purple pizza

Don't be alarmed; no killing of Barney took place in this post.

I love it when things just work out, don't you? Opportunely, a craving for pizza came about last week when I made the aforeblogged cheesy bread. I used half the dough to make a loaf and was planning on doing the same with the other half of dough (to answer your question, Elle!), but decided to split it in half and make two pizzas instead.

Pre-baking the shells ensures that it finishes cooking around the same time the cheese gets bubbly, and also because I wasn't using a pizza stone.

Whilst normally I would make a raw sauce, pureeing a can of diced tomatoes and mixing it with all the add ins and letting it set for a few hours, I cooked it instead. Using a crapton of garlic sauteed in olive oil before adding basil and a tablespoon or two of tomato paste to caramelize with salt, then adding a pureed can of diced tomatoes and letting it cook down to evaporate a bit of the liquid. This was incredible stuff, and could have been used just to dip vegetables in or something. Entirely yummy and very quick.

Not having very many toppings around besides pepperoni, I thought outside the pie and decided that the purple cauliflower my mom picked up from the farmer's market a while ago would make an excellent topping, roasted first. Trust me on this.

Also from the farmer's market, and I wish I had brought my camera that day, was a stand with SALT. Nothing. But. Salt. Fleur de sel, Himalayan pink salt, black salt, grey salt, salt, salt, salt! And you could taste it all! Here's the description for the salt I chose:

Murray River Pink Flake Salt

The salt crystals from the Murray River in Southern Australia are delicate peach colored flakes. They have a wonderfully milk flavor. The salt is produced naturally from the underground brines in the Murray Darling Basin.

Uses: The texture is ideal for use as a finishing salt. The crystals melt quickly and evenly making it ideal for cooking and roasting. Also combines well in dry spice blends.

If you want to check it out, visit Charmane's Gourmet Seasonings.

Roasted with garlic, olive oil, and the Murray salt, the purple cauliflower and a mildly sweet flavor with subtle caramelized hints. Besides the sauce, I had to keep myself from tasting too much!

Seriously one of the best pizzas I've ever had. And I had to chuckle when I ate it, for the crust reminded me of the "hippie" crust I tried at a new pizza place (a chain, but I don't discriminate) that was rather tasteless and made me decide that pizza should just have a white dough and leave well enough alone. Alright, I was a bit hasty in forming that biased (I'm Italian) opinion, and this dough made excellent crust.