Eternal Recess

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Recipe: Mediterranean Pizza

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Our home in Plomari, Lesvos is very small despite it’s towering stature and wide-open sea view! The kitchen is minimal once dishes are put away and pantry items are stocked. That means I have to be VERY choosy about what implements I insist on having! I will eventually get a pizza stone here or perhaps build a wood-fired oven outside, but for now I work with a baking pan and my little oven that miraculously pumps out heat (even if it’s a bit of a mystery how much heat). I recently picked up a silpat dough rolling mat with measurements and I can’t believe I lived without one for so long. Not only does it make stretching dough easy for size, but it’s super easy cleanup!

Dish Type : Entree, Pizza | Makes 2 x 11” pizzas

Ingredients:

  • 1 recipe Pizza Dough

  • 1 small Eggplant, siced thinly (1/4”)

  • 1-2 cloves Garlic, minced

  • 1 red onion, sliced thinly

  • 1 bell pepper, sliced thinly

  • 6-8 sundried tomatoes (oil-packed), sliced

  • 1 tsp dried basil

  • 1 tsp dried oregano

  • salt

  • 4-6 oz feta, drained and crumbled

  • fresh herbs for garnish (basil, parsley)

  • Olive oil

  • Parmesan or mozzarella, grated, optional (I didn’t have so I didn’t use)

  • Cornmeal or semolina for dusting the surface of the sheetpan

  • Additional flour for stretching dough

Directions:

  1. Prepare pizza dough (see recipe)

  2. Preheat oven to 500ºF or 260ºC. If you have a pizza stone, put it in the oven while preheating. If not, heat a sheetpan.

  3. In small pan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt and saute 10 minutes or until slightly golden and soft. Add garlic and bell peppers and saute another 5 minutes. Season with dried herbs. Set aside.

  4. Thinly slice and salt eggplants and set aside.

  5. Arrange toppings so they’re nearby your pizza assembly area. Make sure you have a couple trivets or cooling rack set up you can put the screaming HOT baking pan on when it’s ready.

  6. Flour your rolling mat lightly and turn one ball of dough out on it. Lightly flour the dough so it’s easy to handle. Pat it into a circle and begin to stretch and rotate the dough until it’s roughly 8-11”. If you leave it 8” make sure the center is thin and the outside can be a puffier crust/border. If you go for 10-11” your entire pizza will be thin.

  7. Carefully remove the baking sheet or pizza stone and place on heat-safe surface. Sprinkle generously with cornmeal or semolina (or flour in a pinch).

  8. Quickly transfer dough to sheet pan.

  9. Working quickly, brush olive oil all over crust including edges and sprinkle with salt.

  10. Top with onion-pepper mixture, sundried tomatoes. Top with eggplant and feta. Drizzle with olive oil.

  11. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, check and turn if necessary, baking as much time as it takes for crust to turn golden brown.

  12. Remove from oven, sprinkle with fresh herbs, pul biber or chili flakes and drizzle with additional high quality olive oil (ours comes from our friends farm!)

Notes:

Serve with additional olive oil or herbed yogurt!