Week of 5/24/1999

Roasted Vegetable Pizza

Crust:
1 1/3 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 pkg. active flour yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. warm water (120-130 degrees)
2 tsp. olive oil

Place all ingredients in a large fowl and beat with a mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in:
1 1/3 cups semolina flour. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in additional bread flour, if necessary, to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6-8 minutes). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface of dough. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in size (45-60 minutes).

Meanwhile, cut 2 medium zucchini, 1 medium sweet potato, 2 tiny new red potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Chop 1 cup of onion, mince 2 cloves of garlic and toss all vegetables with 1 or 2 Tbls. of olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Place all vegetables in a greased 13 x 9 shallow baking pan. Roast at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1/4 cup snipped fresh basil and 1 Tbls. snipped fresh sage.

Punch dough down; divide into 4 equal portions. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface roll each portion into a 6 to 8-inch round. Build up edges slightly. Transfer dough rounds to greased baking sheets. Spoon and spread about 1/4 cup of ready-made pasta or pizza sauce evenly over each crust. Divide vegetables evenly among the 4 crusts and top with 1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes or until cheese melts and crust browns. Serves 4.

Ripe Olive and Avocado Quesadillas

a 6 oz. can pitted ripe black olives (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 firm-ripe avocado
1 small red bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro sprigs
2 Tbls. finely chopped red onion
1 1/2 Tbls. fresh lime juice
4 6 or 7-inch flour tortillas
1/2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups grated pepper Jack cheese (about 5 oz.)

Drain olives well; slice crosswise in 1/8 in. slices. Peel avocado and chop it and the bell pepper. In a bowl stir together the first 6 ingredients. Preheat broiler. Put tortillas on a large baking sheet and brush tops with oil. Broil tortillas 2-4 inches from heat until pale golden, about 45 seconds. Turn tortillas over and broil until pale golden. Sprinkle tortillas evenly with pepper Jack and broil until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 30 seconds. Divide olive mixture among tortillas and cut each tortilla into 4 wedges. Serves 4 as a first course.

Green Olives Stuffed with Chili Almonds

1 10 oz jar pitted large green olives (about 24)
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 1/4 tsp. chili powder
24 whole almonds with skins (about 1/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large sieve rinse olives and drain well. In a bowl stir together 1/2 tsp. oil and 1/2 tsp. chili powder and add almonds, tossing to coat. Transfer almonds to a baking sheet and toast in middle of oven until fragrant and a couple of shades darker, 8-10 minutes. Cool almonds just until they can be handled and stuff each olive with an almond. In bowl toss olives with remaining oil and chili powder. Olives may be made 1 day ahead and kept, covered at room temperature. Assemble just before serving. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.