SERVES 6

According to Jacques Médecin, former mayor of Nice and an authority on its cuisine, the layer of onions on a pissaladière should be half as thick as the crust.

FOR THE DOUGH:
1/4 oz. active dry yeast
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups flour
1 tbsp. salt
Cornmeal

FOR THE TOPPING:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2-3 lbs. onions, peeled and very thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bouquet garni of 2 sprigs each thyme and marjoram
and 1 sprig rosemary, tied with kitchen twine
1/3 cup niçoise olives
12 anchovy filets

1. For the dough: Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water in a small bowl, let stand for 5 minutes, then add 1/4 cup oil. Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl, add yeast mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon, adding a bit more water if necessary, until ingredients are well mixed. Turn out dough on a lightly floured work surface, dust hands with flour, and knead for several minutes until the dough has a smooth, firm, elastic character. Form dough into a ball, then place in a lightly oiled medium bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Allow dough to rise in a warm spot for about 1 hour.

2. For the topping: Heat oil in a large pan over medium-low heat. Add onions and season generously with salt and pepper. Add bouquet garni and cover pan to let onions slowly simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and continue cooking until the moisture has evaporated and the onions cook down to a very tender marmalade-like consistency, 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Place pizza stone in oven and preheat to 450°. Roll dough out on a floured surface into a thin, flat rectangle. Transfer dough to a baker’s peel or inverted baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. Cover dough with a damp cloth and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

4. Remove cloth from dough and spread onion mixture on top. Arrange olives and anchovy filets over the onions, season lightly with pepper, then slide onto hot pizza stone. Bake until crust has browned, 15-20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #32

Grilled Pizza and Spicy Hummus

Bobby invites Iron-Woman in training Sharon Sperber to grill pizzas. Sharon loves Bobby’s Grilled Pizza with Spicy Hummus, Vegetables and Goat Cheese. Bobby is equally impressed with Sharon’s novel twist on 2 classic Italian pizzas – Margarita pizza with garam masala-spiced tomato sauce, and curried greens on a 4-cheese pie.

Shrimp and Cilantro Pesto Pizza

Bobby tours NY from Soho to Brooklyn for a taste of pizza greatness. Then he shares recipes for Grilled Lavash Pizza with Spicy Hummus, Grilled Eggplant, Feta, Red Chili Oil & Mint Red Chili-White Anchovy Caesar Salad Pizza, Caesar Salad & Grilled Shrimp & Cilantro Pesto.

Steak and Blue Cheese Pizza

Bobby invites Iron-Woman in training Sharon Sperber to grill pizzas. Sharon loves Bobby’s Grilled Pizza with Spicy Hummus, Vegetables and Goat Cheese. Bobby is equally impressed with Sharon’s novel twist on 2 classic Italian pizzas – Margarita pizza with garam masala-spiced tomato sauce, and curried greens on a 4-cheese pie.

Throwdown – Pizza Lasso NYC

Giorgio Giove is the pizza king at Brother’s Pizzeria in Staten Island. In fact, he has just come back from Italy where his special pizza won second place in the World’s Best Tasting Pizza competition. To celebrate his award-winning pies and his return from Italy, Giorgio is throwing a big family reunion. He doesn’t realize that Bobby’s been secretly brushing up on his pizza-making skills in order to crash Giorgio’s party and challenge him to a Throwdown. Bobby’s up against a seasoned pro in Giorgio, not to mention the entire Giove family, so he might have to change his whole strategy for this competition.

Throwdown – Deep Dish Pizza

Bobby visits the windy city of Chicago to challenge deep dish master Lou Malnati to a pizza throwdown for the ages.

I found this interesting sounding pizza recipe in an issue of Saveur magazine. Since I absolutely loved cooking with squash blossoms, I therefore absolutely love this pizza! I’ve gone through an condensed the directions as well, making sure to get rid of all instances for silliness. If you’d like to check out the original recipe/directions, check it out at Saveur.com. This recipe, inspired by Pizzeria Mozza, yields a crisp, chewy crust. See Making and Baking the Pie for a sauce recipe and more tips for making pizza.

