added milk instead, if you want to keep it a little lighter milk can be substituted or a mixture of milk and cream will be a nice alternative.
Now what more French than camembert? not many things…It’s hard to find great camembert in the US, you know the one that’s not too “fait” (too hard) or too “coulant” (runny) with a subtle scent. I found one at Whole Foods that was being recommended by the gentleman behind the counter, so I decided to listen for once to what people tell me…and the camembert was perfect, juste comme il faut! So we ended up with a healthy quiche filled with vegetables and a wholesome and flavorful crust.
Ingredients for about 4 people
For the crust
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
- 1/2 cup kamut flour
- 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tbs poppy seeds
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- a few pinches of salt
For the filling
- 1 small green cauliflower
- 1/2 camembert, sliced
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk (or 1/3 cup milk and 1/3 cup cream)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the crust
In a mixing container, mix all flours together. Add poppy seeds, chili and salt. Add olive oil and water gradually and start kneading the dough. Stop kneading when the dough becomes homogeneous and smooth. Wrap in a plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
For the filling
Break cauliflower into florets, and cook them in salted boiling water until cauliflower is cooked but still firm. Drain and crush with a fork. Set aside.
In a mixing container, beat eggs, milk (or cream) cumin seeds, salt and pepper.
To make quiche, roll dough into a sheet of 2-3 mm thick. Place in mold. Spread evenly crushed cauliflower in bottom of mold. Top it with camembert slices. Pour egg mixture on top.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370-375F until the dough is cooked and top is golden brown.
I like it upside down -Tart tatin with artichokes, caramelized onions and manchego cheese
May 14th
Je l’aime à l’envers – Tarte tatin aux artichauts, oignons caramélisés, et manchego
Who said tarte tatin is made with apples and is a dessert? Even though tarte tatin IS a traditional French dessert made with apples (most French restaurants do serve it on their menu with a scoop of vanille ice cream), we have tons of savory versions as well. Traditional tarte tatin comes from Sologne region where Caroline Tatin and a few nuns owned a restaurant in early 1900 (which still exists and is still called Restaurant Tatin). Their main clients were hunters, and a Sunday during hunting season while making an apple-based dessert, Caroline let the dessert burn, so she had the wonderful idea to add some extra dough and put it back in the oven…needless to say that was a huge success among hunters, and since then became a famous dessert. Out of a mistake, came out a wonderful dessert!
Basically tarte tatin is an upside down tart, now of course, you can play around with its ingredients and the savory versions are really a wonderful alternative to regular tarts.
The toppings and in this case, the artichokes are caramelized due to the juices of the ingredients falling down on the bottom of the dish. For the puff pastry, you can either make it, or buy sheets. I found some decent puff pastry that is not too greasy and remains fluffy and crunchy, so if you have time (about extra 2 hours) and have well mastered the art of puff pastry making, you can make it. In my case, it really depends on the time I have. Today I had little time to make it, so hello Whole Foods. The ingredients for the crust are for about 2 tarts, usually when I make puff pastry, I keep extra and use it when I have lots of guests.
For the ingredients you can use your imagination, this combination is well balanced and delivers a nice harmony of flavors. The sweetness of the onions allied with manchego and artichokes texture make it a delicious tart.
Ingredients for 3-4
For the puff pastry
- 8.8 oz (or 250 g) flour
- 6.5 oz (or 185 g) butter
- 4.4 oz (or 125 g) water
- 0.17 oz (or 5 g) salt
For the toppings
- 3-4 medium size artichokes
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 3 tbs dry white wine
- 2 onions, sliced
- manchego cheese, sliced (enough to cover the surface of your dish)
- 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the puff pastry
In a working surface, place flour in the middle, add salt, then add water gradually, mixing with the flour to form a ball. Cross top of the ball with a knife and place in a plastic wrap to rest for about 30 minutes. Remove wrap and lay in a flat surface, spread it out with your hands to form a cross shape dough. With a rolling pin roll it flat and place soft butter in the middle. Bring sides of the dough towards the middle and flatten out with rolling pin. Fold again using same procedure about 6 times. Place in the refrigerator for 30-45 min after the second round and again after the fourth round.
For the tart
Start trimming the artichokes. Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic, stir and add artichokes. Add wine, salt and pepper and cover with a lid, cook at medium heat until the artichokes are tender. Remove from pan and set aside.
In the same pan, heat olive oil, add onions. Cook at medium heat and let them caramelized. It will take about 15-20 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar, and let it reduce for about 1 minute. Add thyme, salt and pepper.
