Now, I've got to warn you, I'm a girl who likes anchovies! I like anchovies because every time there was a special occasion and my family visited my grandma, she set up this amazing antipasti with hot peppers, anchovies, herring in cream sauce, roasted red peppers, and mozzarella with crackers, wine, and good music!
We always had a great time, and our hunger was appeased until my grandma brought out whatever amazing thing she had cooked that night. So yes, I included anchovies in my Caesar Salad. But that doesn't mean you have to! I just ask that just once you try good-quality anchovies. Someday. Not necessarily today, but sometime.
For the Salad:
A few large Romaine leaves
3 Anchovies
Parmesan Cheese, to taste
For the Dressing:
2 tbs Mayo
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 tsp + a bit more Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Chop your lettuce and top with anchovies. Meanwhile, blend all the dressing ingredients but the oil, and slowly add the oil last to emulsify. I wanted to eat everything when it was ready, so I waited to add the dressing to the salad.
For the Pizza:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tbs olive oil
Set the oven on 200 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients (including the yeast) in a standing mixer or by hand. Mix the wet ingredients. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and slowly add some of the water mixture. Mix until just combined, then add the rest of the water mixture and do the same. Turn the oven off. If using a stand mixer, mix with the dough hook on low for 15 minutes. If working by hand, just knead the dough same length of time. It seems like a long time, but it's worth it! Use the same mixing bowl, and lightly coat with olive oil or an oil spray. Take a small sheet of clingfilm, and add some oil spray to that. Cover dough in oiled bowl and place in turned off oven for an hour. Now prep your sauce! Take dough out of oven and punch down to deflate and re-form it into a ball. Put dough back in bowl in oven for an additional 20 minutes while you make your sauce. Now you're ready to top the pizza!
Pizza Sauce and Toppings:
Olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 small onion, chopped
a few slices eggplant, minced in small cubes
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
one 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/3 mozzarella ball, shredded
Parmesan cheese, to taste
A handful or two of corn meal
Saute the garlic and onion in olive oil for a few minutes, until fragrant but not coloring. Add the salt and pepper. Add the eggplant and saute until just cooked. Now add the tomato sauce, oregano and parsley. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
Set your oven to 500 degrees.
To top the pizza:
Take your dough, and form it into a disk, with a crust at the edges. turn it by the crust as if you're driving a car and turning the wheel. Keep working the dough until the pizza has reached your desired size. On a baking sheet, toss the cornmeal evenly over the surface. Now top the sheet with the pizza dough and make sure it can move around the surface--that nothing is stuck! Now add your sauce to the pizza. Top with the mozzarella and Parmesan, and bake in the hot oven for 10 minutes. Remove the pizza, and let rest for 3 minutes while you set your table and open your wine (if you haven't already done so!). Eat everything immediately! Mangia!