Our mother didn’t cook on Friday nights when we were little, and we tend to agree with this as policy. Fridays are a grace note, the last day in our long week. We all need a reprieve from the weekday staples of broccoli and pasta.
As children of the 1970s, we adored TV dinners on Friday nights: the tinfoil tray with its geometric partitions (a bonus for the child who hated her different foods to touch); the fried chicken; the square of potato with its matching square of melted yellow; and most beloved of all, the teeny dish of warm apple cobbler, something we’d never have eaten full-sized, or home-made.
TV dinners smelt ever so slightly of airplane diesel, but this did not deter us. They were consumed while watching “The Love Boat,” which probably enhanced their charms.
For many of us now, pizza is the go-to Friday night supper. It is a blank slate that can work for the adult, the sophisticated child, and the fussy eater alike. It takes kindly to being gussied up with artisan ingredients, but it shines equally as a basic Margherita.
(Also, it’s easy-peasy. Delivered in forty minutes or it’s free).
But this Friday, refrain from ordering in. Below are two pizza recipes that are shockingly good, considering their healthful ingredients. Which will balance out the glasses of cold Prosecco you can sip to launch your Friday night.
End-of-school pizza party! Whoo-hoo!
Ingredients:
Yeast-Free Herbed Spelt Pizza Crust
Preparation:
Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil.
On a clean counter, measure out flour and the salt. Add baking powder, water and 2 tablespoons oil; mix it together with your hands…dough will be sticky…add flour as needed.
Knead dough until smooth, about 1 minute. Make two dough balls. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let sit until your ingredients are ready.
Makes enough dough for 2 thin-crust pizzas.
Classic Veggie
Pizza Dough
TOPPING:
Preparation:
Roll out pizza dough.
Transfer to oiled pizza pan and sprinkle with cornmeal. Cover dough with sauce and a sprinkling of cheese. Assemble toppings. Cover with remaining cheese and season with salt, pepper, and oregano.
Bake until dough is crisp and browned and cheese is melted, 13 to 16 minutes.
Transfer pizza to a cutting board. Cool 5 minutes.
Rustic Potato Pizza
Pizza Dough
TOPPING:
Preparation
Roll out your pizza dough and lay it on a lightly oiled pizza sheet.
Brush dough with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, rosemary; sprinkle with cornmeal.
Layer the thinly sliced potatoes all over the pizza, scattering the mozzarella between slices. Top with garlic, sprinkle with rosemary leaves, and dot with goat cheese. Add additional mozzarella if desired, and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
Bake until dough is crisp and browned and cheese is melted, 13 to 16 minutes.
Transfer pizza to a cutting board. Cool 5 minutes
Photos by our good friend Margaret Gdyczynski
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