Sunday 21 August 2011

The Chanterelles- Comeback Tour!

Pizza con Finferli, Pancetta, Olive, Pomedorini e Formaggio Saignac
Pizza with Chanterelles, Pancetta, Olives, Cherry Tomatoes and Saignac Cheese



I guess that by now you have noticed that I am a "waste not, want not" kind of guy- especially when it comes to food. That is why you will often get 2 or 3 recipes in a row on here that use the same ingredients. Because they just happen to be my groceries! If you live alone, you will know that it often takes a while to get through a carton of eggs, a hunk of bacon or a bunch of carrots, so you often have odds and ends in the fridge. But to me, that is much more of a blessing than a curse. It just gives you more possibilities to try out and experiment new combinations of foods and flavors without taking huge risks... if you end up trashing a leftover, it ain't gonna hurt as much as something you bought for a particular recipe.

And if you get a little creative about things, you need never worry about that "oh I don't want to eat the same thing two days in a row" thing either. I personally have absolutely no problem with that anyway... I try to make food that is so delicious that I have no worries about eating it twice!


So, back to my little pizza and it WAS little, at just about half the size of a regular pizza- but just enough for my lunch today! I had a handful of Chanterelles from last night, already washed a cleaned and ready to go. I was thinking of making maybe an omelette... but was suddenly taken by the idea of the omelette instead, as I have never seen an omelette with Chanterelles before. But before you get busy conjuring images of me sifting flour and crumbling yeast, making a dough and kneading it into shape... I have to disappoint you yet again, by saying yes, I did use a store-bought dough. Sure, a pizza dough, a pastry base, even fresh pasta- all of these things are easy to make. But we are talking about a snack here- a half-portion of food for one person. Life is too short to be proving a point all the time! The ingredients that went onto my topping were fresh and good... the dough is basically just flour and water... end of discussion! On with the show!


I popped the dough into the oven to pre-bake a little and in the meantime put the Chanterelles into a dry pan with some chopped bacon. I added a little cumin seed, nutmeg, lemon pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and a little chopped green onion. By now the pizza base was firm enough to add the topping. I made a mix of Dijon mustard, yogurt and a little olive oil and brushed the dough with it and then added the mushroom/bacon/onion mix on top, making sure to distribute things equally. Then I added some halved cherry tomatoes and black olives and popped it into the oven for 5 minutes.



After 5 minutes, take the pizza out and add the cheese. The Saignac goat cheese is soft and melts really quickly- putting it on top from the get-go, would have melted it away to nothing and burned the remainder! So now is the time! All it will take is 1-2 minutes under the broiler... et voila! Lunch in 15 minutes, leftovers well used... and another mission accomplished in the kitchen! Yay!

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