In a deep dish pan, place artichokes in the bottom to cover the surface of the pan. Add onions, then add manchego covering the surface of the onions.
Roll the puff pastry and place it on top of the ingredients. There will need extra pastry about 2 inches extra (your sheet will be 2 inches larger than the dish, the puff pastry tends to shrink while cooking). Make sure your ingredients are holding into place and using your hand firmly press on the puff pastry.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370-375F until the top of the puff pastry is nicely golden. Remove from the oven and turn upside down using a plate and serve immediately.
A sunny day – Mini pizza with red bell pepper pesto, grilled eggplants, artichokes and feta
Apr 25th
Una giornata soleggiata – Pizzette con pesto di peperoni, melanzane grigliate, carciofi e feta
If life leaves you pizza dough, make more pizza!!
I love mini sizes portions, and bites, I think there is some cuteness in the size of a small bite, you don’t have to cut it, destroy it in from of your eyes before it reaches your mouth. It fits there perfectly.
As far as pizza and coffee are concerned, I tend to be a real snob and compare all pizza to pizza in Italy, after all they invented it, so throughout the centuries, they have mastered the art of pizza making. There are a few good pizzeria in San Francisco where the pizza is close to Italian pizza (France has awful pizza, I remember a pizzeria in Nancy where I grew up called La Mamma, where they served pizza with gruyère cheese, that was terrible). I have no idea if the greatness of Italian pizza has to do with the brick oven where it’s cooked, with the natural flavor of the ingredients that is different, but it’s something hard to describe, the dough is thin and crunchy, there is little cheese and the cheese melts to perfection and does not hardens that quickly.
I am not going to discuss the perfect dough texture, or flavor, nor give the description of the perfect thread of melting mozzarella, (maybe if I was Balzac I could)! because I don’t think I have enough English vocabulary but it’s something you have to experience for yourself. I was thinking to build a brick oven in the garden mainly to cook pizza, but unfortunately the size of the garden will not allow it.
I think we all have our particularities in the way we approach certain traditions and traditional dishes.
We all have our favorite pizza, it can be deep dish, thin crust, with one or two toppings, etc…and that’s the way it should be. Eat pizza the way we like it.
These mini pizza are not what you would find in a traditional pizzeria in Italy even though last time I was there, I was invited by the family to try a pizzeria that had dessert pizza on their menu, such as orange pizza, chocolate and nut pizza, etc…and were surprisingly enough, really delicious.
These mini pizza combine the flavors of Mediterranean countries, and are delightful. The beauty of small bites is that you eat one or two and you feel satisfied, when you have a whole pizza in front of you, you feel somehow “obliged” to finish it (I do).
Ingredientsfor one large pizza or 4 small
For pizza dough
- 1/2 lb (or 250 g) flour
- about 5 fl oz (or 150 ml) lukewarm water
- about 0.4 oz (or 12 g) compressed yeast dissolved in the water
- 1.5 tbs olive oil
- salt
For the topping
- red pepper pesto – see here for recipe
- 4 small Italian eggplants, sliced
- 4 tbs feta
- 8 baby artichokes (+juice of 1 lemon)
- kalamata olives (optional)
- basil, chopped (optiona)
- olive oil for drizzling
Preparation
For the dough
Place flour in a working surface, gradually add yeast/water mixture, salt and oil. Mix well to obtain a soft dough, the dough should be elastic and souple, almost sticky. Cover with a towel and let it rise for about 2 hours.
For the topping
Grill the eggplant slices on a grill pan. Cut in halves and set aside. Trim the artichokes, removing the green leaves around, cut the top and cut in quarters. Place in a lemon juice/water bath to prevent them from staining. Saute in olive oil and garlic until tender. Adjust with salt and pepper.
Cut dough in four equal parts. Roll each dough portion with a rolling pin (or with your hands if you have mastered the art of twisting the dough). Spread some red pepper pesto on top of the dough, add eggplant, artichokes and feta, if you using olives add at this point.Adjust with salt and pepper if necessary but the feta and olives being already salty, you might decide not too.
Cook in a 390 F pre heated oven for about 20 minutes or until the bottom is cooked.
Focaccia or Schiacciata? – Stuffed schiacciata with onions, zucchini, mushrooms and fontina
Oct 28th
Focaccia o schiacciata? – Schiacciata ripiena con cipolle, zucchine, funghi e fontina
Even though this week is a crazy week, I think I am even crazier to be cooking, when I should be either packing or painting or working on some menus and certainly not working on my blog. I am just a little obsessive when food is concerned and I just wanted to make this schiacciata for such a long time, that I decided to stop postponing and make it in a little rush!
