Pizza « (y)our food choices™

Spring is truly sprung when those miraculous shoots of asparagus push their way up and out into the fresh air. Imported organic asparagus is available year round, but we try to eat the local stuff instead, when it’s available, and then move on to whatever comes into season next. Asparagus is full of vitamins (especially K), minerals, dietary fiber and protein. Like most veggies, it’s great both raw and cooked. We eat lots of it at this time of year when it’s at its most tender.

More often than not, we roast it whole on foil-lined baking sheets, tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with a little sea salt. Asparagus tastes like nothing else, so however you enjoy it, you really taste it. A random search for asparagus recipes drummed up over 41 million hits, reminding us that people have been eating it for thousands of years. It seems to love cheese and cream and butter, but then again, don’t we all. It’s confusingly infamous for not pairing well with wine, but we haven’t found that to be true. A bottle of your favorite Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc or sparkling wine is a nice accompaniment to this spring veggie.

As veggie prep goes, asparagus is a breeze to clean, but stems that have grown “woody” need to be peeled before cooking. If you cook asparagus for a blended soup, you may need to strain the stubborn fibers after pureeing. Most blenders just aren’t up to the task of breaking them down.

The asparagus pizza recipe that follows was inspired by a delicious, seasonal pizza on the menu at The Plant Organic Café on the Embarcadero at Pier 3. Our tasty iteration is nothing like it, but the beautiful spring asparagus on both reminded us of why we miss the season when it’s over.

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Roasted Asparagus, Arugula Pesto, and Feta Cheese Pizza

1/2 pizza recipe (see recipe below for pizza made with coconut flour or click here for our traditional pizza recipe)
1/4 – 1/3 arugula pesto (or homemade basil pesto, or gasp…store bought 😉 )
1 bunch pencil thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into half
2-3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
2 eggs

Optional items: raw walnuts, red pepper flakes, thinly sliced lemons,

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. After shaping the pizza on a baking sheet, spread the pesto over the pizza dough. Decoratively place the asparagus spears over the top, then add the crumbled feta cheese. Place in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Take the pizza out of the oven and crack the two eggs on top of the pizza on each side, place it back in the oven for another 7-8 minutes.

For runny eggs, you’ll want to prebake the pizza for a longer time 4-5 minutes then add the cracked eggs and finish baking for an additional 6-7 minutes.

For hard yolks, you can place the eggs on top of the pizza before you place it in the oven and bake for the full 10 minutes, or so.

Pizza Dough made with Coconut flour
Makes 2 pizzas

2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 ounces) coconut flour
1 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 – 1 1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons + 1 tablespoon olive oil

Food Processor Method:
Add the flours, yeast, salt in the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine. With the processor running, add 1 cup water and 3 tablespoons olive oil through the feed tube.

Process the dough for 30 seconds to 1 minute. The dough should come together as a ball. If the dough is too dry add 1 tablespoon of water at a time through the feed tube. The dough should be slightly sticky to the touch, and may look slightly textured and not completely smooth (this is due to the coconut flour).

Form the dough into a ball and place in bowl with the additional tablespoon of olive oil. Turn the dough to coat it in oil and cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel, or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled in volume 2-3 hours, or less, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

When ready, divide the dough in two and proceed to form the pizza. At this point you can stretch the dough with your hands or roll the dough out on a floured surface. If the dough becomes too tight and does not stretch, cover with a lightly damped towel, or plastic wrap and let it sit for up to 10 minutes to relax before trying to shape it. This dough is great for a thin crusted pizza. The thinner you can get the it without tearing, the crispier it becomes.

Bake the pizza in a preheated 500 degree oven with your favorite toppings for 10-15 minutes. Don’t overload the pizza with a lot of toppings and cheese, a little goes a long way.

Stand Mixer:
In a stand mixer with a dough hook, mix the yeast with the flours and salt. Add the water, 1 cup to start, and olive oil and mix on medium speed for about five to seven minutes. If the dough is too dry add a little more water, a tablespoon at a time. If too wet, add a little flour, again a tablespoon at a time. Once the dough comes together, coat the dough with the additional tablespoon of olive oil, and cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rise until doubled.