• 9 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 tbsp. active dry yeast
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 6 cups flour
• 2 cups pizza sauce
• 60 squash blossoms, stemmed
• 1 lb. burrata (a sort-of mozzarella that must be eaten fresh)

1. In a bowl, combine 1 tbsp. oil, yeast, sugar, salt, and 2 cups 115˚ water; let sit until foamy, 10–12 minutes. Stir in flour to make a dough. Transfer dough to a floured surface; knead until smooth, 8–10 minutes. Quarter dough; roll each portion into a ball. Put balls on a floured baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap; let sit in a warm place until soft and tripled in size, 2–3 hours. IF you’d like to have an even tastier dough, toss the dough in sealable containers, or plastic baggies, and let sit in the fridge for a day or two. When you are ready to bake, pull the dough out two hours before you want to eat to let it come back to room temperature.

2. Place a pizza stone on a rack in lower third of oven. Heat oven to as absolutely as hot as it will go for 1 hour. Stretch dough to a 10″ diameter. Cover dough with a tea towel; let rest for 15 minutes. Brush edges with 2 tbsp. oil. Season dough with salt. Spread 1⁄2 cup pizza sauce over dough, leaving a 1″ border. Arrange 15 squash blossoms over sauce in concentric circles. Transfer pizza to stone; bake until golden brown, 3-6 minutes. Remove pizza and top with spoonfuls of burrata; drizzle with olive oil. Repeat to make 4 pizzas.

MAKES FOUR 10″ PIZZAS

-Ryan

Pizzeria Delfina’s dough, adapted for baking in a home oven, is the best we’ve ever tried―smooth and supple. The secret lies in how you stretch it. Pizzaiolo Anthony Strong demonstrates in the photos below left.

Delfina’s Broccoli Rabe Pizza
Also on MyRecipes.com

Makes: 3 (12-in.) pizzas, plus dough for 3 more pizzas Time: About 2 hours, plus rising time Note: You can use regular flour, but for a truly awesome crust, go for highprotein Italian “00” (fine-milled) flour.

Dough:

• 1 tsp. fresh yeast
• 1½ tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb., 14 oz. (about 6 cups) “00” pizza flour, preferably Caputo*, or all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp. kosher salt*

Topping:

• 10 oz. fresh mozzarella packed in liquid
• 1/3 cup liquid from mozzarella container
• 1/4 cup shredded caciocavallo or parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup each heavy cream and buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
• 1 lb. broccoli rabe (about 1 large bunch)
• 2 garlic cloves, well smashed
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• About 1/4 tsp. red chile flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup oil-cured black olives (soaked in water and drained if salty), pitted and torn in half
• Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

Make dough:

1. Put yeast, oil, and 2 cups plus 1 tbsp. cold tap water in bowl of a stand mixer and mix, using dough hook, on lowest speed 5 minutes, or until yeast has completely dissolved. Add flour and mix another 8 minutes.

2. Cover bowl loosely with a dampened towel and let dough rise 20 minutes.

3. Add salt and mix on low speed until incorporated and dissolved, 7 minutes.

4. Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface and cut into 6 equal portions. Roll each into a tight ball. Place on a lightly floured tray.

5. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at least 4 hours at warm room temperature. Dough balls have risen properly when they are soft, pillowy, and full of air.

Make topping:

6. With flat side of a chef’s knife, mash a third of the mozzarella into a pulverized mass. Dice remaining mozzarella into 1/2-in. cubes. In a medium bowl, mix both mozzarellas with mozzarella liquid, shredded cheese, cream, and buttermilk. Season with 1/4 tsp. salt.

