Provencal Pizza
Made With Your Own or Store-Bought Toppings
Martha Holmberg, Puff, Chronicle Books (2008). Reprinted with permission.
- Servings: 8 as an appetizer or 2 to 3 as a light main course.
This recipe is from Puff, a book by Martha Holmberg and photographs by Ngoc Minh Ngo, and is from the chapter devoted to what she calls "big first courses and main dishes."
She notes that this "pizza" is "easy to make, so serve big squares of it for dinner on nights when you're short on time." Holmberg explains that she originally created the recipe to use leftover ratatouille, but that you can equally use prepared caponata, Greek eggplant spread, roasted red peppers or other pre-cooked vegetables like caramelized onions or grilled zucchini.
Her one proviso: don't overload the crust or else it will get soggy.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet (about 9 ounces) frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 3/4 cup ratatouille, caponata, or another Mediterranean vegetable condiment (drained if very juicy)
- 1/2 cup halved grape or other small tomatoes
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/3 cup roughly chopped pitted kalamata, nicoise, or other good quality black olives
- Scant 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
- 8 anchovy fillets
- 1/2 cup (about 1 ounce) freshly and finely grated Parmesan cheese
- Olive oil for brushing (optional)
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil or parsley leaves
Directions
- Heat the oven to 400° F.
- On a lightly floured counter, roll the pastry into an 11-by-15-inch rectangle. Slide it onto a baking sheet and prick all over with a fork.
- Moisten the perimeter with a little water and fold up the edge to create a 1/2-inch border.
- Spread the ratatouille evenly over the pastry. Distribute the tomatoes, feta, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes on top.
- Bake for about 18 minutes, then arrange the anchovies in a neat pattern on top and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
- Continue baking until the pastry is puffed around the edges and golden brown (check the underside, too), another 4 to 5 minutes.
- Slide onto a cutting board, immediately brush the edges with some olive oil (if using), and sprinkle with the basil.
- Cut into squares and serve slightly warm.