By Hand:
In a large bowl, add the flours, salt, and yeast, mix with a wooden spoon. Add 1 cup of water and 3 tablespoons olive oil, mix until will combined. On a floured surface, turn out the dough and knead by hand for 5-10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and comes together in a ball. Form the dough into a ball and place in bowl with the additional tablespoon of olive oil. Turn the dough to coat in oil and cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel, or plastic wrap, allow to rise until doubled, 2-3 hours.

On Monday I spent the morning listening to the 9th Circuit oral arguments for and against Prop. 8, the voter initiative that amended the California constitution to discriminate against people who wish to enter into a same-sex marriage. The history of gay marriage, or more correctly the history of the fight against gay marriage, is long and confusing. But the reason we’re writing about gay marriage on our blog is that we are one of the 18,000 couples that were lucky enough to legally wed in California during that brief window in 2008 when same-sex marriage was legal. We’ve been married now for two years and, this Friday, December 10th, we celebrate our 18th anniversary of the night we met at The Trapp (insert joke here), a gay bar in Salt Lake City.

As I’m listening to the court case I’m also thinking about, what else, food. Rummaging through the fridge, I spot a pizza dough just waiting to be transformed into something delicious. Then something one of the judges said struck me as an odd question: “What makes gay marriage gay? Isn’t marriage just marriage?”

My mind started to wander back to my college days with thoughts of late night pizza and philosophical discussions like, can a man truly be a feminist? and what makes art gay? Is it the subject matter or the artist creating the work that makes something gay? I thought about this a little more. Since I’m gay and I’m baking a pizza, am I making a gay pizza? I never really thought that pizza, or any food, could be considered gay or straight, but with the question posed about marriage, art, and life on my mind, why not food?

As I searched through the fridge for fixings to top the pizza it dawned on me that what I was selecting were things most people wouldn’t put on their pizza or even have in their fridge. What makes our pizzas different? For starters, we don’t do delivery. San Francisco is not known for it’s pizza, and we haven’t discovered a pizzeria that makes a better or faster pizza than our homemade ones. Next, the crust is always thin and whole wheat. No tomato sauce goes on top, just olive oil and garlic. Next, we’ll usually throw on some veggies (on this one, shaved fennel). And, instead of sausage, pepperoni, and ham (insert meat lover’s pun), we prefer a little prosciutto. To finish, we top with a little goat and Parmesan cheeses (or whatever we have on hand) and that’s what we call pizza. May sound sort of gay to folks in the red states, but some would argue that it’s just California cuisine.

Adding the layers.

Is our marriage or our pizza gay? We don’t think so. We view marriage and our pizzas as choices, neither gay nor straight, just our choices. We hope that the judges on the 9th Circuit will do the right thing and rule to secure for everyone the same choice we were given two years ago. We should all have the right to to marry whomever we choose just as we get to choose what we want on our pizzas, even if they both give us heartburn from time to time.

Marriage equality – and pizza – for all!

Pizza Dough

Watch those fingers.

Top the pizza however you wish, it’s your choice.

1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1 – 1 ¼ cups water
¼ cup olive oil

In a stand mixer with a dough hook, mix the yeast with the flours and salt. Add the water, 1 cup to start, and olive oil and mix on medium speed for about five to seven minutes. If the dough is too dry add a little more water, a tablespoon at a time. If too wet, add a little flour, again a tablespoon at a time. Once the dough comes together cover the bowl with a damp towel and let sit for a couple of hours to relax.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Cut the dough in half at this point you can either make two pizzas or refrigerate or freeze one of the pizza dough. Using a rolling pin, lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough out until it fits the diameter of the sheet pan. Alternately, if you’ve worked in a pizzeria before you can try to stretch the dough with your hands. Top with your favorite sauce, fixings, and cheese and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is slightly toasted.