MITCH IN THE KITCHEN

radicchio, pancetta, and mushroom pizza

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when the weather gets hot, I want to eat. And cook. A lot. I spent most of this last (very brutal) heat wave hiding indoors, soaking up other people’s air conditioning. While the streets of New York felt like an even dirtier sauna than usual, I was quietly slurping down iced coffee and eating chocolate cake, chocolate croissants, and squishy cheeseburgers within walking distance of my apartment. At home, I made big ass healthy salads (of the raw vegetable, whole grain, potato, and pasta varieties) while hoping that my responsible 80-degree thermostat setting would prevent any blackouts (I stocked flashlights, candles, and ice-cold tequila, just in case).

Also, I was nuts enough to bake pizza in a 500-degree oven, albeit very quickly. Feel free to try this in other weather.

To make it: Saute sliced mushrooms and chopped raddichio in a little bit of oil (tip: if your radicchio is really, really bitter, you can soak chopped pieces in ice water for at least 30 minutes to leach out some of whatever bitter-tasting compounds). Shape dough (I’m still doing no-knead) and top with mozzarella (torn into pieces), shallots (thinly sliced), mushroom and radicchio mixture, thinly sliced pancetta (torn into pieces), and pieces of aged gouda, in this order. Bake til crust is golden and cheese starts getting bubbly.

Previously: radicchio, apple, and gorgonzola pizza

radicchio, apple, and gorgonzola pizza

Radicchio is bitter. SO bitter. And John and I do ok with bitter (black coffee, the hoppiest IPAs imaginable, bitter melon when it’s drowned in some kind of spicy garlicky sauce).  But this Treviso radicchio from our CSA was too much. I tried marinating and broiling it with vinegar and garlic, which smelled fantastic but was un-swallowable.

I consulted Chowhound (one of the best resources out there for my cooking woes) and found out that soaking the leaves in ice water for at least 30 minutes subdues much of the bitterness. Someone also suggested “throwing other strong flavors at it: blue cheese, apples, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette.” A lovely idea for a pizza. Next time, I’m thinkin’ smoked mozzarella or olives. But I’ll probably just make this pizza again.

Order of layers: pizza dough, mozzarella, thinly sliced apples, ribbons of radicchio (I used a very conservative amount, but next time there will be more), gorgonzola cheese. Bake at 500 degrees for around 20 minutes, or until it looks done (because we all know what pizza is supposed to look like). Top with toasted walnuts (or just add un-toasted walnuts during the last couple minutes of baking).