New York Style Chicago Pizza/Chicago Style New York Pizza

August hiatus stretched into September hiatus and now we are smack into fall.

But never fear dear reader, The Allergenius traffics in nostalgia, and the end of summer is rife with remembrances of meals past. From the savory to the sweet, we'll be revisiting some old faves in the next couple of weeks. As the season's harvest shifts gears we'll be looking back through the rear view mirror at some summer highlights.

Speaking of traveling metaphors, when I was packing for my recent trip to Chicago I was faced with the age old dilemma: "Computer or CSA veggies?" Let's just say the only work I faced as I boarded the plane was pondering "what constitutes local food?"












The Park Slope Food Coop my personal mecca for all things local has this to say about "500 miles to local":

At the Coop, we define local as within 500 miles, because 500 miles is approximately a one-day-truck-drive away. Arugula picked at dawn on a Monday can be packed, trucked and on our shelves by 8:00 a.m. the next day. Our 500-mile radius stretches from Quebec to North Carolina, and from the Atlantic Coast to the middle of Ohio.

My locally sourced Russet Potatoes, Summer Squash and garlic were decidedly not local in Logan Square Chicago, eight hundred miles from my Brooklyn apartment.

Does this pizza, composed of exotic Long Island veggies constitute fusion cuisine? The perfect meld of two worlds: cloying Chicago deep dish and New York thin crust? Well, no. But it does offer the perfect allergen free blend of flavors.




The Allergenius Pizza (with variations)
*I used Bittman's recipe, and I'm still working on going GF with this one, but if you have a favorite GF crust, have at it!*

Ingredients
1/2 packet active dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 to 1 1/4 cups water
2 TB plus 1 tsp. olive oil
Semolina flour as needed
Pinch of sugar

** I added 2 TB chopped rosemary and 3 sliced garlic cloves

Method
Activate the yeast using about a 1/2 cup warm water and the pinch of sugar. Add together and let sit until bubbles form

Combine the yeast, flour and 2 teaspoons salt in a bowl. Begin mixing and add the remaining 1/2 cup water and olive oil. Continue mixing until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky. If it is too dry, add water a very little at a time until it acquires the desired consistency.

Turn the dough onto a work surface floured with the semolina and knead a few seconds. grease a bowl with the remaining olive oil, and place the dough in it. Add Rosemary and Garlic Cloves. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and allow to rise in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 1 to 2 hours.

For Toppings (and baking the Pizza)
I was recently tapped for GERD by my GI doctor and challenged myself to make a group of toppings that would cohere without tomato sauce, the following is what I came up with, not all are allergy free (I held off on the cheese), but hopefully the flavor profile and balance of dry/roasted/saucy will inspire you to make your own creation!

Ingredients
Russet Potatoes, thinly sliced
Salt & Pepper
Lemon Sorrel, whole or roughly chopped
Olive oil
3-4 eggs, over easy (make these in the last five minutes of baking, so that they are nice and fresh and runny!)

Method

Turn the dough out onto your floured surface and (literally) punch it several times. Divide it into desired portions and roll into pizzas. Brush the dough with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper before adding the potato and goat cheese, and spread oil on the surface of the sheet pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until crust browns.

Remove from oven, top with lemon sorrel and fried egg, serve immediately.