If I had to pick one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would most definitely be pizza.  Maybe it's because I was born and raised in New York, or maybe because pizza, that magical combination of bread and cheese, is so satisfying, but, whatever the reason, pizza is my number one.  Be it a classic margherita from Roberta's, potato and rosemary from L'Asso, brussels sprouts and ricotta from Motorino (hold the pancetta), or green pepper and onion from Singa's Famous Pizza, I'll devour it (well, of course, with certain obvious exceptions).  And then there are my two other favorites, Pepe's and Bar in New Haven, the latter of which I ate at about twice a month when I was in college (bet you didn't know that, mom, although if you knew it was always the mashed potato and garlic you might be a little jealous).

Made with 8 oz Trader Joe's pizza dough that I accidentally left uncovered at room temp for an hour -  hence the crackly crust.  It still tasted good, so I guess the moral of the story is that pizza is awesome.

A few days ago, I realized I still had some sunchokes left in the fridge from our last CSA share of 2010 (yes, that last share was a few days before Christmas, but thankfully root vegetables keep reeeeeeeeally well in cold storage).  I had previously cut them into big chunks and roasted them (so easy and so good) and turned them into a puree (equally as good), but I was a little bored of those preparations.  So, being the pizzaholic I am, I decided that these sunchokes would adorn a pizza.

Shame on me for having been gone for so long. Life has been pretty busy, what with planning the upcoming wedding (which is exactly 100 days away - I better get cracking on the rest of my DIY projects), searching for a house, giving up on that and deciding to modify the search for an apartment to rent, embarking upon said search, and finally moving a few weekends ago (I'm back in Carroll Gardens, my favorite neighborhood in Brooklyn). Of course these are all just excuses, as my friend Meghan had a baby a month ago and is already back to blogging.

So, in case it hasn’t been apparent, I haven’t done much cooking for almost a week now. I was away for the weekend, and while I did make some good stuff for dinner for me and my partner-in-crime/bff on Saturday night (spinach and fresh ricotta gnocchi, key lime pie cupcakes), I didn’t have my camera with me, so neither of those things end up counting (because no one wants a recipe without a photo!). Also, the bf has been away for the past few days, so my dinners have consisted of what I like to call squirrel meals, by which I forage in my pantry and fridge for random things to eat that, together, can possibly constitute the bulk of a real meal. Maybe I should just call it “small plates” so that I don’t sound pathetic.

I rarely have the desire to cook a good meal for just myself. When it’s just me (and when I was living alone in NYC) I rarely made the kind of food that I have been making and posting on here for the past year. I only cooked like this once a week, when I would either have a friend over for dinner or when I would go over to my bff’s and cook dinner for the two of us. I really love cooking for people that I like, but I derive very little joy out of cooking for myself and I just don’t care enough to do it. I can’t be the only one with that mindset, right?

I’ve always liked the combination of white beans, kale, and butternut squash, but I’ve only seen it as a stew – kind of boring. My recent culinary solution to everything is pizza, so I figured that these ingredients would be great on a pizza.



I made a version of this a few weeks ago, and while it was good, it wasn’t quite right. I thought about it for a while, came up with a solution, and, being the easily distracted person I am,never got around to it. Well, I finally did the other night, and this second version of it is really really good. All of the flavors shine – nothing gets lost like it might in a stew. And it’s a pizza. Who doesn’t like pizza? (Weird people, that’s who.)

OK, back to the savories. And, of course, it has to feature my favorite, eggplant, and its summertime partner in crime, the cherry tomato.

This pizza dough is WAY better than the last one I posted. However, it doesn't lend itself to a spur-of-the-moment kind of dinner as the other one does, as this one requires a long, chilled rise - but the long, chilled rise is what makes it far superior to a shorter-rising dough. The recipe is really long, but it's not as complicated as its length might lead you to believe - it’s just that the directions are very detailed. You can even freeze the dough and use it a later date, but I think it’s best when it is fresh from the fridge. Seriously, this is the best pizza crust I’ve ever eaten, and I've eaten lots of pizza in my years. (I'm from NY, of course I've eaten at least twice my weight in pizza over the course of my life.) The quality of this crust has nothing to do with my prowess in the kitchen and everything to do with the proportions and timing.