Radicchio is ridiculous

We eat pizza fairly regularly in this house. Jack makes a mean pizza dough.

This is a total left turn, but you know how there are certain things that one spouse does better than the other? Well, pizza dough, fresh bread, homemade pasta, hummus and apple pies are a part of Jack’s genius. I have long since given up even attempting these things. When it’s suggested that I make apple pie, I spontaneously lose my hearing? Heh? Apple pie? I’m sorry, yo no hablo English!

It’s gotten to the point that Mr. Genius will even remind me, “Baby, you can’t make hummus good as me!”

And you know what? He’s right. He IS much better at it then I am. Therefore, I no longer attempt making hummus, leaving it to the genius instead. I feel the same way about cleaning the floors. He’s WAY better at it than I am.

Ha! Who’s the genius now, eh?

Anyhow, back to pizza. We’re constantly experimenting with our pizza toppings. A couple months ago we sprinkled radicchio on top (it’s in season now and therefore, cheap, and therefore, it makes its way into my fridge.) Wooooo, we loved it! So much that we had radicchio pizza the next night, too. And then several times since.

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Radicchio is a member of the chicory family so it has a bitterness to it when raw. However, if you roast it then that bitterness will turn nutty. Like magic!

And the beauty of this topping is that it’s very easy to prepare and doesn’t need anything to accompany it. Here’s a quick recipe:

1. Slice up half a head of radicchio. I have found that to be more than enough for one medium to large sized pizza.
2. Sprinkle with a little oil (I particularly like it with walnut oil), balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
3. Then massage the oil and vinegar into the radicchio with your hands to get it nice and coated. Plus, who doesn’t like a little massage?
4. Sprinkle radicchio on top of pizza and cook at high heat for however long your pizza takes (approx. 10-12 minutes).

Cheater method:
And then here’s my version of the “personal” pizza using some leftover Indian naan bread. I toast the naan in a toaster oven for 2-3 minutes first. Add a very thin layer of mayo (or not, I just love mayo on everything), add the radicchio and then toast the pizza again for another 5 minutes. (Don’t pay any attention to how disgusting and burned my oven pan looks. Eeek.)

Don’t worry that the radicchio turns brown, that’s a good thing.

There you have it, a personal pizza with just one topping that it scrumptious and ready in less than 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Weeknight whole wheat pizza

It’s raining cats and dogs. I’ve got exams all week and a big project due. It’s a busy week. There’s not much time to think about what we’re going to eat. But at the same time, we want to be pseudo healthy.

It’s the perfect time to pull some pizza dough out of the freezer, slap some stuff on it and pop it in the oven. Easy, easy. Add a salad and we’re good to go.

We made this pizza for SuperBowl Sunday accompanied by a big platter of crudite and good beer. We loved it. It feels indulgent, but we didn’t feel at all guilty.

It was the first time that I tried this recipe for the whole wheat pizza dough (most of the prior dough recipes did not yield good results), and both Jack and I liked this dough quite a bit. I’m glad I made extra dough balls and tucked them in the freezer for busy days like this.