7. Cut broccoli rabe into 1-in. sections, discarding tough lower stems.

8. In a large frying pan over very low heat, cook garlic in oil, stirring often, until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add chile flakes and toast for a second, then add broccoli rabe. Stir in remaining 1/4 tsp. salt and several grinds of pepper.

9. Crank heat to medium-high and cook broccoli rabe, stirring, until liquid starts to evaporate and broccoli rabe is tendercrisp, 5 to 7 minutes.

Make pizza:

10. Heat a pizza stone or baking sheet on lowest rack of oven at 550° (or as high as oven will go), at least 30 minutes.

11. Set 1 dough ball on a well-floured pizza peel or baking sheet and stretch into an 11- to 12-in. circle (see photos above).

12. Spread about 2/3 cup cheese mixture over dough. Top with 1/2 cup broccoli rabe, a pinch of chile flakes, and 2 tbsp. olives.

13. Shove pizza onto stone. Bake 5 to 6 minutes, or until puffy and browned. Drizzle with oil. Repeat with 2 dough balls and toppings (top remaining 3 differently or freeze).

Now that pizza making is second nature to me it’s found it’s way into the weekly rotation of dinners.  It’s become a bit hum drum to say the least. When I first started out I experimented constantly with different toppings and tried recreating pizzas we had in restaurants. One in particular is from a restaurant here in NH, Nonni’s (http://www.nonnisitalianeatery.com).  Their cheese and herb pizza was unique. Sweet and salty, my two favorite combinations.  Once home, I was able to recreate the honey and roasted garlic paste used as the sauce and the rest is history.  I have never actually measured any of these ingredients.  These amounts are not exact.  You made need two heads of roasted garlic to make the sauce depending on how big your pizza is.

Cheese and Herb Pizza a la Aimee

Honey and Tyme Paste-

1 Head Roasted Garlic

1-2 Tbsp Honey

1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme

3-4 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt to taste

Fresh Mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400.  Cut 1/3 off the top of a head of garlic to expose all the cloves.  Place on a sheet of foil. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of olive oil and a bit of salt.  Wrap the foil to around the garlic to create a pouch. Roast for 45 min. Uncover and roast for 15 min more or until the garlic is a deep golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool.  In a small bowl squeeze out all the garlic.  Add the honey, thyme and olive oil and mix well. All the flavors should be balanced and you should be able to taste them all. Add enough olive oil to make a spreadable paste.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

On your dough spread s substantial amount of paste  add your mozz and bake until bubbly and brown.

There is a pizza place here in town that has always had the best stuffed pizza I’ve ever had. It’s long been my favorite slice anywhere, and yet, I’ve never even attempted a stuffed pizza! This recipe is along the same lines as my local spot – not an exact match, but it gets us moving in the right direction – and I plan on trying this out soon. As always, photos and a review will follow soon.

Let me know how it works out for you. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 (1 pound) loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down; divide into thirds. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough into a 10-in. circle. Transfer to a 9-in. springform pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of pan.

In a bowl, combine the spinach, mushrooms, onion, salt and pepper. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese over crust. Cover with spinach mixture; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a second portion of dough into a 10-in. circle; place over cheese layer. Pinch together top and bottom crust. (Save remaining dough for another use).

Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Spread pizza sauce over top crust; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 5-6 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Canola oil, for frying (amount determined by vessel used)
• 1 recipe Perfect Pizza Dough, recipe follows
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 2 ounces whole pepperoni
• 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, coarsely shredded
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 8 fresh basil leaves, for garnish

Directions

Perfect Pizza Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for bowl
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)

Makes 2 (9-inch) pizzas

Corn flour and butter make this pizza crust tender and nutty while the heat from the cast iron skillet helps make it nice and crisp. Feel free to experiment with this recipe; create your own variations using your favorite topping combinations. For a more traditional pizza, spread a cup of tomato sauce over the dough before adding the other toppings.

