September 2008 - The Senior Times

Potluck Pizza – how to astound your friends and keep it simple
Flavour Guy
Barry Lazar
The request was cottage country
basic. “We’re doing potluck. Bring
over what you have.” A simple request
but we were at the cottage and
the store was half an hour away. The
cupboard was almost bare: a package
of whole wheat flour – now why had
I bought that? – lots of tomatoes, and
some cheese from the farmer’s market.
Some salad stuff, but someone
else was bringing a salad.
A-ha! Pizza. Everyone loves pizza,
but few make it. Frankly, after you’ve
baked it a couple of times, you won’t
want to buy it. I had to make the
dough from scratch at the cottage,
but the Flavour Guy isn’t averse to
last-minute inspiration, and will buy
raw pizza dough at the supermarket
or even beg it from a pizza parlour.
For cottage country pizza, I was
going to prep everything and then
bring it to the neighbour’s for baking.
The neighbour had pans and,
most importantly, an oven – something
lacking chez nous.
For the toppings, the simpler the
better. Take fresh tomatoes, 1/3 of a
pound or 150 g per person, cut them
into small chunks, salt them and let
them drain in a strainer or colander
for an hour or so. Add fresh herbs –
basil and oregano are nice – and
ground black pepper.
For the cheese, grate a
half cup per person of
soft cheese such as Mozzarella,
mild cheddar,
Gouda, Bel Paese,
Fontina – these all work
well – and mix in a little freshly
grated Romano or Parmesan. Mild
goat cheese (not feta) is good instead
of the others but break it into small
pieces and dot it over the pizza. Remember,
this is potluck – work with
what you have. If you don’t have
tomatoes try canned or fresh asparagus,
thin slices of sweet pepper,
cooked broccoli, sliced mushrooms,
etc. But don’t overload the pie or the
crust will be soggy.
The flavour punch comes from the
oil: heat a cup of olive oil in a small
pot and add a tablespoon or more of
finely chopped garlic and a teaspoon
or less – depending upon your personal
heat quota – of chili pepper
flakes. Cook this slowly until the garlic
just starts to sizzle and remove the
pot from the stove. This spicy oil is
fantastic brushed on any flat bread,
like stale pita, and cooked on a baking
sheet in the oven at a moderate
heat – 375˚F or 190˚C – until the
bread is golden.
When everything is ready, turn the
oven to as high a temperature as it
will take without broiling, around
500˚F or 260˚C. For baking, a pizza
stone is nice but the Flavour Guy is
adept with cast iron frying pans or a
thick cookie sheet or whatever is
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handy. Use two oven racks, one at the
oven’s highest level and the other at
the lowest. After the oven is at the
right temperature, put the pans in for
about 10 minutes and be careful. Use
thick oven mitts to bring them out
just before you put in the dough. The
hot pans give the pizzas a great crust.
Once the pans are in the oven, go
into action. Lightly flour your hands
and the counter surface. Take a wad
of dough about the size of a small
grapefruit. Flatten it between your
hands and stretch it to a 6-inch circle.
Then roll the dough using a rolling
pin. No pin? Try a wine bottle! If the
dough sticks, shake a little flour over
it. Turn the pizza 90 degrees after
each pass to keep from overstretching
one side. You’re aiming for a
shape no larger than the pan you’re
putting it in.
Timing is everything. Take the pan
from the oven and put something
under it – a wire rack, a trivet, a towel
– to not burn the counter. Put the
dough in the pan, and slip the pan
back to the top rack in the oven. Wait
a couple of minutes until the dough
comes easily off the pan and the bottom
starts to brown. Remove the
pan, flip the dough, brush it all over
with the spicy garlic oil, then cover it
with a handful of tomatoes and another
of cheese. Put the pan back on
the top rack for about 5 minutes or
until the top of the dough starts to
brown. Work on the next pizza.
When that’s ready, take the one from
the top rack and put it on the lower
rack. Keep doing this until you have
them all done. Serve at once with a
salad, a bottle of wine and a towel to
wipe the sweat from your brow. This
is pizza that you’ve worked for, and
it’s worth it.
Barry Lazar is the Flavour Guy.
You can reach him at
flavourguy@theseniortimes.com.
September 2008 THE SENIOR TIMES 19