potato pizza.

I am not much of a potato person.  To be honest, if you look at the recipe history of this blog, it's fairly devoid of potato recipes. 

To me, if I'm going to eat a starchy, carby, food, pasta will always win and for that reason, I tend to overlook potatoes.  But when the farmers market returned 2 weeks ago (hip hip hooray!) and they were selling what they referred to as "Fancy Yukon Potatoes" I felt I was doing myself a disservice by not buying them. 

I brought them home, looked at them and thought they were adorable and very fancy looking, and I had no idea what to do with them. That was until I made a lunch pitstop at Sullivan St Bakery and saw the potato pizza and realized combining your favorite thing (bread) with something you love less (potatoes) may result in a very tasty dinner.  

This is my ode to that in-between weather.   When you are aching for BBQ's but the weather isn't quite there yet so you make a pizza thats perfect for sharing with friends.   It's good with rose, it's good with beer, and it's even better the next day with an egg on it.   

Potato Pizza 
Recipe tweaked from Jim Lahey 

4 teaspoons fine sea or table salt
6 to 8 (1 kilo) small to medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 to 5 tablespoons olive oil
4 pieces of spring garlic, white and light green parts thinly sliced
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan or pecorino 
1 recipe Pizza Dough (see below)

In a medium bowl, combine the 1 quart lukewarm water with salt, stirring until the salt has dissolved. Use a mandoline or your best sharpest knife to slice the potatoes very thin (1/16 inch thick), and put the sliced directly into the salted water, which prevents oxidation and also helps soften them so they cook up nicely. Let them soak for 1 1/2 hours or up to 12 in the fridge overnight.

Heat your oven to 500°F with a rack in the center. Brush a 13×18-inch rimmed half-sheet pan with olive oil. Use your fingertips, oiled or dusted with flour, to pull, stretch, nudge and press the dough across the bottom of the pan. The dough will be thin and imperfect. If holes form, just pinch them together. It’s all going to work out, promise.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and use your hands to press out as much water as possible, then pat dry on paper towels. In a medium bowl, toss the potato slices with the onion, spring garlic, parmesan and olive oil. Spread this potato mixture over your dough, going all the way to the edges so that there’s no uncovered edge; put a bit more topping around the edges of the pie, as the outside tends to cook more quickly. Usually the salt the potatoes were soaked in is enough, but you can sprinkle more on if desired.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping is starting to turn golden brown and the crust is nicely bronzed underneath. Serve pizza hot or at room temperature.

Jim Lahey’s Basic Pizza Dough

2 cups minus 1 tablespoon (250 grams) all-purpose or bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons (5 grams) instant or active dry yeast
A heaped 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
A heaped 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
2/3 cups (150 grams) room temperature water

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until well blended, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the dough has more than doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Continue using instructions above.