Radicchio Fontina And Goat Cheese Pizza Food

RADICCHIO, FONTINA, AND GOAT CHEESE PIZZA

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F. Whisk olive oil and finely chopped garlic in large bowl to blend. Add radicchio strips, grated Fontina, sliced fennel and roasted red peppers and toss to coat; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place crust on rimless baking sheet. Mound radicchio mixture on crust, leaving 3/4-inch plain border. Top with crumbled goat cheese. Bake pizza until crust is crisp and topping is heated through, about 13 minutes. Top pizza with Parmesan shavings, if desired. Cut pizza into slices and serve.

PIZZA WITH PARSLEY PESTO, CREMINI MUSHROOMS, FONTINA AND GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• For the parsley pesto: Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, pine nuts, basil, garlic, parsley and some salt and pepper to a food processor. With the motor running, slowly add about 1/2 cup olive oil and process until smooth. Pulse a few times to incorporate, adding more oil if the mixture is too thick. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
• For the mushrooms: Heat the canola oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add the mushrooms, garlic and shallots and saute until brown, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove to a plate and reserve.
• Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat.
• For the pizzas: Portion the dough into six golf-ball-size pieces. Dust a work surface with flour and roll each piece of dough into a rectangle (or whatever shape you like). Brush the tops of each piece with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss on the grill, oil-side down. Cook until the bottoms are an even golden brown, about 3 minutes. (The tops will also start bubbling up with air pockets.) Flip over and grill until golden brown on the other side and just firm, about a minute or so. Remove to a baking sheet.
• Top the pizzas with the fontina, mushrooms, Parmigiano-Reggiano, dollops of goat cheese, crushed red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted, 3 to 4 minutes. Top with the parsley pesto and garnish with a few more torn basil leaves.
• In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup warm water (if the water is too hot the yeast will die and if the water is too cold the yeast will not activate). Add the dry yeast and sugar, stir to combine and let sit for 15 minutes. The top of the water will bubble and it will smell very yeasty; this is what you want.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the olive oil and the yeast/water mixture. Using a fork, gradually stir the flour into the yeast/water mix. Once most of the flour has combined, turn the dough out to a smooth, clean work surface dusted with flour and use your hands to knead the dough to a smooth consistency.
• Lightly coat the mixing bowl with oil, return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, at least 1 hour.
• When the dough is ready, portion it into six golf-ball-size pieces. (If you're not using the dough right away, wrap each ball individually in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.) Dust a work surface with flour and roll each piece of dough into a rectangle (or whatever shape you like; I like irregular shapes). Top the pizzas as desired.

GRILLED RADICCHIO WITH FONTINA

Steps:

• Heat grill to medium, around 160C. Lie the radicchio on a baking sheet and season. Whisk the oil and vinegar together, then drizzle over the radicchio. Grill for 5-8 mins, turning regularly - you want the veg to be softened and cooked through, but not too charred.
• Serve on a large platter, topped with a scattering of thyme leaves and the fontina. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and balsamic vinegar, season, then serve.

CARAMELIZED ONION, RADICCHIO, AND GOAT CHEESE PIZZETTES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500°F. Set stone on lowest rack of oven at least 1 hour before baking pizza (if you have a gas stove, stone can go directly on oven floor).3Cook onions in oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until deep golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar, radicchio, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Divide dough into quarters on a flour-dusted surface and gently stretch each piece into a thin disk about 6 inches across. Dust baker's peel with cornmeal and put 2 disks on it.
• Jerk peel once or twice; if dough sticks, lift and sprinkle more cornmeal underneath. Top each disk on peel with one fourth of onion mixture, goat cheese, and thyme, leaving a 3/4-inch border.
• Line up far edge of peel with far edge of stone in oven. Tilt peel, jerking it gently to start pizzas moving, and once edge of pizza touches stone, quickly pull peel back to transfer pizzas to stone. Bake pizzas until dough is crisp and golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer with peel to a cutting board.
• Cut pizzas into slices and serve immediately. Make 2 more pizzas in same manner.