pizza of the week: homemade green garlic ricotta with anchovies and capers

Gosh, I'm on such a garlic kick. It's so 90s.

Know what I mean? Maybe it was just my own awakening to good food during that decade, but I seem to remember that during the 90s, the hot ingredient was GARLIC. Come on, remember roasted garlic, spread on toast points? Boy, I sure do.

So, right now, I can't get enough of all things garlic. We've been making Pasta Aglio e Olio, which if you don't know is basically pasta tossed with olive oil and garlic. We've been making this fantastic recipe from Cook's Illustrated, which calls for gently sautéed garlic AND raw garlic. Amazing. I keep craving it.

For a couple of weeks now, however, I've been wanting to make this particular pizza. I saw a green garlic-spiked ricotta-potato sandwich on the menu of Local Mission Eatery... and green garlic got lodged in the back of my mind. Being that it's just immature garlic bulbs, it's in season. Heck, I've got some 50 feet away, in the backyard. But, I don't dare pull that stuff up. Grow baby grow.

Anyway, this pizza was also inspired by a comment that Jora left here on another pizza post: she was/is contemplating making fresh ricotta. What a great idea. Ricotta is best when it's super fresh, bringing out its delicate, milky nature. As far as cheesemaking goes, I've only ever made mozzarella a few times. Why I didn't start with ricotta is beyond me. Far less stretching, hand-burning, etc is involved in ricotta. None, actually. It's insanely easy -- you should make some now. It's great on all kinds of things. With my green garlic-spiked leftovers, I'm going to spread it on toasted baguette slices, then briefly broil 'em. While listening to Throwing Muses.

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Pizza with Homemade Green Garlic Ricotta, Anchovies and Capers

Start with basic pizza recipe. Smear a thin layer of basic tomato sauce (described here) on your rolled-out dough. Sprinkle with a very scant handful of grated mozzarella cheese. Into 2/3 cup fresh ricotta cheese (I followed this recipe, using "method two"), add 1 T. (or more, to taste) of chopped green garlic, white and green parts. Season with salt, pepper and a few gratings of lemon zest. Scoop the ricotta, in heaping tablespoonfuls, onto your pizza (you may have extra cheese). Drape a few fillets of anchovies around the ricotta and sprinkle over a spoonful of capers. Spray or brush some olive oil onto the exposed crust and lightly sprinkle with salt. Bake pizza according to basic recipe. Sprinkle with a bit of chopped parsley, and if you like, red pepper flakes and grated parmesan cheese. A little drizzle of your best extra virgin olive oil is nice, too.
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Postscript: Alongside this pizza was the first salad of the gardening season. Whee! Lovely lettuces and herbs, dressed in, what else, a green garlic-hazelnut oil vinaigrette.