Another Italian little stuffed bread, it can be called focaccia ripiena (ripiena = stuffed, filled), torta ripiena or schiacciata…the dough is somehow the same, then it’s stuffed with vegetables and melting cheese.
Schiacciare means to crush, so schiacciata means crushed. Basically the dough is crushed flat so you get a great filling in between the two sheets. You have different types of schiacciata, in Florence, they also have schiacciata con l’uva which is a sweet version of this one but made with black grapes. In the South, in the Catania region (Sicily), they have schiacciata catanese which is a savory schiacciata stuffed with sausages, cheese and cauliflower. I have seen schiacciata mainly stuffed with vegetables and never tried any other version.
This is perfect for a little aperitivo, you can cut it in small squares and serve it with some olives and cold cuts when you have guests over with a little cup of Champagne. The melting fontina on top of vegetables in the middle of a deliciously crunchy, salty and “herby” crust is delightful. The rosemary is my favorite herb on focaccia, its scent infuses in the crust and your house smells like a bakery from heaven. You can use caciocavallo cheese if you can find it, but the cheese needs to be a melting one.
You don’t need to work the dough as much as I did, I let it rest overnight. When I have time, I let it rest a long time, then knead it again, the whole process taking 12 hours, I get a wonderful dough, light and airy and crunchy on the outside. If you don’t have time, you can just let it rest for one hour, knead it again and let it rest for another hour, and it should be fine.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 g white flour
- Beer yeast dissolved in a glass of water (or more)
- 4 tbs olive oil (+ 1)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- rock salt for topping
- 1 rosemary sprig for topping, roughly chopped
- 1 thyme branch for topping, roughly chopped
For the stuffing
- 2 zucchini, thinly sliced
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced
- 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
- Italian fontina cheese
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 + 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
In a mixing container, place flour. In a glass dissolve about 1 tsp beer yeast in a lukewarm glass of water. Mix with flour and add olive oil and salt. Gradually mix all ingredients together and knead the dough with your hand. You want a soft consistency almost sticky but very elastic dough, so if the dough tends to be hard, add water. Knead for about 10 minutes. Place in a container, cover with a cloth and let it rise for about one hour. It should double its volume. Knead the dough again and let rise for another 2 hours. Repeat the process twice.
While the dough is rising, start melting onions. Heat olive oil in a pan, then add sliced onions. Let them brown at medium temperature, then decrease heat, cover with a lid and let it cook slowly until they turn soft and caramelized. Remove from the pan. In the same pan, heat 1 tbs olive oil, then add mushrooms and zucchini, salt and pepper, and cook until the vegetables are soft and water has evaporated.
Cut the dough in two pieces. One should be a little bigger than the other one. Using a rolling pin or your hands, roll the dough in two sheets, one slightly larger than the other one. The dough should not be too thick, about 7 mm thick.
Using an oven tray, or a large rectangular dish, place larger dough in the greased dish, add one layer of onions, then add mushroom/zucchini mixture. Add slices of fontina on top and cover with the other dough sheet, using the extra dough from the bottom sheet to seal the sciacciata.
Place rock salt all over the top, spread olive oil all over the surface and add rosemary and thyme. Using a fork, make a few holes on top to prevent the dough from inflating. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F – 380F. When the top is lightly golden brown, remove from the oven. Serve hot.
Don't confuse it with a pizza – Tatin with tomatoes, ricotta salata, goat cheese and basil
Jun 3rd
Ne pas confondre avec une pizza – Tarte tatin facon pizza aux tomates confites, ricotta, chèvre, lardons, basilic et moutarde
I really don’t like to throw food away…I had some leftover dough that I used to make the Tarpiz a few days ago and I thought it would be a shame to throw away that delicious and healthy dough, so I decided to make a tatin with it. Tatin in French refers to an upside down tart. The fruits or vegetables and first placed in the dish, then comes the dough that is placed on top. Usually people use either puff pastry or pâte brisée . In this case, I used the whole wheat and kamut dough, which is more similar to pizza dough and has a lot less fat in it. The thing is since it has some yeast in it, you need to make it thin or it will rise and get too thick.
Try to get really ripe, organic and meaty tomatoes. If you get regular tomatoes, they tend to be filled with water, and even after it’s cooked the tatin will be filled with water and soak its crust.
