Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizzette

jeff 28 Comments

The concept for these little pizza/tarts came from a family recipe. My cousin, Riad Nasr, is a world class chef and quite often the source of inspiration in my kitchen. He practices his craft in New York City at a line-up of crazy-popular restaurants including Pastis, Minetta Tavern and Balthazar. Several years ago he wrote the Balthazar cookbook and included a savory tart with herby caramelized onions and goat cheese. I made it and fell in love. When Jeff and I decided to write our Pizza book I knew this flavor combo would be fantastic as a pizza. I’ve made it in several classes that we’ve taught to rave reviews, so I thought I would make it with you here.

The key to this pizza is caramelizing the onions. You can speed up the process by using a slightly higher heat and adding a touch of sugar, but for this recipe we’re going the old fashion route and doing it slow. I admit this may take a few more than 5 minutes, but I think it’s worth it. For those of you looking for a speedier version you can find one on page 108 of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Read More

My Co-Author the Celebrity!

jeff 4 Comments

(photos by Hubert Bonnet) Just this week Zoe appeared in Lavender Magazine here in the Twin Cities– in a terrific article on Minneapolis-St. Paul’s rising young pastry chefs.  Above, she’s showing off her signature desserts, created for Tilia in Minneapolis, now one of the hottest tables in town.  Zoe was showcased as “best-selling author, blogger, [and] rising celebrity chef…” (click to view the full article).

Fougasse, stuffed or plain: New how-to video

jeff 21 Comments

Thanks for being patient with my roasted red pepper obsession.  Above, dropping the scorched peppers into a bowl to steam (see last week’s post on roasting your own peppers).  But now the embarrassing part:  I shot the video on a different day from pepper-roasting time, so I stuffed the fougasse with with tomato and cheese.  So it’s really fougasse in the pizza margherita style.  But you get the picture, or at least, the video: