Ramp Pizza

Ramp Pizza, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

Just a few short weeks ago, I'd never heard of ramps. Many changes have occured since then and this recipe for Ramp Pizza, appearing from Smitten Kitchen last week was nothing short of freaky.

The big news is: I got a new job. I ventured out of my comfort zone, leaving a job I was content with but ultimately unchallenged or inspired by. After a few fits and starts, I have landed here. A gourmet market so special and inspiring, I'm practically chomping at the bit to re-vamp the little kitchen and my life. The company mission statement? Building community through food.

Though my new career so perfectly gels with the original intention of my little blog: embracing the veg, it will open up a whole new world of food for me. 

I'm currently obsessed with the produce...mostly attempting to memorize an overwhelming number of numbers that identify each type of fruit and vegetable. I knew that would be a challenge, but what surprises and intrigues me are the odd creatures I've never seen before.

 

As I'm OCD'ing  Googling my way through Ramp 101:

a wild leek, sort of a cross between a scallion and green garlic... pungent and onion-y. They're not cultivated, grown in gardens or on farms. They are foraged from forests, found mainly in the east from the Carolinas to Canada. Their season only lasts the first few weeks of Spring...

...up pops the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, just as I'm pondering what one does with a ramp. Pizza! Brilliant...a little piece of my comfort zone.
 

 

pizza love

pizza love, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

In "Breaking News" I've found myself with a new job in a neighborhood brew pub/pizzeria/sports bar. It was all very sudden. One day, I'm making my own pizza and perusing craigslist, then, two days later, I'm behind the bar making Screaming Orgasm's. 

It really couldn't be a more perfect fit and it can only inspire my love of pizza...I hope. What's not to love about a pizza called the Kinky Cow or the Swingers Shrimp. What kind of place is this? you might ask. Pizza Orgasmica & Brewing Company.

The best part is: it's only a 10 minute bike ride from the little kitchen!
This pizza is one of my favorites to make at home. I've become a big fan of this No Knead pizza dough. I topped this one with Parmesan, Mozzarella, tomato, red onions, basil and goat cheese. 

shaved asparagus pizza

shaved asparagus pizza, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

This is the pizza that changed my life. Much has happened in the little kitchen since I first discovered this gorgeous pizza at my favorite food blog Smitten Kitchen. I can't pass by a bundle of asparagus without the image of this pizza distracting me from what ever the task-at-hand may be. I can make it in my sleep. I really do. When I have trouble sleeping, envisioning my way through a cooking task is my version of counting sheep. I did that last night, except I started getting hungry. I got up and did two things: nuked a bowl of polenta* and shaped pizza dough balls.

Backing up a bit, I'm experimenting with a new tactic and recipe. I've been carrying around the March issue of Bon Appetit for a month now, inspired by the gorgeous pizza on the cover and its promise to reveal How to Make Pizza Like a Pro. YES! I want to go to there. I've read it over and over, just dreaming of some kitchen time, and making list after list of all the pizza topping I want to try. The pro is Jim Lahey (from NYC's Sullivan Street Bakery) and the recipe is for his No Knead Pizza Dough. Yesterday morning I mixed up the dough which took mere minutes and left it to rise and ferment all day and half the night. So when I started thinking about pizza, I realized the requisite 18 hours had passed since I'd set the dough to rise. I shaped it into 6 balls, wrapped each in plastic and put them in the fridge. In the meantime I stumbled across this post over at Love and Olive Oil. Frozen pizza! Brilliant! The secret is to partially pre-bake the crust.

I am sooooo doing this tonight.

*I stirred in some crumbled bacon I'd already pre-cooked for tonights pizza into the polenta, along with some more parmesan and butter and dang! it was good.