Ingredients

• 1 (1/4-ounce) package active yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (about 110°F)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup corn flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pits removed, chopped
• 1 cup quartered artichoke hearts
• 4 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 12 ounces whole milk mozzarella, shredded, or 12 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for oiling the bowl and skillet, divided
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, torn into pieces

Method

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine yeast, sugar and water and let stand 5 minutes until foamy. Add butter, flour, corn flour and salt and combine well, using the paddle attachment. Knead, using a dough hook, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and crawls up the dough hook. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water if dough is dry and not coming together. If dough is too wet, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Remove the dough from the bowl. Grease the bowl with olive oil and return the dough to the bowl. Cover and let the dough rise until it doubles in bulk, about an hour. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide in half. Shape the dough into two balls, cover and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500°F. Oil two 9- or 10-inch cast iron skillets. Pat or roll dough into a circle and transfer it to the skillets. Press dough down into bottom of skillets and up the sides. Scatter dough with garlic, olives, artichoke hearts and tomatoes. Top with mozzarella cheese or goat cheese and pine nuts. Drizzle each pizza with a tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake on bottom rack of oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake until pizza crust is golden brown and toppings are starting to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and top with basil.

Note: Toppings like pepperoni should be added when the oven temperature is reduced to 400°F, otherwise they will brown too quickly.

Check out the Thanksgiving Pizza Pie at wearenotmartha.com.

This flavorful autumnal pie uses winter squash purée as the pizza topping; the purée is spread like a sauce on the crust. You can find puréed winter squash (sometimes labeled as “puréed acorn squash” or “puréed butternut squash”) in the freezer section of most markets — thaw according to the package instructions before using.

• Yellow cornmeal to dust the pizza stone (or nonstick spray to grease the baking sheet)
• 1 pound fresh dough (from a pizza shop) or a frozen dough, thawed; or prebaked pizza crust – Or even better, try making your own dough!
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, halved through the stem, then thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup frozen winter squash purée, thawed
• 2 teaspoons minced sage leaves or 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano or pecorino, finely grated
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts

1. Preheat pizza stone or oven. If using a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 45 minutes; if using a pizza tray or a large baking sheet, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Prepare the crust. If you’re using fresh dough on a pizza stone, dust a pizza peel lightly with cornmeal. Add the dough and form it into a large circle by dimpling it with your fingertips. Pick it up and shape it by slowly turning it by its edge, stretching that edge all the while, until the circle is about 14 inches in diameter. Set it cornmeal side down on the peel.

To use fresh dough on a pizza tray or a large baking sheet, grease the tray or baking sheet lightly with nonstick spray. Lay the dough on the baking sheet and dimple it with your fingertips — then pull and press it until it forms a circle about 14 inches in diameter on the pizza tray or a 12-by-7-inch, somewhat irregular rectangle on the baking sheet. If you’re using a prebaked crust, place it on a cornmeal-dusted pizza peel or on a greased pizza tray or a large baking sheet.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then swirl in the oil. Add the onion slices, reduce the heat to very low, and cook, stirring often, until soft, golden and very sweet, 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, stir the squash purée, sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl until uniform. Spread this mixture evenly over the prepared crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border at its edge.

5. Top with the caramelized onions, then sprinkle the finely grated cheese and pine nuts over the pie. Slide the pizza from the peel to the very hot stone, or place the pie on its tray or baking sheet with the pie either in the oven or on the section of the grill grate that’s not right over the heat source.

6. Bake or grill with the lid closed until the crust is golden and somewhat firm to the touch, perhaps even a little darkened on its bottom, 16 to 18 minutes. Check fresh dough occasionally to prick any air bubbles that may arise so you’ll have an even crust on the pie. Slip the peel back under the pie to get it off the stone, or set the pie on its tray or baking sheet with its pie on a wire rack. Cool for 5 minutes before slicing. If you want to make sure the crust stays crunchy, consider transferring the pie directly to the wire rack after a minute or so.