Over the Christmas holidays I was lying in bed fretting over what to serve my vegetarian son Matt and his girlfriend Arlie. My passion is cooking and my family luckily loves to eat, but it seems I always spend more time on the carnivores as they are more numerous in our family! I always felt a bit guilty and wanted to really wow them with something they would love! They both enjoy spicy foods and pizza is a favorite. I had some boiled baby potatoes in the fridge...(I thought) what if I tossed them in some olive oil, sambol oelek (a Southeast Asian chili sauce), garlic, paprika, etc. and gave them a quick bake to flavor them? My pizza base would be my tasty homemade sour dough that I keep on hand frozen in the the freezer, topped with a lovely bechamel sauce with shallots, decorated with the now wonderfully flavoured potatoes and then topped with some tasty cheeses..mozzarella, cheddar. Hmmm that could be tasty, I thought! Sour cream and chopped green onions served with the slices would be a wonderful balance to the heat of the spicy potatoes! With this in mind, I rushed with enthusiasm to my kitchen and began creating. This recipe has now become not only a family favorite, but one of which all of my friends enjoy too. This recipe will make 2 large pizzas. For ease of preparation I will use commercial dough for this recipe.
Detailed preparation time: 40 min. the day before making pizzas to boil off the potatoes, and make bechamel sauce if desired; 1 hour to make (the pizza) on the day of; or 2 hours if doing everything the same day.
- Portion size 8 servings
- Credits : josigal
Ingredients
Bechamel Sauce:
Perogie Pizza:
Method
The day before I plan to make this pizza, I boil my baby potatoes (with skins on) in salted water till they're knife tender; then I drain and cool them overnight in the fridge. I find it easier to make my bechamel sauce the day before as well (I do it at the same time I'm boiling the potatoes to save time) and refrigerate overnight. Chilled, it spreads easily and doesn't heat up the dough.Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut boiled potatoes with the skins into 1/4" coins and place into a large bowl. Toss potatoes with the olive oil, Hungarian paprika, smoked paprika, garlic, sambal oelek, kosher salt and pepper till well coated and place on a large cookie sheet sprayed with Pam (cooking spray). Bake at 350 for 20 min, stir and flip potatoes over, then bake for another 10 min. Remove and let cool on top of stove.
To prepare the Bechamel Sauce: Place 1 tsp olive oil in a medium sized pot and saute chopped shallots on medium-high heat for several minutes or till translucent. In the same pot, add the butter and melt it. When butter is bubbling, add flour and stir till mixture has a light brown color. Add the cold milk, salt and pepper and whisk while heating mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for a couple of minutes until thickened while continually stirring. Let cool.
To assemble pizza: Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. Spray two 15" pizza pans with Pam and sprinkle with cornmeal or semolina. Sprinkle a small amount of cornmeal on the counter under the dough and enough flour on top of the dough so your rolling pin won't stick. Roll or toss dough (if you want to!) till you have the approximate size of the pizza pan. Spread the dough on the pans with your fingers, making a small lip around the edge (which will be your crust).
Divide bechamel sauce between the two pizza pans, spreading right up to the edges. Spread potato slices over the two pizzas, covering them evenly. Sprinkle half of the cheddar and half of mozzarella over each pizza, right up to the crust. Bake at 500 degrees for 24 minutes or until cheese top is golden.
Slide pizzas off of the pans onto a cutting board after 5 minutes and cut immediately. Serve each slice with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped green onions. (I pass around these toppings for everyone to dress up their own slices).
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
