Farmers' Market Pizza and Hibiscus Tea

Pizza with Heirloom Tomatoes, Peaches, & White Truffle Salami

After my busy weekend of shopping I was inspired to do some cooking with all my new culinary finds. My initial thought was to make a salad with some juicy West Virginia peaches I purchased. Grilling the peaches would have been a nice touch, but since I recently moved, and no longer have a place to grill, nor a grill (left it behind in Chicago, so sad; sad to have left such a great city that is, the grill will get replaced, at some point).

This gave me an idea, hmm, I wonder how fresh peaches would taste on a pizza? Well, along with some heirloom tomatoes, fresh goat cheese (with chipotle), hot banana peppers (to counterbalance the sweetness of the peaches), basil, and some really tasty truffle salami I picked up along the way. Basically, a tomato-peach salad on top of some homemade dough in the form of a pizza. This may seem a bit atypical for a pizza, but after living in Chicago for the past 10 years, and only having access to seasonal produce for such a small window of time, I've grown to cherish every moment of the growing season.

So, my thoughts? I love the combination of the peaches and tomatoes. And, the truffle salami, what's not to love. You get hints of truffle with every bite; probably some of the best salami I've tasted outside of Italy. Everything tastes fresh, not globs of cheese running down your plate.

There's no way to get that nice charcoaled crust without a wood/cool fire oven. But using a pizza stone and turning your oven up as high as it goes, produces a nice crispy, browned crust in under 10 minutes (closer to 81/2-9 minutes total cooking time).

Am a bit indecisive at times and had trouble deciding on what type of cheese to use on the pizza. Ultimately, I settled on a combination of fresh goats cheese from Cherry Glen Farm (located just outside Washington DC, in Boyds, MD), Cypress Grove (from Arcata, California), and some Manchego (Spain) to round it off.

I love the hint of white truffle in this salami. Alternatively, you can drizzle a bit of white truffle oil over the top of the pizza after it comes out of the oven, or even garnish with a hint of truffle sea salt.

Some Cherokee purple, green and red zebra heirloom tomatoes.

And some juicy peaches from West Virginia.

Farmers' Market Pizza

Pizza toppings
1 large or 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 peach, thinly sliced

1 banana pepper, seeds removed, thinly sliced
(truffle) salami, thinly sliced
shredded/crumbled cheese (used combination of fresh goat's cheese and Manchego)
fresh basil, thinly sliced for garnish
sea salt or truffle salt to taste
drizzle of olive oil or truffle oil

red pepper flakes

Pizza Dough 

Makes 4 pizzas (each weighting 9 ounces)--I used 1 and froze the rest

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) 00 flour (or all purpose flour, unbleached high-gluten, bread, or half white-wheat)
1 3/4 teaspoons (0.44 ounces) salt
1 teaspoon (0.11 ounces) instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cup (14 ounces) ice cold water

Note: I have to admit, I used half white-wheat flour in the dough. On previous attempts, I found the dough a bit "doughy" with whole wheat. But, upon further experimentation, I found that if you roll it out very thin, it will get nice and crispy.

Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Stir in the water and olive oil (if using). With a wooden spoon, mix all the ingredients together until it forms a ball. Mix for about 5 to 7 minutes until all ingredients are evenly distributed. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky.

Sprinkle flour over the dough. Cut the dough into four pieces. Gently shape each piece into a ball. Mist the dough with oil, and cover with plastic.

The next step is letting the dough rise. Typically, I let the dough rise for three hours at room temperature. You can also refrigerate overnight to rest the dough (it can keep up to three days in the refrigerator); remove from the fridge and let the dough come to room temperature.

Making the Pizza
Place the pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees (or as high as your oven will go) for at least 30 minutes.

Now it's time to roll out the dough. Generously flour a peel or, alternatively, the back of a sheet pan. Roll the dough so that it stretches to about 11 to 12 inches in diameter for a 9 ounce piece of dough.

Slide the pizza onto the baking stone and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 81/2-9 minutes. Top with fresh basil, a drizzle of olive oil or white truffle oil, sea salt or truffle salt, and some red pepper flakes to taste.

Hibiscus Tea

I've made this tea on many occasions--baby showers, work functions--and it's always a big hit. It has just a hint of sweetness from pure cane sugar. There's also nice floral notes from the hibiscus flowers, along with cinnamon and citrus undertones. Very light and refreshing!
 

dried hibiscus flowers

Hibiscus Tea (courtesy of Michael Chiarello)

48 ounces water
3 tablespoons hibiscus flowers, organic

2 cinnamon sticks

1/8 cup sugar
1 small orange, sliced

ice

Note: I typically find hibiscus flowers at Mexican grocery stores or sometimes, Whole Foods.

Bring water to a light boil. Turn off the heat, add the hibiscus flowers and cinnamon sticks. Cover and steep for 20 minutes. Strain the tea, add the sugar and orange slices. Serve over ice.