Honeyed Words: Potato Pizza (A feast for the stomach) and Greek Blood (A feast for the eyes)

Potato Pizza (A feast for the stomach) and Greek Blood (A feast for the eyes) · 19 March 2007

Picture of Pesto Potato Pizza

Saint Patrick’s Day was a culinary success with the two versions of potato pizza that I promised. I wasn’t feeling industrious enough to make my own dough, so I bought a two pack of Boboli ready-made pizza dough at the store.

Today I found myself with lots of odds and ends on my list, all the chores I’ve been putting off took on a life of their own that was threatening to engulf me in a sea of “To do” if at least some of them weren’t attended to. After the chores, I was originally planning to return to foodventures based on The Onion Girl, but since I was in the neighborhood of my favorite book friendly thrift store I decided to indulge in book shopping instead of creative culinary activities.

Later in the evening, I promised my mom I would go watch the 300 with her. The movie turned into “dinner and a movie” and here I sit at almost midnight, a margarita making me sleeping, and no new recipes in progress. Given the lemon of a movie that was the 300, I’m going to make it into lemonade by turning it into blog content.

I had ambivalent feelings towards the movie to begin with, and I had the sinking sensation that going to watch it would be robbing me of time. I’d already put off seeing it once, and I wasn’t any more in the mood tonight than I was before.

I’d heard the movie was a faithful reproduction of the comic book feel, but I’ve never been converted to comic books, so that didn’t entice me. I’d heard it was light on plot, and I’m a fan of plot, so that didn’t win me over either. I’d heard it was visually stunning, but high in the gore factor, and I usually avoid bloody movies. Despite all the things I’d heard being true, I enjoyed the movie a bit. It was epic in the style of the Lord of the Rings trilogy without being a Lord of the Rings rip-off. The female lead delivered some compelling lines and one gritty and vindicating scene. Best of all, there were 300 attractive men in very little clothing marching to war to the tune of heavy metal.

The themes of the 300 were straightforward; glory in battle, honor in death, sacrifice for freedom. The history of ancient Greece is fascinating, but the movie did little to include the viewer in the larger cultural picture in which the Spartans lived. The focus of the movie was on the warrior caste of Sparta and little was done to include the other men of Greece. The philosophers and assembly, founders of the ideals that the warriors protected, were almost ridiculed by the warrior elite. This was a movie about a battle from the perspective of its warriors, plain and simple.

The blood was so stylized that I didn’t even feel squeamish, though there were a few graphic scenes (someone on the production team must have had a beheading fetish, I counted three). I enjoyed the slow motion battle scenes in which it appeared the Spartans were literally dancing with death, twisting and whirling around their enemies, flicking would be attackers away with the point of a blade or a spear. I felt that the visual aspect was the most developed of this film. As an avid fan of plot and character development, it wasn’t really for me, unlike the potato pizza which was just about cheesy carbalicious enough to satisfy even the most die hard modern urban warrior.

Potato Tomato Basil Pizza (Pictured at top):

Adapted from That’s My Home.

1 pre-made pizza crust
2-3 red-skinned new potatoes, sliced with skin on
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp plus 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup minced spinach leaves
½ cup chopped parsley
½ cup fresh basil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
½ cup plus ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 plum tomatoes sliced

Method:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

To Make topping: Lightly oil baking sheet. Place sliced potatoes in a clean plastic bag; add salt, pepper and 1 teaspoon olive oil. Toss well to coat evenly. Place on prepared baking sheet and roast until browned (about 10-15 minutes).

Place remaining olive oil, spinach, parsley, basil, garlic, and walnuts into blender or food processor, and pureé to a paste. Spread thickly over pizza dough.

Place the dough on a pizza stone or baking sheet. Place roasted potatoes and sliced tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until crust begins to brown.

The pesto added a nice touch of green to the Saint Patrick’s Day celebration. Unlike the first pizza, the potatoes were not the main flavor, a good contrast.

Picture of Cheesy Potato Pizza

Pizza del Lattaio (Pictured above):

Adapted from David Ruggerio's Italian Kitchen via The Global Gourmet.

1 pre-made pizza crust
¾ pounds each red and white potatoes
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 ounces hard to semi-hard cheese, shredded – I used the Kerrygold Dubliner
3 ounces of a different type hard to semi-hard cheese, shredded – I used the Kerrygold Gouda
Freshly ground black pepper
1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves only
2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2-4 slices prosciutto ham, cut into small pieces

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Wash and clean potatoes thoroughly. The original recipe suggested peeling these, but I like the taste of skin in my mashed potatoes, so I elected to keep them here. Boil potatoes until tender (about 20 minutes). Once boiled, cut into small cubes.

Place the dough on a pizza stone or baking sheet, sprinkle with the first two cheeses, and top with the cubed potatoes and ham. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top of the pizza, then sprinkle it with fresh pepper, rosemary, and Parmesan.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown.

The original recipe didn’t call for the ham, but I was glad I added it. The Irish cheeses were a bit less sharp than those recommended, and the saltiness of the ham kept this recipe from being too bland. This would have also been great with a bit of corned beef shredded on top instead of ham for those of you that may have Saint Patrick’s leftovers needing a home!

300, Cheese, Irish Food, Movie Review, Pesto, Pizza, Potato, Saint Patrick’s Day