Dinner 1 Puttanesca Pizza: Tomato, Olives, Capers, and Anchovy

Well first recipe from the book seemed pretty straight forward, had a few of the items listed already, but a trip to the store would be necessary for a few of the more uncommon items..........or at least items uncommon in my kitchen.

Here is the list of ingredients:

2 gloves of garlic, minced(I actually had these items, as I had recently purchased a garlic press......not sure why.......I guess it was a combination of that fact that, it was on sale and I am a shopaholic, but regardless, I bought it and some fresh garlic to press)

1/8 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes(had this too sitting in the spice cabinet)

2 tablespoons extra virgin Olive oil(from here on out, this will be referred to as EVOO......and yes I have like a gallon of this stuff in the kitchen)

2 anchovy fillets(ok, i had to purchases these little guys. I have never cooked with anchovy before, but I picked up a little tin of them from the store and tried one out of curiosity...........I can see why anchovy is an acquired taste.......thank the lord I had a glass of ice and coke on hand to wash the taste away.........o'h rachael, where are you taking me with this first recipe?)

1 can tomatoes, drained and diced(got a can from the store, already to go)

one 12 inch thin crust Boboli pizza shell(love this things, have used them before, plus I love the way the name......boboli rolls off the tongue......makes me feel all Italian when I say it)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley(had lots of this stuff in the kitchen already in various forms, dried, chopped, fresh, whole leaf, so I was good to go here)

2 tablespoons capers, drained(ok, i did not have these and had never cooked with them before. For some reason, every time I hear the word caper, I think it is some kind of little fish, like an anchovy, but really I know it is not. To offer some clarification, a caper is a bud from a plant that, to me taste like something that has been pickled...........either way, I had to buy a little jar from the store......on a side note, the girl working at the store seemed to think it was odd that I was asking for capers. I guess being a guy, she expected me to ask her where they kept the manly cuts of meat or maybe the guns and ammo.......)

1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, drained and chopped(I actually had some of these babies in the fridge already. I am a big fan of the olive and eat them raw all the time, but for those who have to buy these, seek out a store with an Olive bar if possible, so you can get the freshest olives available and not have to buy them from a jar or can)

1/2 cup grated blended italian cheeses(had this already too, it is a nice container of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano,Romano,Mozzarella and Provolone).

Ok, the time spent going to the store to get these items, was about an hour.....it would have been less, but I wondered around the store for a while, before I broke down and asked where the capers are at.

Back home I pre-heated the oven to 425 degrees

In a skillet(the book says to use a small skillet, but I break out this massive one I bought that is like a foot and a half across that I decided I needed after watching the movie "no reservations", I guess I thought I might one day date a sexy chef and she would be expecting a large skillet be available on those nights that we have a moment of playful cooking, that leads to a deeper understanding of each other and a better connection on an emotional level.............yea that's right, even guys sometimes think like this)over medium heat saute the garlic, crushed red pepper flakes in the evoo until the garlic sizzles. Then add the anchovies and use the back of a large spoon(book says to use a wooden spoon, but since this is not the 1800's, I do not own a wooden spoon, so I use a big plastic spoon),to help dissolve the anchovies into the evoo. Add the tomatoes and stir to coat evenly and then remove from heat.

Place the pizza crust on a pizza pan(I do not have a pizza pan, so I use a large baking pan......I am hoping this will not displease the pizza pan gods.) Sprinkle the tomato mixture evenly across the crust. the add the parsley, capers and olive. Then cover the crust with a light layer of the cheese blend, make sure the cheese goes right out to the crust edges. Do not add to much cheese or it will make the pizza soggy, you should still be able to see the colors of the other toppings peeking through.

Place pizza in the oven and cook 8 to 12 mins or until the cheese starts to brown and the crust edges should be crisp.

The Verdict:

Well, it took 9 mins to cook and over all far less then 30 mins from start to finish in the kitchen. The taste is fantastic. After having tried the anchovy fillet by itself, I figured that the pizza would be pretty nasty, but the flavor of the anchovy really mellowed when it was sauteed and adds an almost nutty flavor to the pizza. I will make this little item again.

As an added "paw of approval", my cats like this too, as they gobbled this right up when I put a little in their dish.

This dish would go great served with a green salad(which i would have had, if I had read the entire recipe, since Rachael suggests serving this with a salad at the very last).

My first dinner with Rachael has turned out to be a success. I wonder if I look as cute a she does, as I move around my kitchen creating her recipes........probably not........but if this first try is any indication, I am in for many good meals.

Until tomorrow..........