Blake Makes

Last year we took a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit our friend Norisha and we had a delicious meal at Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown. I loved the egg they added to the pizza midway through cooking because it added a creamy richness to the pie. Tonight, Blake has a late dinner meeting, so I decided to stay home, watch a girly movie and make a pizza that reminded me of our trip to D.C.

We had an unopened package of turkey bacon and leftover smoked mozzarella, so I decided to make a bacon, egg and cheese pizza. This took me almost no time to make and it turned out so well. Blake ended up eating half before his night out and declared it incredibly delicious!

My only regret was that I only used one egg; next time I’d use two so each half would be covered in delicious, sunny yolkiness (as seen below!). Now, I’m off to watch Nancy Drew!

Ingredients:

• Ready-made pizza crust (I like Boboli because it’s cheap, keeps awhile in the pantry and tastes good.)
• Marinara sauce
• Mozzarella (I used a combo of leftover bagged cheese and deli smoked mozzarella- the smoked cheese added tons of flavor, so I would definitely mix this in again.)
• 3 strips bacon
• Handful chopped Fresh flat-leaf parsely
• Salt and pepper
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• Cook bacon, crumble and put to the side.
• Spread thin layer of marinara over crust, and add a few handfuls of mozzarella. Bake pizza on the rack for about 4 minutes.
• Pull out oven rack, and make sure it’s level. Crack egg in center of pizza and add a little salt to yolk. Push over rack back in, turn on broiler and bake for an additional 5-6 minutes, until yolk has thickened but is not hard (sunny-side up).
• Add bacon, parsely, grated Parmesan and black pepper to taste.

Bridget and I are creatures of habit. Nearly every week, Bridget makes her Sunday sauce, and we spend the rest of the week eating it on pasta, pizza, etc. And even though we’re on a diet, we always buy a loaf of delicious, crusty, artisan bread (this week it was a Calamata olive loaf).

Tonight’s meal was supposed to be Fettuccine Bolognese, but (alas) the meat went bad and we were out of mushrooms. Plan B: Eggs In Purgatory.

EIP isn’t as much cooking as it is assembling. Spread some sauce on a plate. Toast on top of that. Fried egg on top of that. Garnish with basil and parm. I like to leave the yellows very loose so when I break them they mix with the sauce to make something other-worldy. Simple. Delicious.

Tonight I was going to have leftover Pork Carnita Tacos, but as I started foraging through our fridge, I noticed some delicious turkey bacon and immediately I thought, BLT.

A few days ago, I bought a fresh loaf of Dakota Wheat. I also have some fragrantly plump tomatoes bathing in the evening sun on my window sill, and some baby arugula in the crisper that would star as the “L” in my BLT tonight.

In our family, we almost always cook eggs in the greasy deliciousness left by recently fried bacon. Fried eggs made Bridget think of a recipe we saw in The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider, the  latest edition to our cookbook library. On page 135, there’s a recipe for Elemental Carbonara (Pasta with a Fried Egg and Parmigiano).

Bridget cooked some whole-wheat spaghetti, and once it was just about done (al dente), she tossed it with 2 slices of crumbled bacon, torn basil leaves (about 3), fresh grated Parmesan, S&P and topped it with 2 fried eggs. The yellows of the eggs were still runny, so when she broke them over the pasta they combined with the cheese to make a soft, delicious sauce. This is a great dish.

You could call it Pasta with a fried egg on it, but fancy it up, serve it to company and call it Deconstructed Carbonara. Thanks, B!