In a restaurant so much of the work is about time. Sure things need to be done right and they should look appealing and taste delightful but there is always that I take joy in spending 4-5 hours on my days off creating a meal. While it may not involve me spending every minute of those 4 or 5 hours in the kitchen, I've come to enjoy the little luxuries of home cooking: reading for 45 minutes while a chicken roasts, watching a movie while tomato sauce simmers away for hours, lingering over a glass of wine before doing the dishes, savoring a luxurious dessert wine and not having to worry about the next item on the prep list or the next ticket in the window.
Another way that working in a restaurant has changed the way I cook is that, while I've always enjoyed cooking for others, I'm learning to take joy in cooking for myself. Restaurant cooks spend a lot of time trying to please others and cook to the tastes of a customer. Less salt, no salt, add onions, no onions, substitute gruyere cheese for cheddar, add both gruyere and cheddar, no bread, sauce on the side, use oil instead of butter, etc. With so much time spent trying to make the diner happy, I find that it's nice to come home and cook exactly what I want.
So all of that said, I've certainly been doing a fair amount of cooking. Some of the things I've made lately include:
- Thomas Keller's Favorite Roast Chicken
- Maryland Rockfish with Oyster Mushroom and Black Truffle Cream Sauce
- Red Curry and Coconut Risotto
- My Perfect 4-hour Red Sauce
- Sweet Corn Risotto
- Eggplant and Zucchini Fries
- Lasagna Bolognese
- Pasta with Tuna and Roasted Pepper and Caper Tomato Sauce
I'll certainly be posting more about some of these items as I continue to perfect my red sauce and my lasagna, however, tonight I just want to mention the dish I had this evening since it was the perfect supper for a lazy Saturday and the fall weather we've been having lately.
Butternut Squash and Rapini Pizza
Another trend in my at home dining is that I've been cooking more meatless meals. This is largely for two reasons. First, I work in a restaurant now so I'm kind of poor these days and since meat is expensive, I enjoy creating meals out of vegetables and grains. Now that fall is upon us, I have been craving butternut squash. The sweet and creamy taste of butternut squash just says autumn to me. So this weekend I decided to make a pizza that would celebrate the delicious flavor of my favorite fall veggie.
Since - as I've noted many times before - I'm not too big on the baking, I decided to go ahead and use some pre-made pizza dough. So I hit up one of my favorite Italian spots, Vace, and bought some of their pizza dough. When it comes to buying pizza dough, I generally opt to go with a place that actually sells pizzas (and it's always good to sample the merchandise, so you know it's delicious). Most any pizza place will sell you some dough for a few bucks (cheap huh?) although a lot of grocery stores sell pizza dough as well.
Once I had the dough it was time to figure out the toppings. I knew I wanted to make a white pizza (i.e., no red sauce) and I knew I wanted butternut squash but what about the rest of the toppings? First I rolled out my dough on a floured board and then I sprinkled some cornmeal on one side and then, flipping it over so the cornmeal was on the bottom, placed it on a sheet pan (the cornmeal helps prevent sticking to the pan). Then I spread olive oil and minced garlic all over the crust. For the cheese, I put on some shredded smoked mozzarella.
Next came the veggies, I added thin slices of butternut squash that I had roasted in olive oil and red chili flakes. Then I put down some rapini that I had chopped and blanched. The finishing touches were a little bit of fresh goat cheese crumbled on top and a dusting of red chili flakes. Right before putting the pizza into a 500 degree oven I brushed the crush with some olive oil and sprinkled it with a little kosher salt.
I baked the pizza on the top rack first until the cheese began to melt. Then I transferred it to the bottom rack so that it would get nice and crisp. Once the cheese was melted and bubbly and the crust was nice and crisp I removed the pizza from the oven and let it rest for a minute or two. I cut myself two slices and took a bite. The sweet butternut squash, smoky mozzarella, and slightly bitter rapini were a fantastic combination of flavors. The small, tangy pockets of goat cheese sprinkled all over the top added another layer of flavor and the crust was buttery, crisp, and salty. In short, it was my perfect fall pizza.
I do think I would change a few things next time though. For one thing, I would add a little molasses or maple syrup to the roasting squash, just to get another layer of sweetness. I would also change my cheese. I love the smoky flavor of mozzarella but fresh mozzarella has too much water I think and the texture when it melts isn't exactly what I'm looking for so next time I would probably use a smoked gouda. But on the whole, a delicious fall dinner and a perfect way to enjoy pizza without having to go out or order in.
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