Trends in my kitchen come and go. Sometimes I’ll latch onto a particular recipe or ingredient and it will make weekly appearances, and sometimes old favourites will languish unused for months or even years. One thing that remains constant around here is that Friday night is Pizza Night.
Well, not every Friday night. If we’re out on Friday, it might be Saturday night. If that doesn’t work, Thursday or Sunday. Basically, we try to have pizza toward the end of every week, in one guise or another. This past weekend I rustled up a pie for our Saturday lunch, using a traditional Italian recipe with a French twist.
Potato pizza is something that has to be tasted to be believed. While it might seem strange and unsatisfying to eat a pizza with no sauce, no cheese (traditionally) and carbs on top of more carbs, it’s one of my favourite types to eat. The simple flavours of just-cooked potatoes, fresh rosemary and good olive oil can’t be beaten and are perfect for this type of year.
I like to give this Italian recipe a dose of France (and more importantly, cheese) with some sliced brie. Sure, you could use mozzarella, but the brie adds a creamy flavour kick which ensures that this recipe won’t be going into hiding anytime soon.
Potato Pizza w/ Rosemary and Brie
dough adapted from Mark Bittman
makes 3 individual pizzas or 1 medium one
For the pizza dough:
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 1 heaping tsp. instant yeast
- 2 tsp. flaky sea salt (or 1 tsp. regular salt)
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1/2 cup warm water
For the toppings:
- olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 new potatoes, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler
- several thick slices of brie, broken up
- sprig rosemary leaves picked
- black pepper
- To make the dough, combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and warm water, and stir with a fork or dough whisk until the mixture comes together into a dough (you may have to add a bit more water, but do so bit by bit). Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead for about five minutes, until it is smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky to the touch. Coat ball of dough lightly with olive oil, place in a covered bowl and leave to rise for about 1 hour.
- When you’re ready to bake the pizzas, preheat the oven to 225°C/450°F. Punch down the dough and divide it into 3 small pieces. Stretch, toss or roll these into rounds or oblongs (whatever pizza-esque shape you like, really) and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Lightly brush the top of each pizza with olive oil. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub cut-side-down over the surface of the dough; this really works to impart a touch of garlic flavour. Add the potato slices in a single layer, some pieces of brie, and scatter over the rosemary. Season with black pepper and drizzle with some more olive oil before transferring to the oven. Bake the pizzas for 8-12 minutes (it will depend on the temperature of your oven) until golden brown on the edges. Serve immediately
