Receta Smoked Salmon Pizza
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Ina
Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, is out with a new cookbook: “Cooking for Jeffrey”
(A barefoot contessa cookbook, Clarkson Potter 2016). It is her tenth cookbook and it’s about as
personal as any one she has ever written. After all, the “Jeffrey” in the title
is Ina’s husband of 48 years and counting. They married when she was 20 and he
was 22. This book is as much a story of
their relationship as anything else.
And of course, it’s a repository of Ina’s distinct style of cooking:
simple, straightforward and easy for the most amateur among us to pull
off. There’s an expanded number of cocktails and
accompaniments in this volume and an entire 28 pages devoted to bread and
cheese and 47 pages of desserts. And
just in case, you think the couple does nothing but nosh, there’s a list of 12
of Jeffrey’s ‘all-time' favorite dinners that cross-references recipes from all
nine previous volumes. Since I like to
start at the beginning, the first recipe I tried was nestled into the Cocktail
section. It was for a Smoked Salmon
Pizza and Ina didn’t actually invent the recipe herself.
Joan Collins in her Dynasty DaysOne of the hallmarks of Ina’s recipes is that she, unlike many, many famous
cookbook authors, Ina is all about giving credit where credit is due. In the case of the Smoked Salmon Pizza, she
was ‘inspired’ by none other than Wolfgang Puck, owner, founder, chef of Spago
in Los Angeles and now the Emperor of no less than 47 restaurants in 24
cities. You could make a strong case for
Chef Puck’s being responsible for the rise of Gourmet Pizza in this
country. Pizza was what put both Spago and
the Chef himself on the culinary map.
Here it is in all its glory: Crisp pizza crust topped with luscious Marscapone cheese, flavored with
chives, and silky smoked salmon and finished off with a salmon roe garnish. Ina recounts how the dish was created for
Joan Collins, she of “Dynasty” TV fame.
Apparently the actress never anything else at Spago. I think we can all thank her for that because
this is one incredibly easy dish to put together, even though I cheated.
Damascus Bakery, Home of Brooklyn Bred Ina,
of course, makes her own pizza crust.
The recipe for the dough is included here so fire away if you wish. I, on the other hand, was time pressured the
first time I decided to make this. And
although I had every intention of, if not making the dough myself, buying pizza
dough which is readily available in both my local supermarkets. But even more tempting was a pre-made Pizza
Crust I’d had really good results with in an earlier pizza making session. Brooklyn Bred has been in operation since
1930. It was called Damascus Bakery in
honor of its founder’s Syrian homeland.
It’s still owned by the same family whose grandfather started it, they
simply altered the name in honor of the borough they call home. Now
in case you do not know it, Brooklyn is famous for its pizza. And not just any pizza but pizza with a crust
that’s thin, light, crisp. Brooklyn Bred’s Pizza Crust is made with OO Italian
flour. This flour is the most refined,
powder-soft flour you can buy. And if
you take a Pizza Making course in Italy, like I did, you’re pretty well told
that if you don’t use 00 flour, you’re not making an authentic pizza
crust. All this is to say I felt
completely justified in using one of the beautiful rectangles of perfectly
cooked pizza dough. As
the pizza crust warms in the oven, there’s very little that’s simpler to do
than to stir fresh chives into the creamy marscapone. Out of the oven, the crust is allowed to cool
for a just a minute. Then the marscapone is spread over the top, a layer of salmon
tops the cheese, sprinkled with chives.
And if you’re feeling flush, you can top the salmon with Salmon Roe.
Here’s the recipe: Ina
Garten’s Smoked Salmon Pizzas
Makes
6 small pizzas, serves 12 for appetizers, 6 for lunch*
*Serving
sizes use Ina’s homemade pizza dough. If you use Brooklyn Bred or a pre-made pizza
crust, serving size will vary. One
Brooklyn Bred Crust served 2 for lunch, easily 4 for hors d’oeuvres
Pizza Dough New York Times PhotoFor
the Dough:
1
¼ cups warm (100-110 degrees) water
2
(1/2 oz) packages of active dry yeast
1
tablespoon honey
Good
Olive Oil
4
cups all-purpose flour, divided plus extra for kneading
Kosher
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Fine
Cornmeal
To
Assemble:
8
ounces Italian Marscapone
1
tbsp. minced fresh chives, plus extra for garnish
1’2
to ¾ pound thinly sliced smoked Salmon, preferably Scottish or Norwegian
Salmon
Roe for Garnish (Optional)
To
make the dough:
Combine
the water, yeast, honey and 3 tbsp. Olive Oil in the bowl of an electric mixer
fitted with the dough hook. Add three cups of the flour, then 2 teaspoons of
salt and mix for about 10 minutes, slowly adding up to 1 more cup of flour to
just keep the dough from sticking to the bowl. When the dough is ready, turn it
out onto a floured board and knead by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic. Brush a
medium bowl with olive oil, place the dough in the bowl, and turn it several
times to cover lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean, damp kitchen
towel and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes until doubled in size.
Divide
the dough into 6 equal parts and roll each one into a smooth ball. Place the
balls on a sheet pan and cover them with the damp towel. All the dough to rest
for 10 minutes.
Preheat
the oven to 500 degrees. Sprinkle 3 sheet pans with cornmeal.
If
you’ve chilled the dough, leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow
it to come to room temperature. Press each piece of dough into a circle with
your fingertips. Stretch the balls of
dough into roughly 8 inch circles and place them on the prepared sheet pans.
Brush
the dough with olive oil and bake from 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned
and crisp, rotating the pans to bake evenly. Set aside to cool slightly.
To
Assemble the Pizzas:
Whisk
the marscapone with 1 tablespoon of the chives, ½ tsp. of salt, ½ tsp of
pepper. Spread the mixture on the
pizzas, place one layer of smoked salmon on top, sprinkle with more chives and
a good griding of black pepper. Add a
large mound of Salmon Roe to the middle, if using. Place the pizzas on a
serving board, cut them into wedges or strips and serve immediately.