Ricotta salata, in Italian “salata” means “salty” (can be sometimes called “ricottone”) and it is basically regular ricotta to which salt has been added and has been left to dry for about one month. The drying process made ricotta lose half of its water. This ricotta can also be grated like regular cheese.
I just put one slice of bacon, but you can put more if you like it, I didn’t want the smoked flavor to be too powering.
Ingredients for 4
- 6 medium tomatoes, skinless and seedless
- 2 tbs of ricotta salata
- 2 tbs goat cheese
- 2 tbs basil
- 1 slice of bacon, diced
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbs Dijon mustard
- 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
Preparation
First prepare the tomatoes. Remove the skin by putting them in boiling water for a few seconds. Cut in half and remove the seeds. Add salt and pepper and place in the oven at 400F for about 15 minutes to dry them out.
Oil a deep dish. Place tomatoes in the dish, the side that has been cut should be face down. Make sure to tighten them closely, not to leave any space between them. Add cheeses cut in slices on top of tomatoes. Add bacon (previously diced and cooked in a pan), add basil, garlic, salt and pepper.
Spread the dough using a rolling pin. Make it into a thin layer. Make sure to make a larger circle than the dish containing the tomatoes. Spread mustard on top of the dough and place the dough with mustard side down, facing the tomatoes. You need to push the extra dough down, all around the edge of the dish.
Place tatin in a preheated oven at 375F for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden.
Before removing from the dish, wait about 30 seconds. Then unmold upside down and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
In between a tart and a pizza – Tarpiz with grilled vegetables, feta and rucola
May 31st
Mi tarte, mi pizza – Tarpiz aux légumes du sud grillés, feta et roquette
Tra una torta e una pizza – Tarpiz con verdura mista del sud, feta e rucola
When you can decide what to make between a pizza and a tart, and you end up doing something in between those two, it would be inaccurate to call it either tart or pizza, that’s why it should get its own name. Entre les deux mon coeur balance (in between those two my heart can’t decide), like my heart has been balancing between France and Italy my whole life, so I might as well be a representation of this round and savory Tarpiz…really Tarpiz is really what it is…and I feel I am a Tarpiz myself.
Lately, I have been avoiding to use white refined flours in my pastries or other dishes where it requires flour. I have been going to the Rainbow and buying all those wonderful cereal flours, such as quinoa, kamut, buckwheat, spelt, etc…they’re wonderful for baking, very healthy since high in fibers and protein and most of all they taste absolutely amazing. I definitely stay away from white refined flour when possible.
Our modern society has been consuming too many refined and industrialized food, lacking nutrients and vitamins. We have forgotten natural and ancient grains used in the old time as far as Antiquity, such as spelt, kamut, millet, etc…and really wished that restaurants would also serve food that would be focused on nutrition rather than heavy in grease and sugar to make it more “flavorful”. Flavor is not linked to sugar and grease, but on quality of the ingredients.
Anyway, this Tarpiz is made out of whole wheat and kamut flours, topped with grilled vegetables, and rucola. I love pizza bianca (white pizza) with rucola they serve in Italy.
For about 4 people
For the dough
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup kamut flour
- fresh yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup lukewarm water or less
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt
For the topping
- 1 red bell pepper, grilled
- 1 small size eggplant, sliced crosswise
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 tbs feta, crumbled
- a few cherry tomatoes (5 or 6 cut in half)
- 1 tbs kalamata olives, chopped (optional)
- 1 handful of wild rucola
- salt and pepper
For the dough
Mix flours together. Dissolve one tsp of fresh yeast in 1/2 glass of lukewarm water. Stir well until the yeast has completely dissolved. Mix yeast, salt, olive oil with flours, making a dough. Knead the dough to make it into a nice and elastic texture. Let it rise for a couple of hours at medium temperature. It needs to double it size. Then fold again, make a ball, wrap in plastic and leave in the refrigerator for one about one hour.
For the topping
Broil the bell pepper under the broiler, until all sides are browned. Remove, let it cool and remove the skin and seeds. Cut in stripes.
Cut the eggplant crosswise, sprinkle with salt and olive oil and broil under the broiler on both sides. When nicely browned, cut in half or quarter depending on the size of the eggplant.
Cook the onions slowly in olive oil until they become soft almost like a jam.
Start spreading the dough, then top with onions, eggplants, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper stripes, olives, feta cheese, salt and pepper. Cook in a preheated oven at 375F for about 25 minutes. Remove and add rucola. Serve hot.
